Smart Kids and Dumb Decisions

This morning before homeroom, two of my students jumped an apparently innocent eighth grader. I realized something was wrong when I noticed 7th grade AP and his secretary abnormally stressed and frazzled 20 minutes before school started. Teachers were whispering frantically, and students with tear-stained faces gathered near the AP’s office. K was apprehended during homeroom, and I was informed that he would most likely not make it to my 6th period class today. J made it through my second period class and halfway through lunch before they came looking for him.

He made a noble effort of wading through the mass of curious students with a look of “screw you all” on his face. The kids undoubetly thought he was the stuff. But I know better — I saw him sitting in the AP’s office with his bottom lip trembling.

Both students have been expelled from our school for the rest of the school year. I have conflicting emotions. K is disrespectful and extremely defiant. He makes no effort of doing much of anything at all. I am in constant contact with his mother, and that doesn’t make a difference. We have used every form of discipline we know on him, and it’s had no visible effect. J, on the other hand, is (in my opinion) salvageable. He was one of my best writers, and he is extremely smart. His attitude and bad mouth get him in trouble, but he and I had made huge strides over the past few weeks. I hope alternative school is a positive change in his life because he is very capable of being very successful.

I just want to strangle those kids right now. They had a great opportunity right in front of them: 4 teachers who were willing to do anything to help them succeed. And they ruined it; they lost it for no better reason than beating up some kid they didn’t even know.