It began with paperwork from a pending expulsion of a student who was a bully, and not suited for a standard educational environment. Gotta love the paperwork, necessary as it may be.
I had previously received a couple of reports that a student was inappropriately touching others in private places. The student in question is a sweet child who isn't the strongest thinker, and it was not in my mind that she was doing this with malice. Children who exhibit such outward sexual behaviors usually do so because they were sexually abused themselves. I asked her teacher to bring her to my office so I could talk to her.
When she came in, she was all smiles, and her body language was open. I began to ask her about her touching other students, and she started to fidget as she explained she just "poked" them. I began to press a little, brushing aside her child-like attempts at deflections.
Several years ago, I received law enforcement training in interviewing and interrogation techniques. I also received training in therapeutic interviews, drawing information out of abused children that can start the healing process. Fortunately, I rarely have to use those skills, but they came into play that day.
Rapport-building was not necessary, as I already knew her pretty well, so I was able to begin some basic questioning. It was only a moment or two until her responses to the questions were coupled with avoidance behaviors. She stopped looking me in the eyes, she leaned away, her arms closed, and her face took on an aspect of shame. In direct response to the question of whether anyone had ever touched her in her private parts, she gave the strongest response thus far, including touching herself. To be sure of the response, I asked her again, and got the same response. I had established that something awful had happened, and it was time to leave it in the hands of people better trained than I.
After she had left, I had to do some calming exercises. Seeing children who have been preyed upon makes me furious, and I cannot act that way, so getting back to an even keel was necessary. I did some auto-genic breathing, looked at pictures of my family, and ended on some pictures my daughter Carole had made for me. Feeling grounded again, I could move on.
Next up was a case of battery. Two students had been having problems for a couple of years. That week, words were flying back and forth, mostly between their friends. The younger boy had finally had enough, and came up behind the older boy and swung at him. The older boy grabbed the younger one around the waist, and they both went down. The younger one grabbed the older one around his face, and began squeezing. A teacher intervened, but it took some doing to get the younger boy's arm away from the older one.
This one required the assistance of Hancock County's finest. As in the above case, I often need the help of experts to determine how serious a situation is, so Hancock County Sheriff's Deputies came and assessed the attack to see how serious it was. They watched the video, and then spoke to the boy and his parents, who had been called in. The victim's parents decided to press charges, so they stayed to complete the paperwork. By then the day was done, but not quite for me.
I went outside to my car to put something away, and I saw two Welsh Corgis running around, one with a limp. I called out to them, and the one with the limp came right up to me while the other ran off as if it didn't hear me. The corgi that came to me had a tag, so I called the number on it and got a phone number from the veterinarian. I called and left a message at the number. I gave the corgi some water and some peanut butter pretzels, which he loved. The vet had said his name was Hoss, and it fit, as it looked like Hoss had not missed many meals.
I used whitepages.com to reverse trace the phone number, and found that the owners lived right across the road from the school. I took Hoss home, and reunited him with his owners. His owner told me the other corgi had made it home, which amazed him, as she is deaf. That explained why she didn't come when I called. Seeing the joy on the owner's face made everything that day worthwhile. A hurt little girl was going to get help, justice was served in a battery case, and Hoss was back with those who loved him.
It seemed fitting that one sheepdog help another to end my day, although I wasn't sure who helped who. Thanks Hoss!
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