Diagnosed Child

Diagnosed Child

 

‘Well what’s the point of taking him, he’ll just be on his iPod for the whole thing’

‘Can you at least smile for the photo?’

‘Stop mumbling!’

 

‘You alright mate? You sure you don’t wanna dance?’

‘Come on there’s loads of girls here!’

‘Come on stop being so miserable’

 

‘Just so you know you can always come talk to me after class if there’s anything you need to talk about?’

‘It might sound weird but you may want try Pilates if you’re feeling down, it really helped me out’

‘Listen I’ve been talking to your form tutor and we both think you should see the counsellor’

 

‘Let’s see so in your evaluation chart you rated your chin 1 out of 5, why did you feel like you had to score it so low?’

‘Don’t worry about the scars they will go down and if you want to you can get rid of them when you’re older with plastic surgery’

‘Well it seems you’re dealing with it really well, I’m just gonna go over your answers one more time and then you can go, okay?’

‘Did you have to go to the counsellor’ 

                                 ‘What did he say?’

                                             ‘What’s wrong with you?’     

                                                                      ‘Can we help you?’

                                              Fine whatever’

Reviews

[Tony Jordan]

Kids find articulating their problems so hard probably because they constantly compare themselves with their peers. "Nobody else hates gym or role playing in class or reading aloud...I must be weird"
This makes them withdraw and parents fear opening a can of worms so are reluctant to seek help too.
I could relate to this one so much.
A hard write to put on paper - of that I have no doubt.
Well done.

[Hell in a Hip Flask]

You're right in that the atmosphere of school can make kids feel like their problems feel insignificant thus causing the child to become secluded. But what I'm also focusing on here is the feeling of othering created by people, it could be teachers, friends or parents, who assume you have a problem because you are introverted or quiet. Many people want to try to help people become more like what is accepted as normal as they want to believe such a thing exists so they can feel comfortable in themselves. It makes the secluded person in question feel diagnosed as being abnormal. Always grateful for the considered review, thanks man.

[Tony Jordan]

Yes - teachers especially I found were drawn to the 'popular' kids for various reasons (one of them strategic to their shame) which copper-fastened the seclusion - the kids thought, "Hey he must be a weirdo - even teacher doesn't bother with him!"
I hear ya.
Welcome my friend.

[...]

The last thing I would ever wish for is to be a child again.

[robsmunn]

I don't normally read poetry but this drew me in. I think its because its content is close to my heart as I'm currently studying to become a school teacher and the mental and emotional health of children is something really important to me. But despite that this piece is something different and heartfelt.