13:32 May 20 2011
Times Read: 704
Here is a little story about what happens when parents don't care about children.
I got permission to write about this child earlier this week and have decided today would be a perfect day to do so. I can't tell anyone his name though.
When I first started my job, I was introduced to a small boy. He was timid, didn't know how to act around people and was scared that we were giving him some attention.
Well we were giving him attention because we had to do his IEP. He didn't know any of the alphabet, any numbers, or the different colors.
We were aware that his mother did not stick him in Kindergarten. We did not know why at that time. He is a first grader currently. He went into school with no basic skills. He didn't know how to write, how to read at all, or how to count.
On the behavior aspect, at first he was quiet and didn't interact with anyone. Throughout the year, he learned what kids got attention and started to hang out with them.
He became one of the worse behaved kids we had at the school. It was a learned behavior he picked up from the others to gain attention. We needed to find out
why he was seeking attention.
I was given that task since I could calm him down.
Well he told me. "Mommy is always playing Warcraft. I don't get to go outside. I just get to get her drinks."
He figured that if he acted out at school, more adults would give him attention. It was later found out that because of his mothers gaming, he was never taught basic skills. The basic skills he needed to learn before school.
Her gaming was also the reason he didn't attend Kindergarten.
All of this was found out through contact with the mother, talking with the child, and an investigation from social services. The mother stated "It's not my business to teach my child to read, that is the schools job."
I was the one to call social services for emotional neglect.
It has been 3 months since the child has lived with his grandmother. He has gotten better when it comes to behavior. We have to talk to him differently and we are teaching him the difference between right and wrong attention. It is a combination of home activities and stuff at school. It is working.
He has also gotten health issues taken care of that were neglected. His learning issues are being worked on, that is one thing that will take a bit longer, but he has made great progress.
I sit back and watch people with children (I refuse to call them parents) on cam all day, and I never see them interact with their children once. Or if they do, it's to yell at them. It makes me wonder, will later in life something like this happen and they have to have the kids taken away just because they feel the internet is more important?
I love my job. I love working with kids, and knowing the stories and the stuff they go through hurts me. What hurts more though, is seeing an adult treating a child in such a way that causes these issues and they think that it's ok because "they are the parent so they know best".
You obviously don't always know what is best if all you do is sit around on your ass and talk shit about people you don't know in real life.
Play with your kids. Go outside to the park. Get some of those bright ass colored letter magnets and sit down with your kid and play with them.
Seriously. Do that stuff.
COMMENTS
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Requiem
00:51 Jun 01 2011
I love this little guy! His personality is rocking, Abs. It is.