i'm a float rn, right now filling in at a middle school clinic. it's a very hectic clinic, 6th,7th, 8th graders coming in for all sorts of real and not so real complaints. a boy came in and complained of stomach pain, 'something moving in there', which was atypical of course, so i chalked it up to gas pains and explained that since he had just come from lunch that was probably the cause (after the regular assessment). no, he said, his lunch was taken away, so he had not eaten anything. his affect was grim, depressed, serious. of course i probed about the lunch being taken, and tears spilled from his eyes as he shrugged and said, 'someone took it'. he didn't offer much. he just acted like it wasn't worth explaining. it was like pulling teeth to get information. we walked toward guidance and he was reluctant, saying he didn't want to go. he slumped, literally to the floor. he answered my questions, admitting being bullied but teachers not doing anything, even a dean not doing anything, and the bullying having gotten worse after they found out. he was terrified about being a 'snitch'. he cried and felt the situation was hopeless, he said he was 'just so tired'.
i called his grandmother, with whom he and his mother live (his dad died). his grandmother said that they knew about bullying earlier, that kids had thrown blue kool aid in his face and he had problems on the bus, but that lately he denied any bullying and when they asked him at home he had told them it was all taken care of. this clearly wasn't true. she wondered why he would say that if he was still having problems. i voiced my concerns that he may feel hopeless, that he didn't feel any way of improving the situation and he did not want to go to guidance, or even really tell me what was happening. i told her i was concerned for his psychological safety. (i didn't tell her that last month an eighth grader committed suicide).
i asked her to pick him up instead of ride the bus today and i would keep him the clinic until then due to his state of being so upset.
i bought him pb crackers and let him rest on the cot. going to check on him he pointed to a sort of spot on the wall and said it looked like a person and defined the nose , etc. didn't think too much of that even though i couldnt see what he was talking about, but then he admitted that he sometimes heard voices. (grandmother said this happened once before when he was younger) he didn't want to talk about it, but all he would say was they were mad and yelling but he couldn't understand what they were saying. psychotic break?
school let out, i walked him to find his grandma's car in the car line.
talked to my supervisor, she's aware. apparently he was bullied before, it led to a fight, and the bully and he were suspended, so the dean is aware of the problem.
he seems hopeless. and why wouldn't he? and i have a bad feeling.
School is where bad behavior can and must be "nipped in the bud". Otherwise they graduate students who not only can't read, but who also have untreated antisocial characteristics that will land them in prison after they harm others.
The warning signs when children are 6 to 8 years old, are ignored because no one wants to "get involved". Even the courts that are overwhelmed by the number of juvenile delinquents committing criminal acts, without adequate staff. It's up to those in the educational system to assure that disturbed children are recognised at an early age. Surely questions could be inserted in all those tests they take, that would indicate when they're thinking things that are a sign of disturbed thought processes.
Give anyone in the school system an example of a 13 year old who is in the middle school my same aged grandson attends, as a warning sign that it is getting out of control. He lives far from an assigned guardian that was appointed by court order a few years ago. He plotted to build a bomb to destroy the school, and lives in it; and along with his buddies he plotted to kill another student, bringing a knife into the boys' rest room while the others got the intended victim there. Luckily someone told the principal about that scheme and it was averted.
The above plots are often accomplished in less afluent neighborhoods, but this kid grew up in the wealthiest ones; and hasn't had counseling....... a matter of lack of follow through, as a dangerously antisocial child became more so. Inner city crimes are now affecting suburban areas, where families fled to outrun the gangs, etc. that also got to the suburbs anyway....... You can run, but you can't hide from the lack of self discipline, want-what-I-want-when-I-want-it population of children mimicking aberational adult behavior.
CNN has carried footage over and over again today, showing a girl being kicked in the head numerous times after being flung on the floor by another teenager. The security guard is powerless, as they can only "observe and report". Don't think kids won't notice that!
supernatural
14 Posts
Please give more updates