Response to Carl's Case

Well it seems like everyone has pretty much covered all the important issues surrounding this case, but it's great to see how much thought we as new teachers are putting in to it. My hope is that as we continue through our teaching profession we can all remember cases like this so we won't forget how kids come from all different backgrounds and that they all have different home lives that we may or may not know about.

I think it is admirable that the teacher in this situation, after only teaching in this high-risk school, has created such a comfortable relationship with his students that they can come to him when they have major problems. Carl may have had no other adults in his life whom he could trust, but the teacher was there for him when he needed. Luckily, the teacher knew exactly what to do in order to help Carl.

I believe this has already been said, but I think as teachers we should understand that there will be students who have terrible home lives like Carl's and we need to be there for them in order to provide a safe place if they chose to use it. Remember "in parentis locis'? (Correct me if I spelled that wrong!) I'm not saying that we should provide counselling services for our students, but that we should remember to keep our classrooms (and hallways, playgrounds etc) as comfortable and safe as possible.