Reference no: EM133672885
Practical Application Case Study: Who's Responsible for Damien?
Dedra is the single parent of Damien, a first grader, and his half-sister Tameka, a junior in high school. Dedra receives no financial support from Damien's father, who has never lived with the family but who visits Damien about twice a year. Damien's teacher has called Dedra at her job telling her that she must come to school immediately to take Damien home. For the fifth time in 3 weeks, Damien has violated a "level three" school rule which, according to the school's discipline plan, carries the consequence of school suspension following a parent conference.
This time Damien violated the school's discipline plan by running away from the school playground during recess. Mrs. Jackson, Damien's teacher, reported the incident to Mr. Hobbs, the principal, who later found him six blocks away near the high school where he claimed he was going to find his sister, Tameka. Mrs. Jackson, who admittedly has "just about had it" with Damien, has, in the past, reported to both Mr. Hobbs and Dedra that Damien hates school, won't do his work, disrupts and picks on his classmates, curses, steals, cheats, and destroys school property.
Damien has also been "written up" in previous weeks for urinating on the floor in the boy's bathroom, and for bringing pornography to school. Mrs. Jackson reports, however, that at times Damien can be "as sweet as an angel." Mrs. Jackson has asked Mr. Hobbs to support her efforts to get "Dedra's attention," and to get her involved in helping to "straighten Damien out" at school.
"Look, I'm doing the best I can. It's not easy raising two kids by myself, but I'm trying," said Dedra. "I'm working two shifts at the restaurant to keep my family together, and I need to keep this job. I lose money every time you call me to come to school when Damien gets into trouble. I might even be fired! This is the fifth time you've called me this month. Hey, I'm trying to do my job; can't you do yours? If you can't get Damien to behave in school, what am I supposed to do when I'm not even here? You're the professionals who have the training to deal with kids in school, so don't expect me to do your jobs. You take care of Damien; when he's in school, he's your job. We've all got problems with Damien - you've got yours, and I've got mine. If I could help you, I would, and if you'd quit calling me away from my job it sure would help me."
Analysis
In Three to five paragraphs, reflect on the practical application and discuss the following questions:
- In the preschool classroom, family structure seems to be the main area of bias that is expressed by both children and adults. When you were a child, what was the makeup of your family? How did it fit in with what was considered normal?
- What are the problems or conflicts in this case? Make a list of these problems or conflicts and specify whether you think they stem from personal or institutional origins. How are these problems reflective of systemic and internalized privilege in the school system? Does this case study represent a case of oppression? Why or why not?
- How could the problems or conflicts in this case have been prevented? If you had been one of the actors (teacher, principal, parent) in this case, what would you have done differently? Be sure to discuss from all 3 perspectives.
- What is Damien currently being told about who he is? How do the different perspectives of the adults in Damien's life change Damien's view about himself and his family?
- What are your own attitudes and biases towards families of different structures? What can you do to support children from these households? What could you do to help support a child and family that has two mothers? a single father? foreign adopted children?
- Who is responsible for developing a supportive relationship between the school/teacher, parent, and student?