Ashley

I have a story about a student. He is in ninth grade, and he was sexually abused. When he was sixteen, he told me that he had never received any grade but an F. He's a member of a gang, and his cousin is in jail, and he is next in line to be the gang leader if the cousin doesn't get out of jail. He reads at a second grade level, and he only attended my class last year. His parents speak only Spanish and they released him from special education, which he needed desperately. He was suicidal but didn't have any health care. He actually grew two years in reading and writing as well, and this year he is in school full time. The librarian and I have worked really hard to get him back into school. I tell this story because I just can't believe how the system would allow this child to grow and get into this situation. It's one of the hardest things that I have had to deal with.

Someone should have caught that he wasn't learning to read a long time ago. I'm not sure whose fault that is, but either he fell through the cracks or nobody knew how to help him. I don't know. There should be some type of support in terms of medical assistance for a suicidal kid. I don't know what the layout would be but it just seems like there needs to be more outreach for the school for kids like these. I think the school needs to be functioning more like a community and not just a school.

Filed in: Make Your Mark > Education