Blog 2: Changing Families

In unit 2 the focus was on the changing family and how it affects theory. This unit struck a cord with me on many different levels both professional and personally and I will definitely take the lessons I have learned and apply them as necessary. Especially in the area of ethnic/racial group labeling. Although there were many aspects of this unit I enjoyed, for purposes of this blog I am going to pick the one that I have most had to deal with in my professional experience. In the NY Times article we read, many different family units/households were written about. Giving a complete picture of the ever evolving family structure. The specific section I want to address is the section on incarcerated parents.
I teach in an Elementary school that has 1,200 students in what we call the general education population. My school has a cluster site and that's where I teach. I am a teacher in a self-contained classroom to 20 (all boys this year) Emotionally/Behaviorally Disabled (E/BD) students, whose ages range from K-5 (5-13 years old). I enjoy what I do and the disability I work with, but it does bring along a set of challenges my undergraduate degree did not prepare me for! Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with the same students and their families, but at times with mental illness the apples don't fall far from the tree, this is true as well in the case of my behavior students. Every year I have at least 6-7 students who have at least one if not both parents incarcerated, for various reasons. Spending 7 hours a days with these kids has put me in a unique role or caregiver in the absence of their own parents. One of the most powerful moments I have had to date came in the form of a wannabe 10 year old thug.
I had had this student in my class for three years at this point, and like I do with all students I studied up on his file and tried to get a complete picture of where he was at emotionally this year. I knew his dad had been in and out of jail for all his life. As a matter of fact all of his siblings births coincided with the times his dad was out of jail. My student had one older brother who ran with a local gang and his mom was always "busy" or to tired to deal with him. I'm not going to lie he was a difficult student coming in everyday refusing to work, fighting, cursing, hitting me, and throwing desks. One day I gave the students an assignment to write about their best memory. I broke down in tears when I read his and realized his best memory was being able to go see his dad. I later learned that his dad is doing a life-sentence and my student had only been taken once to visit his father. So I scheduled a meeting with mom and needless to say her response to me was "you take him if you care so much." To make a long story short, I took him. It was unbelievable to how many other kids were at the jail visiting parents. I can only imagine how scary that must feel and with how prevalent it is becoming what are we doing to help these kids? These kids are trying to navigate in an uncertain world and I have made it my mission to ensure I educate them as best I can.