March 4, 2015, Chino Valley-  I got to use a smart board today, for the first time since leaving Dysart Unified, in 2011.  The Title I students were pretty much self-motivated, so it was not a hard day. One incident took place early on, though.  A couple of boys decided to tease one of the girls by hiding her cell phone.  After a bit of banter, the girl started to shake, and cry.  The phone came back to her, when I intervened.

Of course, use of cellular phones in school is for educational purposes only- no texting, no selfies.  The teens are actually pretty good about following this rule.  I thought about what would make a 15-year-old melt down, over the momentary loss of a phone.  The answer is- lack of connectedness.  We saw  here, last week, how many adults lost it, when the Internet was down, along with land line phones.  Combine such a momentary disconnect with being on Green Card status, and being new to the community, with minimal English skills, and yes- Shattered.

This is another aspect of forgetting who we are, and who everyone with whom we come in contact is.  No matter whether native-born, legally immigrating, or of sketchy legal status, there is no point in isolating anyone from their loved ones, save solitary confinement of the adjudicated deadly menace.  Even then, there is a proviso for occasionally showing the light of day.

I was glad to see her later on, feeling happy and secure.