Young Lost Lady.

‘Miss high profile caught you shopping on Canal
I guess it makes sense it seems phony as your style
Your hair and your nails just as phony as your smile
Fake eyelashes you drew your eyebrows
It make a brother ask do you pride yourself?
Your make up like a mask trynna hide yourself
It seems on the outside you thinking you the shit
Put theres a soul that’s inside that you don’t even knew exist
So you so out of touch that the world mistreat you,

rich niggas f*** you and broke niggas beat you
Hoping this will reach you when you understand that your value aint determined by another man
Cuz right now you let them brothers get the upper hand
And you just tell them go deep like Cunningham
And you just let them OD like Len Bias
And that p**** so good he let his friends try it
Losing your balance, girl you losing your balance ”—J.Cole, “Losing your balance”—the warm up

Right now I have some homework that I’m supposed to be working on. I’m supposed to be doing data analysis of some students generated by my professor [fake students], and I have to develop an instructional unit lesson plan on a topic of my choice, integrate content areas, and connect to the NC Standard Course of Study…blah, blah.

But the reality is, I’m sitting here baffled at some things that I have witnessed over the last few weeks working at a local Charlotte high school. I had to take the time out of assessing these fake students on this piece of paper in front of me to speak out on behalf of REAL students. The real kids that I see on a day to day basis.

On Friday we had a pep rally here as a part of the homecoming celebration for the high school. The kids got pretty hype, and that was the first big event at the school this year.

[retell]

I am standing down on the gym floor, over to the side. Looking at the students sitting in the bleachers. I see a plethora of behaviors that are just out of control. Amidst a small segment of the Latino population (who were extremely school spirited) I seen a Latina young woman grinding her hips on a young man. Just straight backin it up on him, twurkin off beat as ever. Others students have out cell phones textin, here and there throwing things from the stands.

I’m taking all of this in. Thinking to myself these kids are crazy. Laughing under my breath at some of their antics and frowning in disapproval at some of the others.

Then I see her. A young black female. Standing up in the bleachers dancing with her ass facing the opposite side of the bleachers. She was poppin her booty, bending over touching her toes and doing all the latest stripper moves [I suppose]. I felt like I was the only staff member that seen the young lady. Eventually she sat back down in her seat, so the issue appeared to have subsided.

The DJ asked for a volunteer from each grade level to come down to the gym floor to play a game. Suddenly THE young lady appeared out of nowhere. They played musical chairs with two of the local radio celebrities. Once it got down to 3 people left in the game, the young lady stopped walking around the chairs while the music was playing and started dancing. Of course, she lost at musical chairs doing all that dancing instead of walking around the chairs. But on her way back to her seat she starting bussin splits. Yes. I said splits.

I could not believe my eyes!!

How sad was this. She was seeking attention so much that she dropped into splits on the cold gym floor in front of the whole school.

She was kicked out of the pep rally of course…but what does that do? Accomplish? Help? Nothing.

Her problems are much deeper than a 5 minute “you shouldn’t have done that--conference?”

On top of all of that, on Monday the young lady got into a fight at school in the hallway. The word-in-the- hallway is that it was over some dude. Now this young lady also already has a child and claims to be pregnant again. Damn. Who or WHAT can help her? What can I do? How can I help? What is her life like after school? It’s obvious she is screaming out for attention and begging for someone to listen to her. Who will though?

 Who will actually give a damn about the many young adults like her? Lost. Yet waiting to be found.

One of the most painful realities of my job, is that no matter how much I try, no matter how many interventions I formulate, I cannot reach all of the children.

And even more disheartening is that all of them don’t want to be reached.