The teacher: “‘Django (11) has done something scary’, says the resident teacher in tears”

Monday, the break. I am sitting in the teachers’ lounge when the stay-at-home teacher Martina comes in, holding my student Django (11) by the hand. Django’s teeth chatter from crying. I see he has red welts on his neck. There are also tears in Martina’s eyes. She takes me aside. “Django did something scary,” she says. “He sat behind a bush, put willow twigs around his neck and pulled at them. When I found him he was almost out of breath.’

The world stands still for a moment. I look at Django, a little sensitive boy, who often stands alone in playtime. My heart breaks. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my work.

In shock

The intern supervisor takes over my class, while I give Django tea in an empty room. I call his father Muno, with whom he lives – Django’s parents are divorced. Muno comes right away. I stroke Django’s neck, over the welts. ‘Are you hurt?’ I ask. He cries on, trembling. “Let’s go sign,” I say. I hand him a sheet of paper and Django automatically starts drawing his dog. He is calmer now. Then I ask, ‘Why did you do that?’ “I wanted to see what happened, Miss,” he says. “And then the branches stuck.”

When Muno enters, Django jumps into his arms. I hand it over with confidence and go to my class. All the children are quiet. Max starts to cry. He asks: ‘Teacher, did Django want to commit suicide?’

‘No, how do you get there?’ I say. “He was playing a game and then the twigs got stuck. He is very shocked, now he is home with his father to recover.’

All the children look relieved.

Read also
The teacher: ‘Nora’s mother is so upset that she tries to slap me’ >

Depressed

After school I call Muno. He says that Django is calm and wants to go back to school the next day. Then I broach a subject that is very close to my heart. Django’s mother is depressed. I have sometimes thought that Django inherited her illness, he is often sad without being able to tell why. Muno says he recognizes my fear. We both wonder if Django’s ‘game’ was a harmless game.

In the meantime I did a Google search for ‘child suicide’. This shows that children between the ages of ten and fifteen are already making efforts to do so. About five children a year are not saved.

child therapy

Muno and I agree that I will call a befriended child therapist to register Django urgently. Over the next few months, the therapist works wonders. She tells Muno that she has identified Django’s depressive thoughts, but that she is teaching him to turn them into ‘helpful thoughts’.

I don’t know exactly how she does it, but it works. Django becomes happier. He makes friends. When I take him aside to ask how he is, he says, “Good teacher. It was stupid what I did, I’m never going to do it again.’ And I believe him.

This article appears in Kek Mama 15-2020.

More stories from The Miss? Every Wednesday there is a new episode on KekMama.nl. Read the previous episodes here.