When Abeula entered our home, she was a fragile girl who had come from an abusive situation. She would lay silently in the Puerto Rican’s lap with her eyes closed. When not in his lap, Abeula would tentatively creep around the house cowering in fear when either of us approached her. Two weeks later, Abeula still moves awkwardly because of her past injuries, but she has gained weight and runs to the door, tail wagging, when she sees her Papa.

Abeula is the twelfth dog that the Puerto Rican has rescued from a bad situation and joins two other rescue dogs in our home: Snookie and Lil Mama. Other dogs he has rescued and rehabilitated are living in safe homes where they are loved. According to the Puerto Rican, “There is nothing that a little love can’t fix.”

It is amazing to watch the new dogs respond to the loving kindness they encounter in our home. Six months ago, Snookie had a very similar demeanor to what Abeula had two weeks ago: cowering when anyone approached him, skinny from lack of food, and so on. He is now a confident little man who explores the yard and takes care of his woman, Lil Mama, who joined our household only a month ago.

Lil Mama, too, has grown in confidence and does not need to constantly sit in my lap. And, with time, Abeula will reach Lil Mama’s level of confidence. Eventually, both will be as sure of themselves as Snookie is of himself today.

The world has changed since I was a youth. Technological advances have given rise to problems of over exposure. People no longer fall into obscurity after experiencing Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame. Instead, they launch their own reality show or simply become famous for being famous; not the best role models for today’s youth. The divorce rate is higher as is the accessibility of drugs. The economic situation, lack of jobs, the foreclosure crisis, and political extremism make living in today’s America much scarier than the one in which I grew up.

Especially when I see the Abeulas and the Snookies and the Lil Mamas in my classes, I am grateful that I am not a teenager today. Many of our students have been damaged because they come from or remain in difficult situations. Others have been so brutalized that they are convinced that they cannot succeed.

When I was still a graduate student, I read an article by a professor concerning damaged students. He asked questions such as, “What am I supposed to do with a student from [insert type of damaged situation]? Teach them how to write a paragraph?” My response at that time was “Of course. That’s our job.” And while I still believe that this is our job, my attitude has been tempered. Now, I believe that if we hope to teach our subject matters, it is more important than ever to first create a safe classroom environment.

According to the Puerto Rican, to rebuild trust in one who has been damaged, it takes “Love, a lot of patience, and time.” How many of our students have heard a professor or someone else in their lives say “Trust me” only to be treated with abuse?

Whether we call it agape or metta or being decent human beings, before we can hope to effectively teach English or history or math or science or whatever academic discipline we profess, we need to create classrooms where students can feel safe; where love, a lot of patience, and time can rebuilt the trust of our damaged students and give all students a firm basis for success.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD