Interviews

My first interview was on March 29th. I asked "Jane" to come to the back table to sit down and talk. She was grunting and had her hands folded with a negative attitude but came out after I started asking questions about her and her interests. She began talking about her new apartment with a smile on her face. She was happy to move away from Hope House. Then she loved talking about her new puppy, which they named "Sudden."

Then she talked about how she liked to play with her new dog. I asked her when she got the dog. She said yesterday. I asked her what color it was and she said brown. Then she said her dad got her another dog but she has not named that one yet. Then I asked her why she was so sad in the mornings when she comes into the classroom. She said, "because I miss my grandma."

So I began to ask questions about her grandma. "Jane" told me she used to live with her prior to the fire and that grandma would make "Jane" breakfast before school and give her a hug before she went to school. Then I asked her if she ever gets to see her grandma, and she told me "sometimes."

Then I asked her how she liked her new apartment. She said she liked it since she felt safe there. I asked her what she meant by safe. She said, "there are no bad guys there."

I asked her what she liked about school. She said, "Reading in the reading corner is her favorite activity because she can be by herself with a book."

I asked her what her favorite thing to do at home was. She shrugged her shoulders.

At this point I finished my first interview with "Jane".

I wanted to have a conference with "Jane's" mom to discuss "Jane's" anger, hostility, and negative attitude and to get a better perspective of what is happening at home when/if these behaviors occur there.

I asked mom how she handles "Jane's" negative attitude. Mom said, "I don't. I ignore it and hope it goes away."

Then I said, "Does her new dog make her happy?" Mom said, "What dog, she has never had a dog."

So with my mouth wide open, I said, "Then she lied to me." Her mom said, "she lies all the time at home." Meanwhile, "Jane" was sitting in the corner reading a book.

Mom had no expression throughout the conference. She showed no emotion and it seemed very matter-of-fact. I asked many questions to try to find out where all of this behavior is stemming from. Mom said, "I don't know."

I told mom that "Jane" misses her grandmother and she said, "I don't know why, she sees her all of the time."

Then I came to a conclusion after talking with mom and finding out that she works all of the time. The only time "Jane" sees mom is in the morning when mom walks her to the bus stop. Jane's hostility and anger stem from not spending time with mom. I brought this up to mom and she said plainly, "Yea, I thought so. I'll try to spend more time with her during spring break."

With that, mom had to go and the conference ended. I tried to suggest counseling, but mom said, "she does not have time."

Then I suggested Big Brothers, Big Sisters, so that "Jane" would have someone to be with and someone to do things. Mom said, "She has her stepdad." At that point she left.

My second interview was on April 16th, which was the first day back from spring break. I asked Jane, "Did you get to spend some time with mom over the break?"

Jane said, "No. She took me to my grandmas and I stayed there the entire time. I played tag with my cousins every day. I didn't read at all." Then she began to cry.

I asked her, "Why are you crying?" "Jane" shrugged her shoulders and folded her arms and would not answer the question. I felt like she was like a turtle going back into her shell so at that point I decided to end the interview.