Dealing with Really Bad Students, part 4

Hello everyone,

Here is another partly hypothetical, partly real situation involving extreme behavior:

A girl comes to class dressed strangely (not fashionably strange, just strange). She publicly shares that she has been repeatedly raped by a family member and others. You suspect but don't know if the sexual abuse has been reported. There is evidence that these reported rapes are fabricated. She often makes inappropriate, off-topic expressions of her opinion, including comments on what people eat, other students' appearances, sex, religion and politics. She has been to the deans many times, and campus police know her by sight. She seems to crave attention.

Here is a proposed response:

Despite the girl's apparent strangeness, any disclosure of rape (or any other sexual abuse) must be reported, even if the rape seems to be fabricated.

In working with this student, the teacher collaborated with other staff members. They discovered that the alleged rapes had been often reported by a variety of sources and repeatedly investigated. Though teachers are mandated reporters and must report even if they suspect a fabrication, the police early determined that the reported rapes were fabricated (the family member was physically incapacitated), which the girl later confessed.

They referred the girl to school psychologist after consulting with him. She was eventually diagnosed with a severe mental illness.

Because she had difficulty making friends, the other teachers allowed her to come to their classrooms whenever she wanted (they ensured that she and the adults were always chaperoned; teachers should never be alone with students). They allowed her to talk about everything she needed to talk about. She indeed craved attention, and allowing her to come and get it without other students around allowed them to counsel her on appropriate behavior. They gained her permission to guide her behavior in class. She never went to the deans from any of them, though others continued to have trouble with her.

If you notice similarities in both yesterday's and today's cases, that is good. In both cases, the teachers made repeated personal contact with the students and developed a relationship of trust. In both cases, the standards of behavior were maintained, but the student's misbehavior was understood and corrected over time rather than punished. In both cases, the student was the worst of an otherwise managed class. In both cases it took time.

Jeff Combe