q8penpals
Junior Member
Salam
Most of you who follow my posts know I am a teacher in Kuwait.
Today at school, a 10th grade boy (I taught him both last year and this year) had a problem. Now background, the boy is SEVERELY ADHD, and was medicated for a while, but everytime he gets "normal" his parents unilaterally take him off his medication because he is "fixed". Well then a couple days after he is off his meds, he is almost berzerk again and then the parents put him back on - so he is like a yo-yo with behavior.
He is a very nice, well mannered boy when he is on his medication - he is definitely not the "zombie" that some kids become if they are medicated. When my sister and father-in-law both died last year, he was the only boy student to offer me a hug (it was cute - he asked first if it was okay!) and he explained all about how to be prepared for my father-in-law's A'azza (the funeral stuff) here in Kuwait so I wouldn't do something wrong or be embarrassed.
Well today, I came down the stairs at break time, and it was obvious he was having an "off-meds" situation. He was nearing an altercation with another teacher (this teacher was new this year, so does not have as much background knowledge about the boy as I do). I quietly stepped in and focused the boy's attention on me while I was asking him to explain. He was so frustrated (by the way, he WAS breaking a rule) in not being able to explain clearly what the problem was, that I seriously thought he might hit the other teacher (who was a male). We had a male teacher get hit by a male student last week (student was expelled immediately) and Kuwaiti bedoon boys have earned a reputation for having a short temper.
I got the boy to go outside with me (it was break time) away from the other teacher, and I spoke with him quietly again to calm him down. I am very pleased with him for being able to get himself calmed down without a physical altercation. I am going to make a point of telling him so tomorrow if I see him.
The other teacher called me later thanking me for stepping in - he said he was actually a bit afraid of the student, since the boy is much more muscular than the teacher! I honestly think that it was more because I was a woman than anything else that helped, as the boy has no real relationship with his mother (he has 4 sisters -2 older and 2 younger- and has admitted that he rarely sees his mother during the week because she is always with the girls).
I am just asking you all to keep this boy named Aziz in you dua's today - that he can learn to control his temper and become everyday the nice, respectable young Islamic man that I know he can be.
Lana
Most of you who follow my posts know I am a teacher in Kuwait.
Today at school, a 10th grade boy (I taught him both last year and this year) had a problem. Now background, the boy is SEVERELY ADHD, and was medicated for a while, but everytime he gets "normal" his parents unilaterally take him off his medication because he is "fixed". Well then a couple days after he is off his meds, he is almost berzerk again and then the parents put him back on - so he is like a yo-yo with behavior.
He is a very nice, well mannered boy when he is on his medication - he is definitely not the "zombie" that some kids become if they are medicated. When my sister and father-in-law both died last year, he was the only boy student to offer me a hug (it was cute - he asked first if it was okay!) and he explained all about how to be prepared for my father-in-law's A'azza (the funeral stuff) here in Kuwait so I wouldn't do something wrong or be embarrassed.
Well today, I came down the stairs at break time, and it was obvious he was having an "off-meds" situation. He was nearing an altercation with another teacher (this teacher was new this year, so does not have as much background knowledge about the boy as I do). I quietly stepped in and focused the boy's attention on me while I was asking him to explain. He was so frustrated (by the way, he WAS breaking a rule) in not being able to explain clearly what the problem was, that I seriously thought he might hit the other teacher (who was a male). We had a male teacher get hit by a male student last week (student was expelled immediately) and Kuwaiti bedoon boys have earned a reputation for having a short temper.
I got the boy to go outside with me (it was break time) away from the other teacher, and I spoke with him quietly again to calm him down. I am very pleased with him for being able to get himself calmed down without a physical altercation. I am going to make a point of telling him so tomorrow if I see him.
The other teacher called me later thanking me for stepping in - he said he was actually a bit afraid of the student, since the boy is much more muscular than the teacher! I honestly think that it was more because I was a woman than anything else that helped, as the boy has no real relationship with his mother (he has 4 sisters -2 older and 2 younger- and has admitted that he rarely sees his mother during the week because she is always with the girls).
I am just asking you all to keep this boy named Aziz in you dua's today - that he can learn to control his temper and become everyday the nice, respectable young Islamic man that I know he can be.
Lana
