Progress--one kid at a time

Today was one of those days. My last class of the day, which has proved to be my most challenging was well for lack of another word...challenging. One of my kids who had just gotten in trouble in his previous class, came in fuming. He sat down, and within minutes he was throwing his notebook across the room after someone made a simple joking comment in his direction. Now this hasn't happened in a while, so as shocked as I was, I removed him and told him to cool off. Later, after getting the other kids working on their papers, I took him aside to talk. He told me he didn't understand why he had gotten in trouble, he didn't understand why people kept getting angry at him for being angry, he told me he was tired of all the crap that goes on in his life.

I sat down and tried to explain to him that reacting like that as a result of anger just wasn't okay. I told him he needed to learn to control his anger and react appropriately. After class and after all the kids had left my room, he came back in crying. He asked if we could talk. He sat in front of me, this tough 13-year-old boy, crying. He talked about how it seemed that everyone at school was against him, how he gets in trouble at school and in return even more trouble at home, and how no one really ever takes the time to listen to him when he's angry but instead, gets more angry at him. I let him vent for a while about specific friends, just letting him get it off his chest until I heard him say, “I don't know how to control my anger; I know it's bad, but I don't know what to do.” I stopped him and asked him if he wanted to learn. And he said yes. We talked for 15-20 minutes about how we can't control anyone but ourselves—if we want to change, we have to make that choice. I reaffirmed him in that he wasn't a bad kid, everyone get's angry, but it's about how we react and where we go from that anger that defines us as a person. I let him cool off for a bit more and before he left he sincerely thanked me saying, “no one really listens, thank you Miss Campbell.” It touched my heart.

This is one of those kids I anticipate and prepare myself for before class. I expect drama and attitude and to be honest, that's what I get. But today was a break-through day. He talked about his emotions and he just got stuff off his chest. I'm so grateful he trusts me enough to do this, I just hope I'll be able to help him grow. He, like so many others, have my heart. I cringe when I think about the home lives or the things they go through. But I'm so proud when something like this happens. This is God.