Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You let him return to the classroom without requiring further consultations.
You believe Jeremy when he says that Mr. Etan has little control of his
classroom. But you have seen other signs that indicate Jeremy may have trouble
relating to others. You consider contacting his parents, but you know that
some parents can react negatively to this, and make life even more difficult
for the child.
You decide to send him back to the classroom, and wait to see if you get
more reports from Mr. Etan.
In this case, Jeremy gets in another fight and returns to see you the next
day. He appears more troubled than he did yesterday, and you decide it's time
to act.
Often children will try to take back things they've said about their problems,
says psychologist Robert Naseef.
"Often a child doesn't want to have a problem, doesn't want to be separated
[from his parents or classmates]," says psychologist Robert Naseef. "So I
would also look for ways... to help that child within a group in the classroom
or outside the classroom.
"But he might not want to be singled out as having a problem, so it's
also [important] how you approach that child. I don't take it all literally,
I just take it all as information. And then as professionals we're taking
information from various sources and sorting it all out, and we're taking
that team approach.
"You may also just want to observe that child in the playground.
And the child doesn't even have to know that you're observing him in the playground."