by Joshua Cooper, Arts for Peace Coordinator
Sierra had a hard time being calm when other students laughed at her.
An Arts for Peace staff member moved a chair that Sierra tried to sit in, resulting in Sierra falling to the floor. When other students saw that happen, they laughed at her. Fortunately, Sierra did not act aggressively toward them. Instead, she left the room with an attitude and an angry face that was hard to miss.
Apologies from the staff member did not help. As several staff members tried talking to Sierra about what happened, she began to talk about what she should’ve done to the students that laughed at her. She began to get more and more upset.
All of a sudden, I heard her say that she was fine and she was going back in the room to sit down. Fearing the worst, I told her that she would not be allowed to go back into the room until she was visibly calm. This further upset her. She was practically irate at the idea of being told what to do and refused to follow direction. With this, I began to wonder if she should continue to be part of the program.
After 5 minutes of multiple attempts to help her calm down, many tears, and much staff involvement, she calmed down and was allowed back into the room. Information from staff who know her and her family explained that she has a challenging past and has been working on positive ways to deal with anger. I was glad that I did not send her home.
Three hours later, I walked over to Sierra to see how she was doing. As I tapped Sierra on the shoulder, she turned around with the biggest smile – the smile of a child – long gone was the anger of an adult. Everything around me froze…I was almost in tears.
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