Runner
    He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Why in the world does this child get so angry that he has this burning desire to run away from school? I watched as he inched closer and closer to the edge of the woods. As I watched him disappear from across the soccer field, I began to sprint across to where he made his escape. While I was running I was dodging students left and right until BAM! A soccer ball hit my foot and I almost tripped, but I didn’t stop. The child’s teacher was just standing on the edge of the woods, yelling for him. When I reached the woods I stepped carefully around the tangled vines of poison ivy. I spotted the student walking no less than fifty feet away from a person’s home. When I turned to my left I saw our school guidance counselor attempting to coax him back to the field. “I DIDN’T DO IT!” he screamed.

By now there was a cluster of students standing at the edge of the woods listening. The counselor had not seen what had happened prior to this, so she did not understand. This student, let’s call him Runner, 5 minutes earlier had been reprimanded for pulling down another student’s pants and was asked to sit down and think about his actions. What the counselor did understand was that Runner was prone to these outbursts and could get violent with those who interfere.

As I took a few steps closer, stepping on twigs and crunchy leaves, he began screaming again. “Stop following me!” He was almost on the house’s back porch. I could see the fury and the hatred in his eyes. He balled his fists, ready to swing if we stepped any closer. “We just want to help you…” the counselor whispered. Runner looked at me and I motioned slowly for him to come to me. He looked to his left and saw another second grade teacher recording the events that were unfolding.

“Stop recording me!” he shouted. It is a shame that situations like this need to be recorded for proof and peace of mind that the student cannot say we touched or tried to restrain him.

    Finally Runner started walking back towards campus. As soon as he reached the tree line, he started sprinting towards the building. By this time, hardly any students were playing and more students were watching as I followed him out of the woods. I thought to myself, “How many phone calls are we going to make to the front office before someone actually comes to help?!” He climbed up a small playground structure and grasped the bars tightly.

I exhaled when I saw Mr. D, our behavioral interventionist, coming to handle the situation after 10 minutes of us pleading for help. Mr. D asked the student to come inside and perhaps get something cool to drink and talk about everything. I bet you cannot guess what happened next. Did you guess more running and screaming? Runner refused to move and tightened his grip on the cool metal bars. Mr. D had had enough and finally pried the student away from the bars and carried him across the playground. When he put the Runner down I’m pretty sure the student thought about running again, but I can’t say for sure. As they slowly walked into the building, I turned to face the students who had realized that they had been outside for more than 15 minutes past our normal time. How was I going to explain this behavior? Why does this student get so angry and violent?