it hit me
today was sad. there's no other word for it. for some reason the calls just hit me a lot harder than they have so far. i listened to a grandmother sob into the phone because her daughter is a meth/pot dealer/ and addict. her daughter has a one year old child that she has taken with her to stay at one of her meth/pot dearler/user friend's houses. i almost choked up when she told me she just didn't know what to do anymore. her daughter had the parenting skills you would expect from anyone that is addicted to meth or is dealing meth. the baby is in so much danger, but i am SO limited by what the law allows me to do with her case. it was just frustrating beyond belief. but i struggled and kept my cool and promised the woman that she had done the right thing by calling us and that i was going to do everything i could to help that tiny baby.
what was even worse though came from a school nurse. as she described the injuries on a tiny 9 year old boy, i really did have to fight back the tears. i will never understand how or why people think that punching and beating children is an effective form of discipline. the boy and his siblings were emaciated and bruised. but what i think will leave the most lasting marks is the emotional abuse they suffer. they are told on a daily basis that they are horrible and worthless. this little boy told the nurse that he beats up his 7 year old brother to keep his brother from being like him. the 9 year old was afraid all the time and he wanted to make his little brother tougher than he is. children should never be afraid that they will nto get enough to eat or have a place to sleep or that their parents are going to beat them when they get home. it was a conscious effort on my part to forget that family's address.
so many of the things i hear at work honestly don't effect me. if i let each call sink in, i'd never get anything done. but then there are the days that make me angrier and sadder than i've ever been in my life. how these people can squander the gift of a child is beyond me. i hope that when i return to teaching i remember the stories i hear at work this year, and continue to fight for the unprotected.
what was even worse though came from a school nurse. as she described the injuries on a tiny 9 year old boy, i really did have to fight back the tears. i will never understand how or why people think that punching and beating children is an effective form of discipline. the boy and his siblings were emaciated and bruised. but what i think will leave the most lasting marks is the emotional abuse they suffer. they are told on a daily basis that they are horrible and worthless. this little boy told the nurse that he beats up his 7 year old brother to keep his brother from being like him. the 9 year old was afraid all the time and he wanted to make his little brother tougher than he is. children should never be afraid that they will nto get enough to eat or have a place to sleep or that their parents are going to beat them when they get home. it was a conscious effort on my part to forget that family's address.
so many of the things i hear at work honestly don't effect me. if i let each call sink in, i'd never get anything done. but then there are the days that make me angrier and sadder than i've ever been in my life. how these people can squander the gift of a child is beyond me. i hope that when i return to teaching i remember the stories i hear at work this year, and continue to fight for the unprotected.
1 Comments:
and all i did was make a goat stew from brazil.
you win.
By
regan, at 1:03 PM
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