I have no excuse not to blog now, so I’d better pick up some time-occupying things quickly. Or start blogging again.
I know, you’ve heard that one before.
All assignments are done and turned in, for better or worse. Now it’s just waiting for graduation day! Relief pretty much covers the emotions there. I love being done. Love it.
Work is good. Busy, what with planning to expand our program in the fall. Every fiscal year carries with it a certain amount of planning and next year is even more complicated than usual. Staffing, programmatic changes, and keeping principals and teachers happy is never an easy thing. It’s a lot of variables, but I love working with the other Team Leader and our boss to run things as smoothly as possible. Anyway, that’s work.
And now, a comment:
Found out today that someone I worked with a decade ago, while they were a child, committed a pretty serious crime. It was disappointing, largely because of the innocent victim, but also because I know what this child’s potential was. It was a pretty special kid, that deserved more of a chance in life. And now this kid has done something that will negatively impact another kid’s life forever. I had a few conversations with people today about this subject, and I keep hearing “Sorry, but I have no sympathy for someone who could hurt a kid like that.” I can’t help but think that this is such a simplistic way to view the world. People make mistakes, even incredibly horrific mistakes. That shouldn’t make them fall into an “evil” category that makes us ignore their basic human-ness forever. Can’t people do evil things without being inherently evil? You can’t tell me that every person involved in your typical fascist regime is evil and doesn’t count as a human being anymore. You also can’t tell me that “anyone who would hurt a kid deserves to be killed”. Really? No, they don’t. If nobody can stand to be around a person who has done horrible things, what happens to them then? If you work in a profession that requires a basic understanding of human development and mental health, don’t tell me it only takes five minutes of bad decisions to make you want to murder your client. Period. It’s called empathy, morons.
On a separate (but apropos, I think) note, if a child has a mental health issue, they aren’t going to be easy to handle 100% of the time. I don’t care how cute they look. Don’t tell me that the child’s issues are all due to their parents “babying” them. Don’t tell me they “just need discipline” and their MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE will go away. Don’t tell me we should “just give up” on them after five or six days of having them in our program. Five or six days doesn’t constitute “a chance”, no matter what you say.
The moral of the day? People deserve respect, even if they’ve done bad things. Also, kids who are mentally ill might need a little respect (and patience) as well. If you aren’t capable of respect and patience, you shouldn’t be working in community mental health.
That is all. (And thanks to Michael Bolton for the title. Yes, he rules.)
