I dropped out of school. Twice.
The first time was in 7th grade.
We had been through hell & more.
Our 4th grade Judaic studies teacher passed away while we were on a field trip.
For both 5th and 6th, the school gave us brand new inexperienced teachers for Judaic studies.
“These kids are already messed up, how much worse can they get?” Is what I heard they said.
Then in 7th, we had a slew of issues with our general studies teachers.
It was a small class, Yehoshua was a part of all of it.
The first teacher had an angina within 1-2 days of the beginning of school.
The second was a young guy, fresh out of college. Lasted a day or two.
On and off we had one of the Judaic teachers as a substitute while the school desperately hunted for a teacher.
Finally they found one.
And a horrible, horrible man it was.
A few years ago I asked a classmate about those years.
“I’ve completely blocked that year out of my memory.” is what he said.
The entire class was miserable.
I don’t have specific memories of how he was horrible.
Just that he was.
I begged the school to switch me to the other class.
They refused.
They came up with a great policy.
Get kicked out of class 3 times, automatic 1 week suspension.
So when I got kicked out of class the 3rd time, they suspended me for a week.
Right before Passover vacation. As in my suspension went directly into vacation.
Right before my Bar Mitzvah, the most important day in a young Jewish boy’s life.
It was embarrassing. I had to celebrate my bar mitzvah with kids who weren’t sure if they could be friends with me, having just been suspended.
When vacation was over, I refused to go back to school.
It caused huge fights with my parents, some turning a little physical.
But I absolutely, positively, was not going back to school.
Years later my parents recognized that it was for the best and that the situation was more awful than they realized at the time.
After a month or so, the school threatened to expel me if I didn’t come back.
As I joke now, expel me?! I already left!!
Thankfully another school in town welcomed me with open arms for 8th grade.
I’ll post the story of my second dropping out soon.
The best lesson I have for this dropout story is to keep an open mind.
If your kid or teenager is saying something isn’t right, maybe it isn’t.
Maybe the kid or teen is just making a ruckus and is in the wrong. That certainly happens.
But maybe something is really not right with the situation.
And your love and support for your kid or your teen will make all the difference in the world to them.
Nowadays this seems so clear; people like Dr. Shani Verschleiser and others are advocating to change everyone’s perceptions and awareness for the better.
I had to drop out to remove myself from the situation.
Other kids got left behind, had to finish out the year with that terrible teacher.
2 more months in hell.
Keep that open mind!!
