After school today, I had a rather serious conversation with a student I taught last year. The subject matter caught me by surprise and I wasn't sure how to react to what he was telling me, so I basically stood there and listened to what he had to say. When the conversation was over, I walked away questioning if I handled it the right way. Let me fill you in on the details, and I'll let you decide if I was right or wrong.
To give you some idea of the type of kid I was dealing with, picture a second grade version of Data, the Asian gadgets expert from The Goonies. He has the same imperfect English, wittiness, and personality that other kids his age gravitate towards. In fact, it's such an accurate comparison that I'll just refer to the kid as Data to simplify things.
So Data and I were standing outside the front of our school when he mentioned that he was scared for tonight. This was something I'd never heard him say before. But I knew he has a sibling and a cousin who have been battling some health issues lately, so I was concerned that perhaps one of them had gotten worse.
I asked him what he had to be scared of.
He looked at me and, with complete seriousness, said, "I'm afraid pirates might get me."
He was honestly worried that pirates were after him.
Stunned by what I'd just heard, I suppressed the urge to laugh and asked him what he'd done to upset the pirates. He then went on to explain that he and a neighbor friend had discovered part of a "treasure" buried in the ground near his home (which is located in north Omaha). It apparently had a skull and crossbones pirate symbol on it, which gave him cause for concern.
As our conversation went on, I could tell that Data wasn't joking about any of it. He and his friend had even created a map to detail where they'd found the treasure. Or perhaps it was to where they had reburied the lost loot. Data didn't clarify. He also went on to explain that he'd had a nightmare the night before of a pirate chasing after him (I should have asked him if the pirate running after him happened to be wearing an eye patch and going by the name One-Eyed Willie).
As he finished filling me in on all of the details, I found myself not knowing if I should break it to him that he and his friend have nothing to worry about. I could have explained that, due to the proximity to the nearest large body of water, the chances of buried pirate treasure being found in Omaha, NE are slim to none.
Instead, I made the decision to let him sweat it out for the night.
Before turning to head back inside the school, I looked Data in the eye with all of the seriousness I could muster and said, "Good luck tonight." He said thanks and started walking home, unsure of who or what might be waiting for him.
So what do you think? What would you have done if you were in my shoes?
That's a tough situation. It sounds like you probably still see the kid on a daily basis (or could find him if you wanted) so you could always go back and talk him down the next day or a few days later if you want. There probably isn't any harm in letting his imagination run for another day unless you think he's losing sleep or something like that. Chances are he'll forget about the whole thing and move on to something else soon enough.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting, Mike! He made it to school the next day and seemed to be much less afraid. Although, he did say that he and his friend had broken the treasure (I'm assuming in an attempt to keep the pirates from chasing them!). He has quite the imagination...and that was what I didn't want to get in the way of.
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