At my school, and probably at yours too, they give us a little booklet about dealing with student crisis...who knew we would have to be therapists too!? And seriously, a BOOKLET? All it does is tell you to send the student to the counseling center, which is basically a measure to insure against lawsuits. The fact is, for some of these students, their professor is the only person they can talk to.
S
even years ago, I had a student (X) in my class who was a recovered drug addict. I teach art, so often, students draw on their own life experiences to make the work. I also have lots of one-on-one time with my students, because studio courses tend to be small. X was sober and was making art about addiction and recovery, very personal stuff. X was such a good student that I recommended him to several other faculty for individual study. Well, lo and behold, after two semesters, X has a relapse and reenters the world of drug culture full force. X would come to school on roller-blades with purple hair smelling like an open sewer, eyes dilated, high as a kite one day, tweaking the next. X was doing it ALL. The other professors asked why I had sent them this hot mess of a student, and I had some explaining to do. X made an outright declaration that his work was going to be about drugs, and that being high facilitated his creative energy, and made the work better. The truth of the matter was X's work was HORRIBLE. It was as sloppy and uninteresting as X had become, and I feared that X would soon end up dead.
even years ago, I had a student (X) in my class who was a recovered drug addict. I teach art, so often, students draw on their own life experiences to make the work. I also have lots of one-on-one time with my students, because studio courses tend to be small. X was sober and was making art about addiction and recovery, very personal stuff. X was such a good student that I recommended him to several other faculty for individual study. Well, lo and behold, after two semesters, X has a relapse and reenters the world of drug culture full force. X would come to school on roller-blades with purple hair smelling like an open sewer, eyes dilated, high as a kite one day, tweaking the next. X was doing it ALL. The other professors asked why I had sent them this hot mess of a student, and I had some explaining to do. X made an outright declaration that his work was going to be about drugs, and that being high facilitated his creative energy, and made the work better. The truth of the matter was X's work was HORRIBLE. It was as sloppy and uninteresting as X had become, and I feared that X would soon end up dead. I had a choice to make, and the semester was coming to a close. Should I just give X his failing grade and be done with it? Should I talk to X? Should I talk only about the art, or should I address the drug issue as well? Mind you, I was PISSED OFF. X has been so promising, one of my favorites. So on the day of our final critique, I took him aside. I explained that the work he was doing was awful, and that frankly, the only people who would be interested in looking at it would be the other crackheads at the crash pad, and that he had better adjust to that idea, because that was the only place where he would be able to exhibit this crap. I then told him that nobody in the professional art world will work with an unreliable drug addict, that he would be blackballed, and that he would probably die alone, young, and unrecognized. I also told him how sad I thought this was, and how talented I thought he had been. I finished by telling him that he had failed my class, and that I sincerely hoped he would get the help he needed, and encouraged him to seek out his AA sponsor, and gave him all of our university counseling service handouts. He never said a word. He sat there, took it all in (probably high), said "OK," and walked out. I didn't hear from him again for an entire semester, he was gone.
I felt awful. Had I crossed the line? I had told a student he was going to DIE!!!! What was I thinking? Was I going to be fired? I became convinced that my approach, while honest, had crossed the line. I had let my disappointment in him eclipse my professional decorum. After a semester goes by, I get an email from X. He tells me that failing my course had resulted in his being kicked out of school (it was the straw that broke the GPA's back). He also tells me that it had served as the wake up call he needed, and that he was emailing me from a halfway house, and apologized for everything. He thanked me for being one of the only professors who had been honest with him. Despite the drug haze he was in, he respected me and my words had gotten through. Via yearly updates, I learned that he graduated from rehab, relocated, went back to school, and three years later, graduated with a BA. I have not heard from him in a while, but I like to hope that he is still sober and still making good work. Did I cross the line? I think I did, but in this instance, I am glad that I stuck my neck out. I have been teaching for a decade, and X is the only student that has compelled me to "cross the line." I hope I am never faced with a life and death situation like this again. As educators we are simply not prepared or qualified to deal with this kind of thing. Regardless, I still keep my counseling booklet at my right elbow.
