Saturday 6 March 2010

The "F" Bomb

It was a first for me. Never in the history of my professional career working with teenagers - that would be 18 wonderful years- has this word been uttered AT me. Sadly, one of our new students in grade 8 (13 years old) not only uttered profanity AT me but also gave me the finger yesterday. She was suspended- for the second time. She has only been at our school for 1 1/2 weeks. Unbelievable. This young woman has many other issues going on in her life. My heart is sad. To be so broken at such a young age is unfathomable. I recovered from the "F" bomb and the "F" finger! But, I can't help wonder if she will ever recover from the deep brokenness sucking the life out of her right now. I hope so.

7 comments:

Tim Atkinson said...

That's tragic. Let's hope and pray someone gets through to her before she gets any deeper into the mire.

I'm bound to say that - in my twenty-some years in the classroom - it happened to me a few times, but the nature of my role in school, plus the fact I taught in an all-boys establishment - made it all the more likely. But it was never uttered by someone so desperate to press the self-destruct button.

Katinka said...

Stopping by from SITS and wishing you an awesome weekend :)

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I must say, I csnnot imagine being a young person today, with ALL the pressures and the many things that can take one 'off-track'...Who knows what this poor girl has endured in her life even at this young age....One hope she can mend, but....who knows.
I'm sorry you had to endure that---this cannot be easy in any way....Being a Teacher certainly has many many challenges---more than ever, it sounds like.

swilek said...

the interesting thing is i did nothing/said nothing to her...i just listened! she had a previous verbal altercation with a girl at recess and this girl passed us in the hallway on our way to the resource room. thus another verbal altercation attempted to ensue! my f-bomb girl actually "came clean" with our VP ( headmaster of sorts) before I could even call down to the office. she apparently wants to be suspended because she doesn't want to be here. so, they are in a tough place in the office as well. i do hope someone gets through to her for help.

swilek said...

yes, it is challenging these days being a teacher and teacher's assistant (EA) like me. the teacher's main job it seems these days is classroom management!:)

John Deere Mom said...

That had to sting a bit. We have a new 6th grade student with many, many issues. She has been doing okay with me in class, but has such a horrible, disrespectful attitude to all other adults and students. One little girl came to me in tears saying she had called her a "MF'in B!" *sigh* Thank goodness for spring break!

swilek said...

@ JDM *sigh* for sure! I'm glad you have a good rapport for her..at least there is some stability...when i went into class this week with my F-bomb girl, she was good and even asked me for help with her math!! she just needed time to adjust to her new life in a bigger city. so sad isn't it the lives of these young children. i'm glad for spring break too...enjoy your week!