Mentoring
Earlier this week I got to play mentor when a 14 year old boy named Demetrius escaped from a group home for boys and was outside knocking on my resident's windows while I was performing cares. I went out to investigate and he made these weird animal clawing/waving motions in the air at me from his little spot in the bushes. So I said, "Hey, woah there! How 'bout you come inside and have some juice and crackers and we talk about it." I'm not sure what possessed me, exactly (seeing as how I was at work and all and he was clearly a delinquent and MUCH taller than me, etc.), but I think I was subconsciously inspired by a short story by Willa Cather I'd read recently about a country school teacher who was only 14 years old teaching all these kids bigger and older than her.
At any rate, the juice and graham crackers seemed to have a calming effect on young Demetrius, so we got to talking about how he'd busted out of the group home. Apparently they had confiscated his PS2 because of some disciplinary issues. I wasn't sure exactly what a PS2 was, but I suspected/gathered it was some sort of video game type deal. He was pretty upset about it. So then I asked how his nose got all messed up, cuz it was red and had abrasions... turns out it was a severe rug burn from a restraint they had put him in during the PS2 confiscation ordeal... they'd forced him down to the ground and told him they weren't going to give it back even unless he worked out his behavioral problems. I didn't bother asking what those were. Anyways, we kept talking. Well, he kept talking, I just listened... until we got to the part where he explained how his PS2 was so important because it was HIS, and because it made it easier to be there without being there. Now THAT I understood. I asked him how he felt about reading and I think was piquing his curiosity on that one as a readily available (and effective) pastime.... and then a couple of cops showed up in the lobby where we were chatting. Demetrius bolted. Seriously, he was just GONE, in a flash, down the halls of the nursing home. The cops took off after him (trying to retrieve him for the group home), but they weren't particularly motivated. A few minutes later an alarm went off as he found his escape out an alternative exit on the opposite side of the building.
Two hours later the cops were outside again. They said that apparently he'd liked whatever I'd said to him cuz he came back again, and that's when they nabbed him. Poor Demetrius. So desperate for someone, anyone, to listen to him over some juice and graham crackers. I wish I'd have thought to have given him my book, but he took off so quick when the cops showed up. Maybe some literature would help him escape into a more pleasant and inspiring world and ease the loss of his PS2... his only distraction from reality. Buuut I didn't, and it was Phil's book anyway (though I'm thinking he'd have empathized with the cause), so I guess I'm just gonna have to hope that our chat and the suggestion were enough to get him to pursue it on his own... seriously, I pray he does. I never met anyone so unknowingly starved for the fruits of good literature before...
At any rate, the juice and graham crackers seemed to have a calming effect on young Demetrius, so we got to talking about how he'd busted out of the group home. Apparently they had confiscated his PS2 because of some disciplinary issues. I wasn't sure exactly what a PS2 was, but I suspected/gathered it was some sort of video game type deal. He was pretty upset about it. So then I asked how his nose got all messed up, cuz it was red and had abrasions... turns out it was a severe rug burn from a restraint they had put him in during the PS2 confiscation ordeal... they'd forced him down to the ground and told him they weren't going to give it back even unless he worked out his behavioral problems. I didn't bother asking what those were. Anyways, we kept talking. Well, he kept talking, I just listened... until we got to the part where he explained how his PS2 was so important because it was HIS, and because it made it easier to be there without being there. Now THAT I understood. I asked him how he felt about reading and I think was piquing his curiosity on that one as a readily available (and effective) pastime.... and then a couple of cops showed up in the lobby where we were chatting. Demetrius bolted. Seriously, he was just GONE, in a flash, down the halls of the nursing home. The cops took off after him (trying to retrieve him for the group home), but they weren't particularly motivated. A few minutes later an alarm went off as he found his escape out an alternative exit on the opposite side of the building.
Two hours later the cops were outside again. They said that apparently he'd liked whatever I'd said to him cuz he came back again, and that's when they nabbed him. Poor Demetrius. So desperate for someone, anyone, to listen to him over some juice and graham crackers. I wish I'd have thought to have given him my book, but he took off so quick when the cops showed up. Maybe some literature would help him escape into a more pleasant and inspiring world and ease the loss of his PS2... his only distraction from reality. Buuut I didn't, and it was Phil's book anyway (though I'm thinking he'd have empathized with the cause), so I guess I'm just gonna have to hope that our chat and the suggestion were enough to get him to pursue it on his own... seriously, I pray he does. I never met anyone so unknowingly starved for the fruits of good literature before...
Labels: Do-Goodin', Ramble, random, work
posted by mags at 11:47 AM
1 Comments:
I wonder if this is the same Demetrius that used to try to cut Chris and Steve's arms off using plastic safety scissors at nursery school...
Perhaps his growth was stunted by drinking coffee at a young age and he now appears to be only 14.
Seriously, though, I feel sad for Demetrius, especially the fact that he realizes he uses PS2 as an escape from reality. Sound like he is pretty smart, just stuck.
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