Hostage Window

When I started teaching, I believed that if I learned as much as I could about my students, then I would have more tools to help them. In accordance with that sentiment, I read their case histories. The problem with that notion was my own experiences growing up. I hadn’t realized at that time how sheltered I was from all the craziness in the world. My parents weren’t divorced, all of my siblings went to college, and I lived in a affluent community with lots of resources. These were not the significant differences. The student case file’s included one outrageous story after another.

This is when I found out about the decapitated puppies, the burning cow, the student who had 3 kids and 3 abortions by the time she was 15, the gang banging incidents, and countless other atrocities. Each story I read I kept thinking “If this was my life, this incident would be the worst thing that ever happened to me." For example, one student was with his parents as the police surrounded the house. Apparently the father had done something illegal. Instead of giving himself up, he took out a shotgun and used his wife and kid as hostages. To flee the predicament the mother grabbed the kid and dove through a closed window. The child was then taken by the police to the hospital. While he was on the way to the hospital, his father was shot by the police. My heart continued to sink as I read on. Then I would read about the next incident and it would be worse.

As it turns out, after reading the case files I attempted to work with the students. As I started to talk to them, I kept picturing all the terrible stuff I had just read about. It made it impossible to do my job. Eventually, it faded in my mind, but I never read the case histories again. This goes to show you that even the best intentions can blow up in your face if you don’t know what you are getting yourself into. Teaching should always be about what the student needs, and the role of a teacher is to sacrifice their wants and interests to meet the student where they are at and provide the student with the experience that they need to find success.