Entry #4 - Sept. 28, 1998
''I wish I knew how other teachers who have Danny cope
with him -- but because I almost never get to SEE them, let alone talk to
them, I have no idea! Here's another area where the lack of teaming, planning
and meeting time is so counterproductive and wasteful. ''
The case conference on our seriously
disturbed student was an illuminating experience.
Besides the usual school personnel (social worker, psychologist), we had
present "Danny's" last teacher from his elementary school, a youth
worker from a community agency that has been involved with the family, and
someone from the Children's Aid Society.
As is usually the situation, this boy's history goes back a loooooong way.
And, again as usual, effective treatment programs seem to be unavailable
until the child is old enough to get into serious trouble with the law.
Now that "Danny" is 12, he can be charged, so we may see some
action -- but how depressing that the only way some children can get the
help they need is to commit a felony! (And by that time, the collateral
damage -- to the child and the community -- may be so great the help will
be ineffectual.)
People (including many teachers, I'm sorry to say) often assume "it
must be the parents' fault" when a child is so disturbed and out-of-control,
but that hasn't been my experience. Some totally clueless, out-of-touch
parents have wonderful kids (that they neither deserve nor appreciate!)
while caring and dedicated, ever more desperate ones are sometimes forced
to cope with children whose needs and behavior are bizarre from the outset.
It seems to me the parenthood lottery involves a large element of luck.
Perhaps this gave rise to the folklore of the Changeling? Sometimes it does
seem that a child like Danny must have been swapped at birth by another
species or by alien invaders! In his case, the parents -- people in their
late 50's -- are struggling to the best of their abilities with this exceptionally
demanding and difficult child (an only child, conceived just in time to
beat the "biological clock") -- but even had they been people
of far greater educational attainment and psychological insight, this boy
would have been beyond them...
I met Danny's mother, and could only empathize with her; she is pulled in
several directions at once, and looks exhausted by the struggle. Danny has
moments of quirky charm and is an attractive boy; however, lunacy seems
only a millisecond away.
I'm not comfortable with letting a child sit in class and do nothing. (Danny
refuses to do anything except doodle -- mostly threatening illustrations
and lettering), but in this case the decision was made for me by our principal
who said under no circumstances are we to be confrontational with this student.
If he becomes violent or extremely abusive we are to call the office and
someone will come and get him. Meanwhile, we are hoping to get him into
a behaviourally-oriented program at a nearby school where there is a small
class setting and a lot of one-to-one work.
The case of a boy like Danny raises questions nobody in public education
really wants to answer: are there children who should not BE in a regular
public school? Does the average student have a right to attend school unmolested
by violent and abusive children like Danny? And how are we to address Danny's
very real needs at the same time?
I wish I knew how other teachers who have Danny cope with him -- but because
I almost never get to SEE them, let alone talk to them, I have no idea!
Here's another area where the lack of teaming, planning and meeting time
is so counterproductive and wasteful... but try telling that to our government,
who consider all non-whole-classroom-instructional time a waste (the locked-out
secondary teachers are STILL locked out over this issue).
Mercifully, elementary teachers in our district have got a tentative agreement
on a new contract: no details yet, but apparently there are no major wage
rollbacks or contract stripping, so we are breathing a sigh of relief. We
need all the stability we can get!
The new Grade 7/8 teacher came in to my class for something and saw the
students working on longitude and latitude. "Gee, those books are sure
old," she said. "Even older than the stuff in my class!"
I laughed, and said I thought they were from the Sixties -- but I picked
one up and looked inside for the publication date. Holy Cow -- 1956! My
colleague's eyes bulged. "My PARENTS weren't even in elementary school
in 1956!" she gasped.
Do you suppose we could apply to the United Nations or something for some
used books from developed countries? Meanwhile we listen to ads on television
from the government telling how they are improving education (by cutting
nearly a billion dollars a year from the budget) -- should we laugh, or
cry?
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