Oh Those Broken Homes!

Oh those Broken Homes! Students from broken homes are something that every teacher must beware of. If a teacher has a student from a broken home, that student is apt to have a lot more problems than the others. These include physical, emotional and mental concerns.

Just the other day, I was teaching in Port Dover, the class was a grade 1-2 split. In it I had one grade one girl who was obese. She had come from a broken home with divorced parents. This girl did not only have physical problems, she had emotional problems too. The first day I was there she stole seven bags of potato chips from my room. They were in her backpack at the end of the day, ready to go home. Rumor has it that this child does only one thing at home- eat. It is her way of escaping the pain in her life. When I caught her she was not terribly upset, because she was used to this sort of ordeal. She had to spend a lot of time in the principal’s office that afternoon and all of the next day. When she was back in class the next week, she simply stole again, in complete disregard for all the rules and threats that her principal had given her.

This is only one example of how a broken home can make a broken child. What can a teacher do with these kids? If they refuse to listen, obviously rules are not enough. Is there any way to turn a child around? Teachers are encouraged to lock up things that might be stolen. If there is not something to steal, than the temptation will not be there. Teachers are encouraged to be loving and forgiving with such a young age group. Often the broken child has no one who they feel really loves them, and thus the teacher can take on an important role.

Knowing that half of Americans divorce after marriage is an alarming statistic. Schools should take on more responsibility for the matter. Educating children on marriage and relationships should be a part of every school board’s curriculum. Most schools have education about drugs, alcohol and nutrition in their curricula already, and this is a good start. We as teachers must be role models for our students, so that fewer and fewer future children will experience the heartbreak and the complications of broken homes.

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