So I decided to take last night and pamper myself by having my hair professionally colored. While I managed to get my hair colored, it was not as relaxing as I would have liked. Not because of the stylist, SM rocks, but because of youth that I work with.
There is a new youth in my after school program who took it upon himself to video record a teacher's hind quarters. They were morphing in on the screen and making fun of her. Once she realized what was going on, the camera was taken and placed in my office. He continued to be a nuisance the rest of the night. He was told that he would only receive one point for the night (he was on time) but if this behavior continues, he would be removed from the program and placed back into lock-up. He claimed he didn't care. By this point the other students were trying to calm him down and talk some sense into him. His father called to say who was picking him up, and the student began to scream to his father over the phone. When his ride came to pick him up, he called her some names, and just left on foot. The teacher called me in a panic asking if she should call the police. I told her not to, but to contact his father and grandparents (dad works late and the grandparents are the emergency contacts). His father replied, "Oh, I know where he's going, don't worry about it." Don't worry about it? Your 14 year old child just intimidated not only a person on my staff by your girlfriend (his ride) and you say not to worry? When the teacher left work, she found that her car was covered in bodily fluid. She was assuming it was spit, but it was cold, so it had froze to the windshield. I told her to thoroughly check her car in the morning for ANY signs of damage, and we would file a police report if needed. This story leads me to my point, what the heck has happened that our youth think they can act this way and get away with it?
I work with troubled youth everyday, it's my job, but I am still amazed at how invincible they feel they are. Not just "I'm not gonna die" invincible, but they feel they are above the law. Reading their pasts, I can't imagine what my parents would have done if I had tried to get away with some of the stuff they do on a daily basis. Have people just forgotten how to parent? I know there are excellent kids and parents out there and that my view may be a little jaded because of the clientele I work with, but when did it become ok to let your child run the streets and intimidate 23 year olds and vandalize cars? Who decided that video games and tv shows about violence could replace family game night? Granted, family game night sounds a bit cheesy and I never had one growing up, but we did play games regularly. I would love to establish a family game night with my future family if that meant that my kids were more grounded and well behaved. I understand that you can only do so much as a parent, but doesn't a good foundation begin at home? So I'm trying to decide what to do about this kid.
I immediately called his probation officer this morning and left a message telling her that I have two teachers ready to quit if this student stays. It sounds harsh, but I'm wondering if some time in a locked facility would do him some good. Several of the students I work with said that while being locked up was not their highlight of the year, they did learn some valuable lessons. Maybe this student needs those lessons. He is only 14!
1 comment:
Unfortunately, too many parents are interested in being a friend to their children, while letting teachers be the parents. This is obvious not effective. While it's important to have a close relationship with your children, it is up to the parent to maintain discipline.
We also see this in the church. Many parents expect the church to teach their children about God, rather than be a supplement to what they learn at home.
Until parents take up their responsibilities and reject Dr. Benjamin Spock's style of parenting, we won't see any changes.
Post a Comment