Help Wanted

I talked about Eric in another post. He's the kid with the ridiculous Behavior Intervention Plan. He brought a knife to his previous school and got kicked out. The school before that, he threatened to kill his principal.

Two weeks ago he put bruises on my arm trying to get his hat out of my hands. He then tried to steal my computer ("You have something I like, I'm going to take something you like.") He also took things off my desk and threw them on the floor and ran over and pulled down books off my shelves. It was the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. I could go into great detail about what happened (I had to retell the story 3 separate times already anyway: once for the office referral, once for the long-term suspension forms and once for the police report) but that's not really the point. He went crazy. That's the gist. At one point, me and the entire class were just standing there in shock as he's screaming and yelling and running around saying gibberish.

Want to know what Principal said when I told her he had hurt me? "Good. You are our ticket to get him out of here." Thanks for your concern. (On a side note, this has happened before. Once I was breaking up a fight and one of the girls accidentally hit me with a book. The second she did it, she stopped fighting and said, "Ohmygod, I am SO sorry!" The administration tried to force me to press charges on her so she could be removed from school. When I refused because I knew she didn't mean to, they were very upset with me.)

Anyway, here is my problem. Clearly, this child has issues. He and I get along fine. He came in late and was already agitated about something and I was just the person standing in his way. I don't hold any ill will towards him. HE HAS A PROBLEM. And I feel like it's my job as an educator to find a way to get him help. The administration just wants to push him off on somebody else and make him their problem (just like all the other schools before us.) and THAT'S NOT FAIR. He's a child. He deserves to be helped. (Oh, another side note: When his mother came in for the meeting, she brought his sister. His sister is two years old, still wears a diaper, sucks a bottle and called her mother a bitch...yeah.)

We had to have a manifestation meeting two days after the incident. Eric has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) because of his diagnosed disability, which is ADHD. The Special Education Team had to have this meeting to determine if the incident with me was a manifestation of his disability (if it is, then he can't be suspended.) Well, clearly physically assaulting your teacher is not a manifestation of ADHD. Even so, it took us a good hour to get through this meeting. But in the end, and after several go-rounds of arguments, the social worker and I got a request in to have him tested for Emotionally Disturbed (ED) which means he would get the help he needs. So, hopefully this kid will get some kind of assistance and be able to become a productive member of society. Who knows though, I'll never see him again.