I am a Therapeutic Day Treatment Counselor. My job is to spend time with your troubled child while he or she is at school. I hang out with them in their classrooms. I provide encouragement and redirection as needed. I pull them out of class for the occasional one-on-one counseling session to work on goals and objectives specific to your child’s needs. This is a long and arduous process.

If you were expecting me or my colleagues to magically transform your child into a compliant and well-behaved child on day one, you were sorely mistaken. I am not a miracle worker. I work with your child, along with several others, for 6-7 hours each school day. You work with your child (and yours alone) for the rest of their lives. What do you believe I can do with my fraction of time that you can’t do with the whole?

Please, believe that I have your child’s best interests at heart and want to see him or her succeed to the best of his or her abilities. There is no magic wand that can “fix” your child. In fact, your child doesn’t need to be “fixed.” They just need to figure out how to make better choices and, really, that can only fall on them. I can’t make their choices for them. Neither can you.

Sincerely,

Peckapalooza

PS – Please stop yelling at me when your kid comes home with a bad report. That was not my fault. I did not tell him to hit that other kid. He totally did that on his own. I’m not even allowed to touch him to stop him from hitting anyone else. I have no real power. If anything, you should pity me for my lack of authority where your child is concerned.

PPS – Seriously, stop yelling at me. I get that you’re frustrated because you spend so much more time with this kid than I do and have to deal with these issues all the time. But, I implore you, find more constructive ways to express yourself. Cussing me out on the phone doesn’t help anyone and only makes me want to quit working with your kid which leaves him or her worse off than they were before.