Joyous Summer?

As I was afraid would happen, it took a very long, unintended break from my blogging. This was more due to being busy- rather than not having a topic to write about. With baseball going in full swing, days are quite full with teaching, two ball practices, and then helping out in the field. Nevertheless, I am going to make more effort to post more regularly...

We are down to only five days of school left this year...hard to believe that it has gone that fast. I have noticed some very interesting behavior changes over the last couple of weeks. Sure there is the "summer buzz" as students make their plans for camps, festivals, and get-togethers. But there is something else, from only a select few, a longing to stay in school.  What students show this, you ask? Not the ones that you may be thinking of in your head. Sure, the "top" students may really enjoy learning- but most of the time they are zonked out after a long year and need a break. The students that want to stay in school the most? The ones that are acting the worst in the last couple of weeks.

I was just talking with a student yesterday about their recent behaviors. They had been great all year long- magically, their behaviors changed about two weeks ago. I simply asked them, "What's going on?"  Their response, was not one  I was ready for. "Well, honestly, I just..don't want summer. I mean, I am by myself all the time and have to take care of everything. I kinda wanna just stay here. Summer school, even, seems better than that."

It took me a couple of seconds to compute what I had just heard. This student would rather go to summer school than be at home. It boggled my mind. Summer to me was freedom, camping, hiking, swimming, baseball...all of it. Then I realized that my parents were very active in my life. They were always around offering to take us places and even "kidnapping" my sister and I to unknown locations. I can remember many summer days where  we would just get in the car and drive, with only my parents knowing the end location. Our family vacations were often spent driving west with our camper stopping wherever interested us. We never had an "end location" in mind- it was just simply a way to spend time together. Most of these students, unfortunately, do not have that.

This student, surely, never had that. Their parents were not visible in their life. Who cared for them and gave them attention? Their teachers at school. Heck, negative attention is better than nothing at all, if you are in that situation. The thought of some students dreading summer break never really crossed my mind. I had always loved summer and counted down days from after Christmas.  I got to thinking about the behaviors of some students recently- it made sense. If you are dreading going home for the summer because you aren't going to get any attention, of course you are going to act up and get attention the last couple of weeks that you are there. When something is bothering teens, what do they do? Act out. That is just the way that it is. Very few are able to bottle it up and keep it inside- which probably isn't healthy, anyways.

Here I was thinking that students just couldn't remember the rules, or they thought that they didn't apply to them anymore; in reality, some of them are terrified of being at home for the whole summer.