When the boys were younger, I volunteered at school a lot, but as they got older, the teachers were less interested in parent volunteers. And then, of course, there was the whole “opening a shop” thing.
Well, with budget cuts, came a loss of aides in the classrooms. One of the 5th grade teachers sent a note home asking for parents who could come in to help in the mornings last week. I don’t open the shop until 10, so I e-mailed her back and said I’d be happy to come in Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I saw her last Thursday, and we chatted about it a little. She told me that she had one student that needed to have someone help him with writing and reading assignments, partly to help him actually read the work, but also to keep him on task.
I arrived this morning and was not really surprised to learn that the young man that needed help was none other than the young man that had pushed Will into the fence on Friday.
My inner-10-year-old had to resist the urge to wring his neck or push his head into his desk.
My outer-37-year-old realizes that no matter what I think of this kid, helping him helps every other kid in that room. If I can keep him on task, the teacher has the opportunity to work with the other students.
And maybe, if he knows he has to see me twice a week, he’ll think twice about doing something obnoxious to my kid again.
Wow, that’s ironic.
Well, yes, my life is nothing if not ironic.
Hmmmm, not sure I could control myself on that one!
The wonder of this kind of volunteerism is that most people think it doesn’t help; kids, especially bullies, are naturally incorrigible; learned behaviors which are not reinforced at home are not sustained. Be hopeful, be positive, be the one who gives this kid a chance to see that there are alternatives. Way to go, Suzanne.
There may be a connection between his pushing your son around and his needing help with his assignments. After all of the issues I’ve had as a mom thus far I don’t want to automatically have the knee jerk reaction of blaming his family. However, there may be some deeper issues at work.
Regardless, most kids benefit from one-on-one attention. Good on you!