REAL LIFE: Pushing back the boundaries

Tom is a very defiant young man who feels he is no good and does not believe what adults say to him. He was one of the young people whom YMCA Norfolk Schools Key Worker, Rebecca Wass, helped to make the sometimes difficult transition between primary school and high school during a summer project in Norwich.

 

"At the beginning, Tom could manipulate the small group and would constantly push the boundaries and take it one step further than everyone else," said Rebecca. 

 

"He enjoys making and building things but although he appears very confident he is very insecure. He does not believe anything he does is any good and will tear up his drawings and any craft he does several times before finishing something. 

 

Tom needs encouragement to understand that he is a talented boy when it comes to crafts. He does not take compliments well and believes adults are only saying they like something because they have to, not because they really mean it. 

 

"By the end of the project, Tom really liked to be told how well he was doing.  He constantly needs reassurance that he is behaving and I feel if this carries on at High School – complementing his good behaviour – then he has good potential. 

 

"He used to swear at the beginning of the programme but rarely did by the end unless he was very angry about something. He also used to run away and now will take time out and it is possible to persuade him to come back on his own accord.

 

"He acts like he doesn't care about anything, but underneath Tom is a child that really does care and needs reassurance that you do care about him. He responds to discipline if it is consistent. If there is any movement in a rule he will be the first to pick up on it and will see this as an injustice.

 

"Overall, Tom won the Most Improved Attitude Award as he responded to the members of staff on a positive level, became very helpful, stopped trying to push the boundaries and didn't try to cause a fight or run away in the last two weeks."