Sometimes the numbers of referrals for misbehavior in a school can sound horrifying, especially if we only have the gross numbers. A school may have thousands of referrals over the course of a year. It’s important to remember that a relatively small number of students may generate a great many of those referrals. Dennis from a few posts back was a regular when he bothered to come to school.

Bob was another repeat offender. He used his phone when he felt like it. He used my desk phone when he felt like it. He refused to go to his desk. He refused to get or do his work. He cursed. He yelled. He lied. He had recently been forced to move. He did not like the move. He wanted to go home. He did not like the new school and just about any authority figure in that school.

He was an adolescent in high school throwing the biggest, longest temper tantrum I have ever seen. His only chance to make it through high school will be placement in a special education class for students with behavioral/emotional disorders. In the meantime, all his classes regularly lost learning time due to the latest need to deal with “Bob.” School administration tried valiently to help the kid. He yelled at them too.

Eduhonesty: I see no win here, none at all. Bob is off the chain. I doubt he is going to get to go home, although I might be wrong. Parents in similar situations have caved and sacrified all the money they used to move, returning to the old home for the one child who won’t stop screaming. But if Bob succeeds in getting his family to move with this behavior, I pity anyone who ever gets in the way of something he wants. Bob will be an emotional bully for the rest of his life.