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Life

Life is so unfair. It breaks my heart to see what some students face every day--a sibling or parent in jail, homelessness, parents that are drug addicts, parents that just don't care, parents that hurt their kids physically or by what they say to them, boyfriends that are jerks, friends that are jerks...

I know kids can make choices to have good or bad friends, but when you see a kid who is put into a terrible situation with parents that shouldn't be parents, I hate that I feel helpless... I want to help, but I don't feel equipped to know what to say or how to treat certain students based on their situations... Is it okay to make exceptions for a student who would shut down completely if I didn't? Is that fair for the students who have great parents and who don't get exceptions made for them since they're expected to be perfect?

Maybe I need to focus more on equity. Maybe the expectations and how I handle certain situations and talk to certain students (even discipline) can be equitable without being exactly the same for all students. I just hate that I care so much, and their own parents sometimes don't care at all... I don't hate that I care, just that they don't have the support system that could have changed their lives and that I wonder if the few things I say to them can make a difference in the big scheme of things. I do believe God has every student placed in my class for a reason. If I believe that and believe that God is in control, then all I can do is pray and do my best to be the person God wants me to be.

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