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I Lost A Prefect

This happened for a few months already but I just knew the full detail yesterday afternoon...

I have a group of 55 prefect students under me in school. The number of boy prefects are significantly less than the girls. (Add your sexist commentary here). I found out that girls are more proactive and the boys are lazier. Still, they all needed to be prodded with a hot glowing stick (read a lot of yelling) to have the job done.

Anyway, I did lost a boy. He is 14 and from the last class of his batch. I chose him not because of his intellect, but his ability to follow order. (Come to think of it, 'following MY order' is the very tenet to be in my crew. I run my outfit like the mafia). He was likable enough, sometimes spouting unnecessary commentary when nobody is asking, but rarely rude. To tall for his age and not really good looking to stop the flow of traffic.

He lived with his uncle and aunt, as his own parents are serving time in jail for some unknown crime (unknown because I don't make it a crusade to ask too much to fill my pretty head). The relatives sent him to stay at the hostel in school, and they admitted to me that the boy was a handful much earlier because of the state of his family; too much freedom and less supervision = the making of a monster. Fortunately for the boy and his guardians, we are able to curb any negative vibes from him, and he stays and study with the rest of the students quite normally.

Until a couple of months ago....  

During a weekend where the students were able to go back to their respective homes, his mother showed up at his uncle's house. She expressed the desire to meet her long lost son, and maybe take him out for dinner for awhile. The boy's uncle and aunt were hesitant at first, yet they obliged when the woman pleaded and promised to return the boy back after the meal. The boy left with his mother and that was the last time his uncle and aunt saw him.

His uncle told me that the mother took the boy to meet his father and then the entire family traveled quickly to an undisclosed address in the capital city, a couple of hundred km away. Yes, the convict parents kidnapped their own son from his legal guardians. And one of the atrocities his parents did earlier was SELLING their own children. (Adoption is rather normal everywhere in the country, and most of these adoptions are unofficial, without legal document exchange and is all about trust. But selling children @ human trafficking is another ball in the park. heck, It belongs in another stadium, preferably in prison). The boy initially had another 3 younger brothers. Now he is the only one left.

The school was free from any legal fuss because the abduction(?) happened when the boy was under his guardians' care. But I lost a man (boy) and I asked the vice principal of students affair what we can do. He said we cannot do anything as this is a custody battle, where the school has no say.

The boy hasn't attend a school yet (I expected him not attend at anytime anywhere in the future, having irresponsible parents like that). And he was happy. He told his friends via phone text messages about that state of being. I told his friends that I send my 'good luck to you' wish, sarcastic like and hope he would not end up like his fabulous parents.

I need to find a replacement... and this week alone 18 students lined up to be my new prefects.

Life goes on.

12 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Oh dear, parents who are already expert in human trafficking do not bode well for your young prefect. May he find his way back to a better life.

ShadowRun300 said...

This makes me sad. It has to be more difficult for you, knowing you had a chance to turn him around, and now there is little hope. Maybe what you instilled in him the short time he was there will stick with him. Fingers crossed anyway.
Hopefully you'll find a new perfect, but you'll likely be feeling that hole for a while.

Abby said...

Oh no, how awful. I truly don't understand parents who would do such things. I understand why you and your school are so limited in helping, which must be so frustrating.

Martha said...

That is sad for the boy. Perhaps he's not the one even sending the text messages. I hope his road takes him to a better life. Some people should never be parents.

Tomoko said...

It is sad to think that a local board of education and school are powerless and helpless to search such a poor boy. 14 –year-old is still a child. I hope he can be strong and find his own way to live wherever he stays now. Hopefully he suddenly comes back to his relatives. I do not like the idea that this is a custody battle.

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Life goes on, indeed...

Unknown said...

Dear Debra;
It does not indeed. We just hope he will be all right...

Unknown said...

Dear ShadowRun300;
I do hope that he remembers being surrounded with friends and should steer himself away from wrongdoings.

Unknown said...

Dear Abby;
It is frustrating to know that some people believe they can do much better when they obviously can't. In this case, we cannot help the family.

Unknown said...

Dear Martha;
My students who texted the boy agreed that it was indeed him. He may be trapped in a hell of his own choosing.

Unknown said...

Dear Tomoko;
Let's hope for the best. I don't believe he can return by his own though.

Unknown said...

:)
The road is long and winding. It is not wise to dwell in the past. But I will not forget.

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