I
believe it hurts rather than helps. Retention is a devastating blow to a child’s
self-esteem. It makes a child feel like a failure without any hope. Students I’ve
known who were retained tended to give up on school, lose motivation, fall into
depression and perform worst academically than the year before. It is shameful
to be left back when all of your peers are moving forward; because of this,
many students endure constant ridicule. These kids are usually the oldest and
tallest in their class and/or grade level, which may also cause them to stick
out like a sore thumb and feel embarrassed. After being retained, some students
become behavior problems at school and home. Boys in particular exhibit anger,
agitation and hostility, which are signs of depression in children and adolescents.
These students feel isolated and lonely although they may have friends, their
friends can’t relate to what they’re going through. The emotional well-being of
a child has a significant impact on their school performance. Just like adults,
what we think and feel influence our behaviors.
When
a school or educator recognizes a child’s struggles, interventions and support
should be provided to the child immediately. This is usually offered by the teacher
first by way of afterschool tutoring, differentiated instruction strategies,
and suggested online resources that may be used at home. If there is little to
no improvement at that point, the student should be referred by the teacher to
the school’s student support team (SST), where other interventions are
implemented and the student’s progress is monitored. After several different
interventions have been tried and the child still has not made adequate progress,
the student should then be referred to the school psychologist for a
psycho-educational evaluation to determine if the student has a disability that
requires special education services through the development of an IEP or a 504 Plan. More than likely,
this is frequently the case.
Unfortunately,
this is not what usually happens to struggling students. It’s sad to say that
many inner city students in particular are often retained more than once as a
first line of defense, although it may be clear as day to an educator that the student’s
academic struggles are beyond their control. This has to stop! Students who
have lived this reality sometimes become so discouraged and self-defeated that
they drop out of school, become a teenage parent who now has to depend on the government
for assistance, turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with their failures, and develop
mental health disorders from prolonged feelings of stress, anxiety and/or
depression that go untreated; as well as get involved with gangs in order to
feel a sense of belonging and respect, have difficulty finding a decent paying
job, become homeless, hustle for money in the streets, live a life a crime, and
end up in jail or the grave. Who knew that retaining a student could lead to
all of this?
If your child is facing retention, Crystal Calhoun, Educational Advocate and Founder of Heart & Soul Psycho-Educational Advocacy Services, Inc. may be able to help save your child from this self-defeating reality. Call 404-692-4334 or view our website at www.HeartAndSoulAdvocacy.com for more information.
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