It’s Sad When A Teacher Can Predict When A Student’s Life Will Turn Out Badly
It’s not a skill that I take pride in
Afternoons in the library were hectic at the elementary school where I worked. One of my many jobs as a librarian was monitoring the afterschool bus kids while waiting for their rides.
One little guy tugged at my heart. Every afternoon, I would take him into my lap and rock him in the rocking chair. His little arms would hug me as we rocked, and he would drift off to sleep. Every day, my heart broke a little because I thought I could predict his future.
I imagined saving him from his home life by taking him home and presenting him to my husband as our newest child. After all, I had done it before. Once, I brought a child home from the middle school where I worked, and we kept him with us for seventeen months. I wondered if I could do it again.
Of course, I couldn’t. The middle school child was a foster child whose foster mother had kicked him out of the house. As a registered member of the foster/adopt program, the agency let me take him home from school that day.
The child I was rocking was still in his mother’s care. His appearance and need for attention indicated that his care was poor. He rode a bus to a daycare that broke many rules regarding…
