I’ve come to learn, as a substitute teacher working within the school district, here in my hometown, that the students are not “bad” students as most of society is led to believe. Children do not act out for no reason and here is why…
Imagine a child hungry, sleepy, dealing with some type of trauma and/or abuse within the home. Imagine a child living in a car or hotel room with multiple people; and oftentimes having to move from place to place. There is no guidance. No structure. No sense of security. No support system. No love and basic necessities/needs are not being met.
Imagine a child telling you that they are nothing and will never be nothing; after asking the child some questions because they were upset. Imagine a child telling you that they want to become a criminal like some of their family members. Imagine as you’re preparing for dismissal of class, you look over to see that a student has lined up all the Black boy’s against a wall and patted them down. You ask what that student is doing and the student tells you that she has to pat them down before taking them to jail. Imagine some of the hopelessness some of these children are experiencing. These are children in elementary school.
How would you expect a child to behave at school?
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