"It Is Our Responsibility": Principal Installs 'Care Closet' As Alternative to Deal with "Bad" Kids
Back in the day, when a kid acted a fool in the classroom...he was in for a whoopin’.
But times have changed. When young students misbehave, the response is usually detention or suspension. Or if someone in the administrative office feels like going the extra mile, they may try to see that the child gets tutoring, or a doctor’s appointment to be evaluated for ADD.
But Equetta Jones, the Assistant Principal at Highland Elementary in Wilmington, DE., did something entirely different. And, for some, it was completely shocking: she rewarded so-called bad children with gifts!
That’s because she didn’t think they were being “bad” in the usual sense; Jones realized the problems behind some kids’ disciplinary issues ran deeper — and she had a solution.
“No child comes in every day and says ‘I want to be angry. I want to hit you. I want to curse you out. I don’t want to learn,’” she said in a recent interview with Upworthy. “So it is our responsibility to find out why they’re verbalizing those things.”
Jones realized that the worst “problem children” were those living at the poverty level. “In the middle class, we forget about the fact that when we wake up every morning, we wake up with shelter.” Sadly, not all of her students have that luxury.
In a surprising turn from traditional corrective actions, Jones’ school worked with an organization called First Book to install a “Care Closet” — a supply of basic essentials for kids in need.
First Book has always supplied textbooks and educational tools for kids in low-income communities, but they started offering living essentials as well when they heard from teachers that those things are just as important when it comes to helping kids do good in school.
The Care Closet project gives kids what they need to succeed. But they’re not handouts — they’re hand-ups. “Their focus is now on coming in and being the best student they can be,” Jones said.
She explained how she does it: “I will give them the care package, let them go to the bathroom, clean themselves up, give them a fresh pair of clothes, fold up the dirty clothes, and then send them back home and call up the parents and let them know what I did.”
The whole thing is discreet; Jones even bought department store-style shopping bags to keep their contents private, so the poorer kids aren’t embarrassed or teased.
Once the kids have what they need, that’s when the real work begins. “All of their needs are being met here,” she says. "And now that they have supplies and stability, they know that their job is to go and learn.”
Jones has enjoyed seeing several success stories over the past year or so since making the change. Here’s to many more years of success — and we hope to see other Principals follow her lead!
#AspireToInspire
