This morning I was introduced to one of my new students. I've seen him many times before running the hallways or cursing out one of the administrators. So when he entered my (empty) classroom with his mother and guidance counselor, I made every attempt to make him and his mom feel comfortable. Keevan wouldn't look me in the eye. He stood straight with his eyes fixed on the floor. He wouldn't shake my hand, nor would he answer any of my questions.
As I was telling his mother that I would do my best to acclimate him to my classroom, a PA was made requesting that Keevan and his mother return to the main office. And off they went.
I didn't see Keevan after that. Nor did I see my other new student.
Later in the day, when I was at another school for a meeting, the two boys were arrested for jumping another student on their way to school. The victim's mother elected to press charges.
There's so much that bothers me about today. Part of me feels guilty; I was not looking forward to the effort that I would have to expend to try and situate these troubled boys into what is certainly a difficult class. And part of me is simply angry. Angry to have to repeatedly see young male adolescents taken away in handcuffs from a middle school.
Angry that these boys' futures are already so compromised.
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2 comments:
I get angry and very sad at my school, when after the 6th graders are led away in handcuffs to the precinct, the principal gets on the PA and warns (taunts?) the students in the school that if they don't behave, it will happen to them too.
Consequences for their actions. I may not agree with taunting by the principal but the other students must be shown what happens when you break the law.
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