Getting Funky

Sometimes a lack of experience can hinder one’s performance. It can make it difficult to anticipate what is going to happen. Sometimes, it is a difference of perspective that challenges people. In this case, it was both of these. It was early in my tenure at a school and I had little experience with, or relationships with the students at this particular place. I was with a group of students who were spending some time in a rewarding area at one of the residences owned by the school. One of the students with a lower intellectual capacity told me in the third person that he was going to get funky. “Jason is going to get funky.” I didn’t know what funky meant. I knew it was not going to be good. In my uncertainty, I took a step back. He then, in the speed that it would take a normal person the time to touch their toes and pop back up, removed all of his clothes and started for the window. His intention was to escape through the window, climb the fire escape and mount the roof while screaming and yelling. This was not what I was guessing what funky meant. When he disrobed, I took another step back. I still didn’t know what funky meant, but it was getting worse. When he darted toward the window, another staff grabbed him. We then struggled to get his clothes back on.

A part of his program incorporated the use of electronic shocks when a person exhibited dangerous behavior. Removing the electrodes is considered a dangerous behavior since it prevents the implementation of his program that was designed to keep everyone safe. So, in the mad scramble on the floor to redress the student, a third staff member picked up the electrode, and mistakenly put it on my calf and shocked me regardless of my protests. I know with all of the bodies wresting on the floor, it can be tough to figure out what is part of whom. However in this situation that student was a very dark skinned African American student, and he was very skinny. I have a bit of meat on me, and I am pale when compared to most Caucasians. It was a strange mistake, and I am not sure what that staff member was thinking. In regard to my mistake, the next time Jason told me he was going to get funky, I did a much better job at making sure his clothes stayed on.

Many times in teaching, you don't have the experience to know what to do, so you make it up as you go along. For most people, it may not take getting a shock to the calf to give you that experience.