Working out who you would be to guide your responses

The quiet kid.

The checks kid.

The distant kid.

The bullied kid.

The uncertain kid.

The smart kid.

After a while, every kid becomes the something kid.

It’s true in the classroom.

It’s true in the church.

Who was I?

This is a question that should get asked from those up the front.

If it applies, which seat would they have been sitting in a decade ago?

Where would they fit in their class?

Which kid would they be like?

Better yet, warts and all, who were they like? 

The bully?

The wise ass?

The disinterested one?

We need those in leadership and authority to remember that they, at one time, were in the seats of the classroom or, potentially, pews of the church.

How would they have wanted to be treated back then?

It is this process which builds empathy.

It is this process which can direct the most positive ways to react to certain students.