Suffer the children

I have a student who is a member of the church and attends my ward. He has real behavior problems stemming from a head injury he suffered. But he is a dear boy - sometimes his eyes haunt me because I think the "real" boy is trapped inside sometimes - and he doesn't have the skills to get him out.

One day I asked him if he had thought of praying and asking the Lord to help him - he said, "I prayed once and asked for my mom and dad to get back together." Those words have haunted me ever since - I know that divorce is sometimes inevitable and not always anyone's fault - but I see the fallout from dysfunctional families all the time in my line of work - and I get discouraged - I can't take them all home with me!!

There is one student I have whose parents are getting a divorce, but they are not only civil to one another, but they come to all the meetings and conferences together - and maintain "family" where it is needed to help their son succeed - makes me wonder why they can't make their marriage succeed! They are an anomaly though - another set of parents getting divorced are using their son as a pawn - at least the dad is - I feel like smacking him sometimes!

It's a societal issue - but I get tired of Bush and his very misguided NCLB rants - and his Secretary of Education and her smug pronouncements about conditions she really knows nothing about. Teachers can only do so much - we can't make happy homes for these kids - and nearly every kid with real issues comes from a dysfunctional, unhappy, unstable, chaotic home - not of his choosing!!

And nearly everyone of those kids is lovable and dear and worth saving!!