troubled student

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troubled student
By Cathy-Dee

I had such a student last year and he's in grade 2 this year and has injured students (so far nothing overly serious, but as he gets bigger). It is difficult for the kids to like him and I see them trying from time to time,
but they will give up eventually. He comes from a history of sexual abuse, is in foster care (which is actually a good setting for him), but he lacks a lot of social skills, etc.,
Unfortunately schools are not equipped to deal with children with severe emotional needs. I wish we had funding and programs set up where these kids could be in settings that helped them to deal with their

anger, fears, etc., and slowly integrate them back into a regular classroom setting where they would have a much more positive experience.

It's good that your student is getting some help, but so much of his therapy and help will have to come from his family (which may not be realistic). And of course with the increase of violence in the older grades one has to be worred about this little one. I do understand your frustration.

I guess all we can do is continue to push for programs that will help these "special" kids and do our best within our schools to teach them respect and how to get along with their peers. You might want to check into the Lion's Quest Skills for Growing Program. It's a great program especially in grades K to 4 and helps to build strong, positive classroom atmospheres. It's part of the Lion's Clubs. I know if you do a search for Lion's Quest on the web there are a number of sites that come up.