The Letter Of The Law
At the beginning of the school year, I always have my new students write me letters about their lives. Last year, a student wrote about her dad taking his own life in July. This year, I had a student’s dad pass from an illness. Both situations were really sad. Sometimes, I think that some of the kids have a sad home life, but they’re actually not sad about it or aware of their own problems.
Like, for example, I had a homeless girl in my class a few years ago who was always positive and joking. Or this year, I had a young student tell me that he didn’t mind going into foster care because the woman at his house makes “sweet quesadillas.” It’s so jarring for me to realize the situations that some of these kids are in, even when they themselves don’t fully understand the severity of them.