Before I became a nurse, I worked as a mental health counselor with "at risk" children and teens for 6 years. A little 7 year old boy was referred to me once for acting out in class at school. I soon discovered that he was so overtired, stressed out, and afraid that performing well in school was pointless. On one occasion in class, I had to wrestle the boy to the floor to calm his rage and self-mutilating behavior.
At home, this little boy was forced to sleep in the bathtub at night due to bedwetting, and his abusive father would wake him late at night and show him frightening Freddy Krueger films and threaten him that Freddy was coming to rip his beating heart out of his chest if he wasn't a "good boy" in school. To keep himself safe and secure at night, this child would sleep clutching a sharp pencil in his hand in the bathtub.
I worked with the family for weeks to understand that many little boys wet the bed, and that he would out grow it. I taught him to change the bed sheets, and to line the mattress with a plastic cover. I also bought this little boy a Batmobile and convinced him that if he held it tight when he was afraid, Batman would come out and scare Freddy Krueger away...He stopped sleeping in the bathtub and didn't cling to a sharp pencil anymore, knowing that Batman was always around.
A week later at a party in his elementary school, he ran up and hugged me and introduced me to his new friends and showed me how well he was doing for his teacher in class. As I was leaving and waving goodbye to him and his teacher, he gave me a present: A brand new unsharpened pencil with hearts on it...I still have it to this day and will cherish it always...
