I saw a young man the other day, 16 years old. He messed up his knee and needs to get it fixed. When I asked him if he was in school he told me no. He was there with his parents, neither of whom seemed too sharp, and neither of whom seemed too concerned. In my practice I see people like them all the time, seemingly defeated by a lifetime without means or opportunity.
Owing to a recent behavior incident he's not in school right now. He's been temporarily suspended. Temporarily for 180 days! (Long story, but it seems credibly circumstantial)
Talk about bad luck following no luck at all. You spend 10 minutes with this kid and his parents and you walk away wondering and worrying, just where will this kid end up? What will it take to divert this kid from the fast track leading to a lifetime of welfare or the corrections system? Does anyone in the world actually believe that turning such a kid loose for 180 days will fix anything? Is that the best that can be done?
"Leaders" in education talk about best practices and metrics to measure success and outcomes, improved methods of teaching and evaluating students and teachers. A kid like this just doesn't seem to fit in any of their designs. He's not dumb. He's a big, good-looking kid who speaks pretty well and obviously has a brain. Unfortunately for him, I'm not sure the system is smart enough to see it.
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