Raise your hand if you’re familiar with oppositional defiance disorder. For your sake, I hope you didn’t raise your hand. Oppositional defiance disorder or ODD is a chronic condition that cannot be cured; it often shows itself in early adolescence and is characterized by temper tantrums, being vindictive, arguing with adults, questioning roles in refusing to follow the rules, blaming others for their own misbehaviors or mistakes, and doing things to annoy or upset others including adults and in extremes they are violent. Throughout my teaching career, I have taught several students that suffered from ODD. I think there is a disproportionate number of ODD students in Title I schools due to environmental factors. Statistically, it isn’t clear how many students suffer from ODD. The number is between 2% and 11%, according to researchers. But we know that it is more common in males. We know it’s caused by the following:
- Genetic factors: Research suggests that genetics account for about 50% of the development of ODD. Many children and teens with ODD have close family members with mental health conditions, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders. Further, many children and teens with ODD also have other mental health conditions, such as ADHD, learning differences, or depression and anxiety disorder, which suggests a genetic link between the conditions.
- Biological factors: Some studies suggest that changes to certain areas of your brain can lead to behavior disorders. In addition, ODD has been linked to issues with certain neurotransmitters, which help nerve cells in your brain communicate with each other. If these chemicals are out of balance or not working properly, messages might not make it through your brain correctly, leading to symptoms.
- Environmental factors: Having a chaotic family life, childhood maltreatment, and inconsistent parenting can all contribute to the development of ODD. In addition, peer rejection, deviant peer groups, poverty, neighborhood violence, and other unstable social or economic factors may contribute to the development of ODD.
I have loved every student I have taught, even the difficult ones, but this story is the most difficult one. Let’s call him Robin. Robins are a symbol of hope, renewal, and rebirth.
Robin came to me in my second year of teaching. He came to us in the middle of the school year, and we knew it would be an issue when the administrator in the hall sat us down for a preemptive meeting. We usually are coached to assume the best in every child, so having a meeting about a child’s behavior status was not the norm. We were informed that he suffered from ODD and had several incidents in his prior school. They kept it vague. Meeting Robin, I instantly knew the level of his ODD. Street smarts give you certain advantages in the classroom; you develop a vigilance for certain behaviors and cues. Robin’s first day, he said nothing; his eyes followed me as I walked around the classroom, taught, opened, and closed the door. He didn’t look away when I found his eyes; he smiled silently and maintained eye contact. Most children can barely hold their peer’s gaze, let alone an adult’s. On day two, he began testing the waters. Dropping a pencil to see if I would pick it up. Attempting to approach me from behind me to see how I would react, testing those street smarts. Demanding things from his classmates and waiting for me to respond. Day 3, he unleashed.
Day 3, He walked around the classroom, getting up randomly. He asked to go to the restroom several times, made vulgar comments to me, and yelled curse words. I remained unshooketh. I already allowed my students to roam freely, allowed them the freedom of signing out for the bathroom so long as they signed back in after five minutes, and allowed 10 minutes between bathroom breaks. Every comment he made, “Ms. Mayes, you got a fat ol’ ass” or “fuck you bitch,” I addressed, “Inappropriate, Robin,” and “Okay, Robin, no infliction.” I documented every incident and would still ask him if you need any help and where you are in the worksheet, like any child. The hardest part is explaining to the other kids focus on you, because they are quick to ask “why can Robin curse? why can Robin yell at you, why can Robin stand on the table.” And you want to tell them because Robin has a hair trigger, or security is afraid of Robin, or the principal says every child must succeed, or because Robin has a “plan.” Those kids don’t understand how often I saved them from Robin’s wrath. I rather he call me a bitch, and yell at me than another person’s child. ODD’s kryptonite is calm and consistency. Over time he would say, “Man, fuck you, Ms. Mayes,” and quickly flow with, “I love you, Ms. Mayes. You know I love you, right.” I would look and say, “I know honey, and if you love me, you’ll do your work.” He would buckle down for 10 minutes or say “I’ll do it if you sit next to me.” If I got wrapped up helping a student, he would say, “you haven’t checked on me yet.” When he would storm out of others class, he would come to sit in my class and ask if he could do science. Calm and consistency.
As the year progressed, he got more violent. He robbed a man at a check cashing place up the street from the school, beat his mother up and was eventually put in juvie. Upon his release, I moved to eighth grade and was blessed to have him again. Teachers’ hell-bent on controlling his behavior quickly learned what happens when you fuel the fire. He threw trash cans at the assistant principal, choked a teacher against the wall, and pushed a teacher who tried to block him from leaving. I am not blaming those teachers or excusing the student’s behavior because of his diagnosis. But you know who never got touched or raged on…Ms. Mayes. There was one incident where we stood toe to toe after I stood between him and another student who had told him “bruh just sit the fuck down.” I held his gaze stone faced and silent as he tried to move around me until, eventually, his scowl faded into a smile, and he said, “ahhhh I’m just playing with you, Ms. Mayes.” Unfortunately, that is sometimes a “win” in teaching. He was arrested again and sent to juvie pistol whipping someone because it looked cool. That was at 15. This year he turned 19. I read he was arrested for a felony hit-and-run a year ago but is back out. Sometimes I wonder if he had a community rally and collectively model calm and consistency what might have happened. I wonder if he was taken out of an urban environment and placed on a farm what would have happened. There isn’t a cure I am sorry, you manage with a student with ODD, but meet students where they are at, and look for small wins. Robin an I built our relationship so that we could talk about coping skills, and collaborate on setting goals. “Do three questions by the next time I come by.” “Let’s try and take two bathroom breaks instead of five.” “If you storm out stay on the hall where I can see you, you can pace, but if you turn the corner you’ve gone to far.”
Classroom to Corporate 