After some drama at school this Friday, involving one of my most challenging students (oh who am I kidding? They're all challenging), I kept thinking about no matter what these kids do, they still really just kids and I feel like in our quest to get them to behave and learn, we forget that.
Two of my students were having a fight on Friday and one of them came back in my room very upset. I sat at my desk quietly watching him, not sure what he was going to do because he's been known to turn over desks and such when he's upset. I was eating grapes and I offered him some and he just cracked. He just started crying. I must admit, I was taken aback...I mean, this student is kind of a bully and to see this tough, older kid break down definitely got under my skin.
I knew that he had had some trouble with the law already and he was afraid he was going to be suspended and that his mother was going to beat him up. That's a lot for a young teenager to have on their shoulders. Plus he's in Special Ed, can barely read or multiply...but somehow that seems irrelevant when he doesn't feel comfortable in his own house.
Another kid told me how all his little cousins were visiting and that he was in charge of taking care of the boys and they were all staying at his apartment. What kind of world does this kid live in that he has to watch kids on his weekend when he himself is only a kid?
I again feel how lucky I was to grow up the way I did and how I can't imagine going through what these kids go through on a daily basis. No wonder they can't behave.
