Why We Need Prayer In Public Schools

Every teacher has one, and it's one of the reasons I pray every morning on my way to work. I pray for wisdom. I pray for patience, and I pray that I don't smack this one kid in my class (just kidding).

That's right. I have one student who I really don't like, and it's a struggle every day to make sure that he doesn't feel my tension when I interact with him.

Even the other students seem to dislike this child. He is self-centered, a braggart, and seems to need constant attention. He turns every classroom discussion to something about himself, and refuses to let any other student have their moment in the spotlight.

If I ask another student to stop doing something, he will immediately do the same thing just to draw my attention back to him. He yells out answers, so other students don't have a chance to show what they know. To make matters worse, he decided to share with the class the trophy he won in a "cutest kid" contest a few years ago. Only a few of the students clapped at the end of the presentation. He doesn't have any real friends in class because the other students see him as an obnoxious brat - and so do I.

Here's what happened today. The kids all came in the classroom this morning, went straight to their seats and began "bell work", which are short lessons that keep the students busy while I take attendance, etc. "Zack" took his seat as well and never left his seat during this time.

After I had completed my morning chores, I asked two students to pass out paper for a test. The two students moved around the center of the room as they completed the task. When they were finished, I noticed a $10 bill lying on the carpet. It was a good 5-6 feet away from Zack and on the other side of his table.

When one of the other students noticed the bill and drew everyone's attention to it, Zack jumped out of his seat, climbed over his desk, and tackled another student who was bending over to pick it up. Zack insisted that the bill was his, even though it was several feet away from him and in an area of the classroom in which he had not previously been. On top of that, one of the students who passed out the paper noticed that he had lost the $10 bill his mother had given him for lunch. Using a little crime scene investigation, I determined that the bill couldn't have been Zack's because of where it was located, and there were witnesses to the fact that the other child also had a $10 bill.

Zack came unglued. He threw a complete temper tantrum to the point that I had to ask him to leave the classroom, stop my lesson, and call his parents. While leaving the room, he threw his textbook on the floor and was screaming and crying about how unfair I was. I got his father on the phone, and he confirmed that he had, in fact, given Zack $10 to spend at the school book fair. After about a 5 minute conversation with his father, Zack admitted that he had probably lost his $10 on the playground before school. All of this was going on while the rest of the class waited. Even after he hung up from his father, he continued to cry and convulse for another 10 minutes. I left him outside to do so and went back inside to carry on with my lesson.

The sad part is that I know why this child behaves as he does. I've already had a conversation with his mother about it. Both of his parents work long hours. Zack is taken to a daycare in the wee hours of the morning, taken to school by the daycare, stays in the after-school program, and finally goes home about 6:00 p.m. He sees very little of either of his parents, so this kid is simply starved for attention. His parents don't see a need - or a way - to adjust their schedules, so Zack continues to act out. I give him as much attention as I can without jeopardizing the needs of my other students, and I try to like him as much as possible, but it isn't easy.

Teachers are human, and no matter how hard we try, we aren't always going to like every student. We get frustrated, and we get angry, but through it all, we continue to maintain our composure and grin and bear it. We can't raise our voices, and we can't smack the kids. We have to think on our feet and come up with creative ways of dealing with the psychological issues of 20-30 children - all day long. That's what makes teaching one of the most stressful jobs there is. And that's why I pray. Amen.