I'll always remember the time in 9th grade when a kid behind me kept poking me in the back with a pencil every time I tried to learn math (the subject hardest for me). I mentioned this to the teacher, who tried to get the kid to stop, and the next time it happened, the teacher pulled me aside and said, "just hit him next time."

Yeah, I know the teacher wasn't supposed to say that, or let me do it, but it was a very real validation: "Yes, there is a problem there that is actively keeping you from learning and me from teaching you. No, it's not a problem with you. Yes, you should be able to do something about it."

I turned around and hit the kid with my ruler the next time he did it; the kid immediately whined and complained to the teacher: "she hit me!" The look on the kid's face when the teacher said, "yeah, I know; I told her she could. So stop hitting her," was priceless.