What kind of person are you?

This week is final exam week at San Felipe. On the 4^th grade Values exam, the students responded to the following question: “What kind of person are you? The three biggest trouble-makers answered like this:

Alejandro*: I have brown hair. I’m very good-looking and well-behaved.

Javier*: I misbehave a lot. I don’t listen to the teacher. I hit the other kids. When my mom sends me to the store, I go play soccer instead.

Daniel*: I’m a bad kid. I’m a failure in life.

Now, Alejandro clearly didn’t put much depth (or truth) into his answer. Javier, on the other hand, wrote things straight and real. But Daniel… His answer broke my heart. Can you imagine being only nine years old and feeling like a failure? This is the same student who came with lash-marks on his back. It’s moments like these when I realize that my greatest purpose here (and in life, really) is to love, love, love. These kids need more love, more care, more encouragement. Believe me, it’s a struggle. It’s all too easy to forget that the kids who challenge me the most are the ones who most need my patience and my understanding. When Javier has been out of his seat all class, running around the room and hitting the other kids, my first reaction is typically not to say, “Javier, I know you can do better. I believe in you. Please, help me with…”. My first reaction is to make some frustrated grunt noise (attractive, I know) and shout, “Javier, my goodness, would you sit down?!”. When my kids are shouting and fighting and acting nuts, it’s easy to lose my head and forget that really, it’s not their fault. Many of my students come from neglectful or violent homes. How can you blame a child for how he or she was raised? So blame the parents? Nope, that won’t work either. The parents were probably raised the same way, if not worse. It’s the culture that needs to change. And though that might seem an impossible task, there is hope. 

*Names changed for privacy