tom.mc-classroomproblems

include component="comments" page="tom.mc-classroomproblems" limit="10" Classroom Problems- By Tom McKay It was 12 o’clock just after lunchtime and little Joseph had come back in early, crying his eyes out. I had no idea why he was like this, usually he would be in such a great mood after lunch, and something must have stirred him up. I began to ask poor Joseph what the problem was, at first he would say nothing but stare at the ground sniffling. Water was pouring down his face like a waterfall; it was a terrible feeling having him crying in front of me not telling me a word. I tried again asking poor Joseph what had happened. Joseph was a very kind little boy; he was always happy when he came to school, listened in class and did the right thing by others. He wasn’t the best when it came to friends though, usually just playing by himself at lunchtime and recess. Being black didn’t help of course, the other children in the playground stayed away from him because they didn’t like that he was different. He wiped his eyes and as he did he looked up to me. He had been getting teased in the playground every day for the last week. He had told me that it was another boy in the class called Larry. Larry was another 11 year old that went to Alomone Primary School; he was a young very athletic white boy, who was the leader of the `popular group’ at school. Liked by all the girls, he was the boy that everybody wanted to be. 5 minutes later Larry walked in to the classroom laughing and having a great time with all of his mates. He took a look at poor Joseph, realizing that he was crying but Larry just turned his head as if he didn’t care. I called Larry to my front desk to ask him what he had done to make Joseph cry, he insisted to me that it was Joseph’s fault in the first place, he was annoying them wanting to play with his group but Larry and his friends didn’t want him to. He said that Joseph kept pestering them to let him play so Larry had just told Joseph to get lost and that they don’t want black kids hanging around them. As I heard this I was astonished to know how young 11 year old children could be so racist at this age in their lives. I began to ask young Larry where he had heard all the bold statements being used against, it was his parents, Larry told me that he has continuously heard his parents using all these terms for black people. I wasn’t surprised when I heard this from Larry it all made sense, a young boy that looks up to his father generally follows the actions of his father as he thinks that is the right thing to do. After talking to Larry I called Joseph up to my front desk, I wanted to make things right between the two boys. I asked each of them to try and consider one another’s feelings and attitudes towards each other, but Larry wanted nothing to do with it. He was quite the snobby little boy and didn’t like change or anything different, which was unfortunate for Joseph because this was all the things that he was. I had realized now that there was no point in making the two boys like each other because it was just never going to happen. So I just left it for a few days to see any change in either of the two’s behavior towards one another. The bell had rung, it was lunchtime the two boys went their separate ways in the playground Larry to the footy field with all of his mates and Joseph to a small bench underneath a tree where he ate his lunch in silence with nobody around him. Halfway through lunch Joseph got up and walked over to the footy field. He asked Larry and his friends if he could play, all the boys there just yelled out no so Joseph walked around with a tear in his eye. The bell sounded again and all the children walked back inside to start their classes I noticed that Joseph had moved his desk to the corner where he just sat with his head down for the rest of the day. It made me worried about him; it was as if he was entering a depression. It was another bright day at Alomone primary school; all the kids came in to class sitting on their desks chatting to all their friends. Everyone besides poor young Joseph, he still had no one to talk to in the classroom just because he was different than the rest. Recess came again and the same thing happened Larry went off with his friends and Joseph went to his same park bench. I could see Joseph through the school window he was pacing back and forth and it was quite obvious that he was going to do something about the situation. A few minutes later he had made his decision, he got up and walked over towards Larry and his friends. He got their attention and asked if he could play, he could hear his friends talking, they were all whispering to each other as if they had made up their mind about him in a second. Once again Joseph asked if he could play, so the boys decided to gather around turning away from young Joseph deciding what to do. Joseph could overhear them talking about the way they would try and make him look like crap in front of everyone, embarrassing him even further. Larry then turned around told Joseph he could play. Joseph new that they were just trying to embarrass him, but his face still lit up in a view that he was finally accepted by them in some way. The ball went up and Joseph jumped in the air tapping it to the ground, the ball started to roll and Joseph ran straight after it picking it up and then started to run. He dodged one boy leaving him to be on the ground and then outran another. The only thing that was in his way of the goals now was Larry. They both ran to each other neither giving way, Joseph jumped in to Larry knocking him to the ground running past and kicked the goal. The whole field had just stopped in awe, Larry was very embarrassed as he was generally the best on the field but today was different. Joseph started to walk back in to the centre of the field in a triumphant pose, with that one play his confidence had just gone through the roof. The boys on his team came over to him patting him on the head telling him he did a great job. Joseph liked this sense of acceptance and new that he may now have friends. Class went back in and instantly I could tell that Joseph was accepted by the kids in the class, they all came over to him telling him how great he could play footy and the way that they can’t believe they didn’t like him before. They asked Joseph to come over to where they were sitting and talked for the rest of the day, getting to know one another more and more until soon enough they were all best of friends, and Joseph accepted by all.