Managing Misbehavior: What Happened

Note: All last names, home towns, and schools of students were not included in order to protect the privacy of the students.

Original Post Wednesday  July 13, 2011:

Before McWane:Oh My! What an intense day at the McWane Center! Of course, working with teenagers was a bit of a challenge. My nephew had promised me that his friends would all be at his house at noon, but somehow no one showed up for hours! I was also disappointed and somewhat annoyed in the lack of a "crowd" that Jared had promised me. At 2:00 I had a total of 4 teenagers coming along on this little adventure, when I was promised 8 or more the week before.  Although I wanted to meet at noon and leave shortly after, we did not get on the road until much later. If this were a classroom setting (or a field trip) children would be required to be at school on time. I could not simply give these children detention for being tardy (or not showing up at all)!

Somehow I did not realize how these very active, very bored teenagers would turn my afternoon upside down! I had to pick up a few of his friends, and we met a few more of his friends at a drug store (they wanted snacks). The task of just getting to The McWane Center was difficult, exhausting, and downright complicated. I supposed my nephew was right when he said "It's just so complicated" the night before when I spoke to them. I had forgotten how complicated things become with teenagers, especially when only a few of them have cars and drivers licenses. The other driver (my nephews girlfriend) ended up having to pick up another friend, take him to the police station to pick up his accident report, and then take him all the way back home. Therefore we did not even arrive at the McWane Center until 3 pm!

At around 2:30 it began raining. This afternoon shower was more than just a light shower, it was a down pour. I was worried that the other driver (Myranda) might have a difficult time driving in these weather conditions.  Despite the rain I called my nephew to ask him to be careful! He then informed me that Myranda had to drop their friend off at home and they were on their way to pick up another friend of theirs (totaling to 5 teenagers), so of course Dylan and I would have to wait another few minutes in Birmingham for the rest of the group.

  

The Misbahaving Teens:

Jared (age 15)

Myranda (age 16)
Emily (age 16)
Dylan (age 13)
Zach (age 15)

At McWane: Finally around 2:45 pm we entered the McWane Center. I was lucky because one of the men working there remembered me from high school and let me in for free. But I still had to pay for two teenagers to get in (my nephew AND his girlfriend) as my nephew considers me "bank" with endless amounts of money to give away. I was glad the other teens had money and got in for cheaper posing as 12 year old children.

I set no ground rules for this trip because I figured they were more likely to misbehave (and I would learn more) if I did not set any. I asked them to misbehave for be so I could learn more. I did ask them, however, to watch out for the other children. I did not want any parents upset with me because the teenagers in my care were running wild and hurt their child. That was my only ground rule. After learning that they went wild!

Within 5 minutes one of my teens was already hurt. Emily (age 16) thought it would be a wonderful idea to jump on Dylan (age 13) only to be hit in mouth by his head. Her lip was swollen, red, and turning blue for the rest of the day. All this happened when I had my back turned for just a split second, while trying to map out what to do first. I felt horrible for her, but I documented the incident using my camera phone and told her to get ice or a cold paper towel to stop the swelling.

Of course as teenagers, they broke every possible rule they could! They brought with them Faith Stickers (from the skate shop downtown) and placed them strategically around the McWane Center behind my back! They brought food and drink into exhibits that stated "No food or drinks allowed beyond this point", they climbed on areas that were not meant for climbing (the area between the stairs what used to be the escalator- which is now a slide), they spilled drinks and ice, they crawled behind expensive equipment, they ran, they screamed, they rough housed with each other. What more could I expect from teenagers? I lost them on several occasions. But overall I was happy that I chose the McWane Center. It was an excellent environment for teenagers to be captivated, active, and educated all at once. Some parts of the McWane Center are meant for roughhousing and silly play, while others were much more serious. I was glad that they were able to pet the sting rays and baby hammer head sharks. I was also glad that they were able to entertain themselves on this very hot and muggy day. I tried to get the teens to stay away from the exhibits that were meant for the much younger children, in order to ensure the safety of those children. As far as I can tell they did not venture into that area, however, there were several times where they were out of my line of vision.

I took several pictures on my camera phone (excuse the lack of quality) to document the 'adventure'. I have posted them (and my captions) on my Google + and the link is here:Album

For more information about the McWane Center go here: http://www.mcwane.org/