Today I had a Parent Teacher Conference (PTC) to talk about “farts”. I didn’t know what to call them in the meeting. I froze. I found out from the others that attended the meeting that the medical term is flatulence. But even if I had known this it still wouldn’t sound right. So I turned to the student, my face reddening, and said, “we need to talk about your farts.”
Its been an ongoing issue- these farts. They draw the attention away from the teacher to the student who is responsible for breaking the wind. And they positively cause a disruption for the students social world. Who likes to sit next to the student who farts? And what middle school student wouldn’t respond to a kid farting with a laugh or an ewwww.
I tried to intervene other ways. Ive had ongoing discussions with this kiddo about his farting in the classroom. Could he stop? What would it take for him to stop? Why can’t he stop? And, when he couldn’t think of solutions I asked him what he thought the nurse would say. “She would tell me to get an ice pack” which was actually kind of funny. Its one of the few remedies other than a band aid and water that the nurse can offer in public school. So there were just a bunch of excuses.
If we were to look at the whole child I could tell you that there are plenty of other challenges. This kiddo can’t get out of bed in the morning because he didn’t sleep due to insomnia. He therefore has no time to make breakfast. He relies on a friend to bring him hush puppies from Denny’s. He often has his head down. He complains often of his stomach hurting. He rarely participates in class. High stress. High anxiety. And often not happy. He paints a miserable picture. Life is tough for a lot of these kiddos.
He said he couldn’t stop farting. And in the conference he described it as “its like stopping an atomic bomb with a plastic bag”. Hmmmmm….
So where do I go with that?
“Could you at least step out?” But he tells us that he doesn’t know when they are coming.
And any suggestion I share just gets blasted. Im surprised he didn’t lay one out in the meeting.
Oh the life of a middle school student. And the life of a middle school counselor.