For the last two days I’ve accepted
work assignments from two different schools to fill in for aides who have been
given the assignment to keep an eye on specific students. I feel for the students who are trying their
best but allow themselves to get distracted by the one who is “unique” or has “special
needs” and may be treated with “kid gloves” when they, themselves are not and
wonder why a certain classmate is allowed to get away with things that they
cannot.
I understand the need to allow a “special
needs” to have the same opportunity as those who are considered the norm. I think it equally important for the “norm”
to be exposed to “special needs” as they learn about discipline, social skills
and other things that are not a part of academics but still need to be
learned. But at whose expense?
Though the student body is less
populated than the area that we had moved from five years ago, the class sizes
are huge in size for lack of teachers and/or space. Many kids need more personal attention than
given – though the system does its best to accommodate. There seems to be a fine border between
education and discipline. The schools,
desperate for teachers, have hired many that have not been trained in finding
tricks in order to discipline.
Still, no one method is going to work
for every student – just as no one method will work on each child in any given
family. It doesn’t seem to matter how
small or large the family is, there seems to always be at least one that will
move to the beat of a different drummer.
I know that whatever method of discipline I may have used on Tony would
not work on Randy and vice-versa. Two
totally separate personalities with different thought process and ways of
learning.
Jenna hates having group projects in
which children are assigned to work together.
I hated that, too. But I do get
it. We need to have good communication
skills to get things accomplished as adults.
It’s better to learn how to be a team player at a young age than try to
apply it to one’s job or career responsibility later on down the road. “Kid gloves” shouldn’t even be an issue in
the workplace – and yet there are some companies that seem to skirt around
them.
How much further ahead are those who
allow God to be a part of our lives and include Him in everyday decisions. Communication is essential. Frustration occurs
when we don’t, won’t or aren’t able to communicate.