Posted on 05/29/2005 4:15:01 PM PDT by neverdem
Yes,I sub part time in a very notorious district.
Parents are a critical component to success and if pops isn't there and often moms isn't doing right then you have a real recipe for disaster.
Many of these kids will reveal many things to those they trust.In my school district,it is very common to have students who have fathers in jail and mothers who are dope fiends and worse.They are very matter of fact about these cold realities.
Case in point.One young man I was mentoring a while back had an absent dad and moms was taking care of six kids all by herself.One day moms decided that she wanted to be in the game too and abandoned her family one morning without warning.Robert,a seventh grader at the time,was left to feed his bothers and sisters.That afternoon he"hooked it up"and started"grinding caine"on the mean streets.He started getting in the dope game as a survival tactic but then just got caught up with the fast money,"hos"and tight rides.He had shot people and been shot.Yet one day at 19 in the middle of one of our mentoring sessions he broke down crying like a baby in front of his friends because he missed his mother so much.He has been in and out of jail since then.He is a grown man now and I do see him occasionally.He is still very protective of his siblings but he never got the "life"out of his system.God knows if he ever will.
My family was not the most functional one either.But we NEVER questioned that our parents had nothing less than our best interests at heart.Many kids today don't BELIEVE the adults in their life are working in their best interests.
And way too often they are absolutely RIGHT!
"Yet their success will have everything to do with that special teacher or mentor or the rare parent or relative that has their back. "
I'm not sure I can take this statement as something you really mean or are you justifing your job?
From all I know about kids once they are about 11 years old the peer group takes over as the prime molding factor in thier lives. Having schools that lack discipline and academic objectives only help kids become more uncilivized.
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