straddling the "boundary" line (9.29.11)

being a teacher focused on relationships can be good, necessary, really difficult. especially when things get complicated with morals. what do you do when a student has made a choice you don't agree with and would never want your own child to do?

on the college tour trip "p" threw up during breakfast, a perk of being pregnant. here's the problem- I'm not "for" this pregnancy (though I am not saying that I am for abortions either). I'm just frustrated all around. I refuse to celebrate the situation as some are...but I'm also not going to condemn her or shove her into a corner for this situation she has gotten herself in. at the same time, i am angry because she shouldnt have to worry about morning sickness on an 8th grade college tour trip.

she threw up and i followed her to the bathroom, got her water, calmed her down. then i had to tell her that i knew she's pregnant (which im sure made it even more awkward than needed to be). i don't know. my role as her teacher is to teach english- reading and writing. but my role as a teacher is also to empower my students. how do i empower "p," separate from the choices she has made to find herself in her current situation? how do i support this dear student of mine, who is resilient and intelligent and hard-working, without supporting her decision to have unprotected sex as a 13 year old, get pregnant, and then decide to have the child?