The Open Door

My family studies classroom was in a busy hallway of the high school, and so at lunch break, I purposefully left my door open so that students could drop in if they wanted.

Adolescence is a difficult time with teenagers experimenting with new behaviors which often resulted in serious things. They also had a difficult time to talk with their parents. In my job, I fully understood that teachers can provide a role of counselor, a role which can be a heavy responsibility and not lightly assumed.

One day, Jeannie, a grade 10 student in one of my classes, came in and planked herself down on the chair opposite me. She announced that she wanted to talk. She told me of a date that she had with Eddie last Saturday night. They had been to a movie, and the date had gone well after when he drove her home, he came on to her, demanding a good night, kiss and more intimate time with her. She refused his advances, thanked him for the date, and quickly got out of the car, slamming the door behind her and running up the walk to her house. Eddie was furious. He hit his fist on the steering wheel in a fit of anger, raced the motor and tore off as he carelessly turned onto the highway, he crashed with an oncoming car, and in the collision, was seriously hurt, Jeannie broke into tears.

She could not tell her parents of her argument with Eddie, nor had the police questioned her about the accident, and she felt that none of her friends understood the situation at all. She felt guilty and alone, I assured her that she had done nothing wrong and was not in any way responsible for the accident. She went on to talk about feeling unsure about what to say to Eddie if she could see him, or how to approach the hospital, or what to say to her parents. I simply listened and continued to probe a bit more for information, but not offering any solutions.

In the end, she worked out her own solution of where to go from here. She left my room having wiped away her tears, but now having a plan of what to do. A week later in class, I caught her eye and raised my eyebrows in a questioning way. She smiled at me and nodded. I felt assured she had followed through with Her plan, and we left it at that.