The Kid In The Back Of The Class

A 9th grader was the only student not to raise his hand during the Q&A after his class watched that 47-minute documentary on the Boston Bulldogs run club last week. The club helps people with addiction recovery and mental wellness and I had asked the students what they felt watching the film, what they saw. Most said they saw people who were “finally happy,” “resilient,” “boosted by addiction to being with other people who had survived.” Brilliant observations if you ask me. That boy did not seem to watch intently from my vantage point, but as were wrapping up the lively session, he quietly mumbled. “I see my family.” I took a deep breath, the room went silent, and I asked what he meant – what he saw. He said nothing. On the screen at that moment was imagery of the club gathering for a morning run – laughing, hugging, seeming to celebrate what recovery feels like. I asked again, “Is it this – the club getting ready to run, the joy of that?” He just shook his head side-to-side and quietly, reluctantly, a tear streaming down his cheek, his left hand trembling, and with all the courage of Jonas from The Giver and the Lion from Oz, said “not that…”  Turns out this 15-year-old boy, donning brown curly hair and a blue v-neck sweater, sitting in the back of the class, seeming almost invisible, didn’t see joy the way his peers had, but did see what his family could be, what he hoped they’d be anyway. That moment stands in time for me because here was a youngster who maybe, if not probably for the first time, had just given a glimpse into what he was seeing and feeling at home. Addiction has a ripple effect doesn’t it.  So can recovery. To watch the film, click here. Reach out to join the tour of the film for your school or group….it may just let a kid who feels invisible, lost and scared, feel some hope.