If you don’t know by now, I teach problem kids. Many, if not most of them, have been on the wrong side of the law in their very brief lives and it’s sad to say that the future doesn’t look promising for most of them either. So, this morning student X came to school in a foul, uncooperative mood as usual. She is an obese, 15 year old, Hispanic girl, who lives with her maternal grandmother, a former gang member who acts as if she doesn’t want to be bothered with the task of raising her granddaughter. X’s mother recently gave birth to her sixth child. The mother is only 31 and her new baby is the only child who lives with her. Her eldest son, at 14, is in a juvenile detention center and the others are being raised by family members.
Anyway, X got off the bus in a foul mood. Why? Because she doesn’t want to be in school. X has talked about dropping out and would rather be at home or at a friends house, on the internet chatting with “friends” on MySpace or looking up pictures of other girls. She claims that she’s a lesbian, but that’s another story for another day. X also likes to get high and drunk. She was the student who explained to me what ”getting faded” means. Anyway, since her grandmother made her come to school to get out of her hair, X decided that she was not going to make life a living hell for staff members and refused to cooperate in the least way. She even hit the principal so that he would be forced to send her home.
So, X refused to complete her morning journal assignment. I later took that class to the computer lab to look up information on careers and trade schools. Again, X refused to cooperate. Things came to a boil when I told her that I wanted her to explore options for her future, because she would have to do something, that’s legal, to support herself one day. X responded by yelling out:
“Leave me the fuck alone! Why do you even bother to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped?!”
I had never been asked that question before, at least not by a student. However, being quick to respond, I said the first thing that came to mind. But, before I tell you my response and how I felt afterwards, I would like to know how you would have responded and what you think about a student asking such a question.
How would you have answered X’s question? Do you think that resources and time should be spent to help severely troubled kids who don’t want to be helped?
Posted by School Teacher 
