Once upon a time, there was a seven-year old little boy who attended his neighborhood elementary school. His school was filled with adults who had been to college. They were all so educated. Some of them had many square pieces of paper, enclosed in beautiful frames, and hanging upon their walls. The more squares on their wall, the more qualified they were to help this little boy and his family.
This little boy was always getting into trouble. Actually, he was labeled the local trouble maker by some of the adults who had those square pieces of paper hanging upon their walls. He was the class clown who just could not follow directions. Disruptive was an understatement. This little boy was down right defiant. He threw himself into walls, banged his head on his desk, and would fall out of his chair on purpose. All of this was for attention, the adults were sure of it. They were convinced that something must be wrong at home. Maybe his mother just was not paying enough attention to him. Also, they had observed him sitting in class for long periods of time, staring at the board, and playing with his pencil cap erasers. He LOVED his erasers. His teacher did not like him lining up his erasers inside of his desk. They were a distraction and were not necessary to have in school. She felt that if he would stop playing with his erasers he would be able to finish his school work. So, his erasers were removed from his desk.
New problems with this little boy suddenly surfaced. He would get up in the middle of a lesson and walk around the perimeter of the room. Very disruptive! Then, he began going into the classroom bathroom and locking himself in there for 30 minutes or more. Unbelievable! Then, as if that were not enough, he began complaining of being ill. His teacher would have to send him to the nurse’s station, it was protocol. While he was at the nurses station he would always lie down for a bit, enjoy the silence, and then call his mother. How maddening!
His mother started receiving notes and phone calls several times a week from the teachers, the school nurse, the counselors, and even the principal. Goodness, even the cafeteria workers had concerns. Lunch time had become just awful. He would have outbursts during lunch. Pushing the other students while standing in line was a daily occurrence. They were all concerned about this young little boy who just never seemed to finish his work, disrupted the routine, and could not keep his hands to himself.
The staff stressed to his mother that he must succeed in school to succeed in the world. After all, school was setting him up for the rest of his life and it was very important that he learn how to conform. Meetings began between the school and the mom. The mother spoke to her son often trying to figure out why he would not complete all of his work. She was very concerned about him. The little boy and his mother had an extremely close relationship. She would ask him what was going on in every possible way that she could. After all, he would get annoyed if she asked a question the same way more than one time. He would want to know why she repeated that question when he had already answered her. So, she had to become creative and almost sneaky about it.
One Friday the mother was going through all of her son’s school papers for the week. She noticed all the empty spots. The boy’s grades were falling and she was beginning to panic. All of his test scores were so high, but, there were just so many blank spaces. Frustrated, she approached him with the proof in her hands of his incomplete work. She showed him and insisted that he explain to her why there were so many blank spaces. The little boy looked up at his mother, took the pages, showed her where he had answered the question, and then showed her where the question repeated on another page. In fact when she looked at the question, he had indeed received full credit for it the first time he answered it. Many questions were actually repeated throughout the lessons. The little boy explained that his teacher was aware that he knew the right answer because she had put a check by it the first time he had answered it. Also, she had told him numerous times that she knew he could do it. There was no reason to answer the same question over again. In fact, the little boy giggled. He thought it was funny that his teacher kept forgetting she had already asked these questions. After he finished giggling he wanted to know if he could have his erasers back. Indeed, the little boys mother stood speechless.
It was time for another one of those meetings. Everyone had so many concerns about the little boy’s future. The ideas flowed and everyone just loved to hear their self speak. They were all so academically educated. The big words flew across the room. The mother waited her turn and then explained what had transpired just days before between her and her son. Suddenly, no one had anything to say. During that awkward silence, the mother glanced over at the wall where all of those square pieces of paper were displayed. Right in the middle of them was a self-portrait completed by her son and she laughed out loud.
The end.
stacey
Dogs, Children, and Life in a Green house. 