I wrote this at journaling this week. It represents the unspoken voice of the children I’ve met down here- both the little neighbor kids and my middle schoolers. “Robbie” is one student in particular who is starved for attention!
“Look at me! Pay attention to me. Listen to me as I teach you a game. Listen to me when I say your name.
“Now you’re closer, but I want your eyes on me. If you listen, I’ll tell you what I want to be. I’ll ask you a question and wait for your word. Sometimes I wonder if I’m even heard.
“So I may twist the truth and begin to tell lies, hoping you don’t see past my disguise. I’ll do whatever it takes for you to hear because being alone and neglected is my biggest fear.
“And if you don’t notice me doing as I should, it won’t be long til I’m up to no good. Even negative attention is attention, you see- but what I want most is to be loved because I’m me.”
I enjoy reading your comments- and please let me know if there’s something you want me to write about or if you have any questions about my experience down here! 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Carrie, this is great. There is a little boy at Clubhouse, if you just insert his name there instead of Robbie, defines him to a t. He is constantly acting up at Clubhouse, and will never look me in the eye when I try to explain that what he is doing is hurtful. Probably because he knows it’s wrong anyway…
I’ve seen him at home too. He becomes a really sweet, young boy. But put out with the other kids, he’s got to prove himself, got to make a stand, cause disruption, and pull attention from volunteers.
It sounds like you are handling things very well in student teaching. I told Megan to read your blog, because I think she deals with some of the same things. For example, tomorrow her kids are apparently going to get the smack down for leaving a huge spitwad on the ceiling when her back was turned. haha.
Keep posting great content!