262 The Explosive Childother students are waiting to see if you know what you’re
doing, not to see whether you’re good at treating every-
body exactly the same. And since everyone’s different,
why would the goal ever be to treat everyone exactly the
same?
Children are actually pretty good at understanding
the fair-does-not-mean-equal concept and at making ex-
ceptions for children who need help; in my experience,
it’s much more common that adults are the ones strug-
gling with the principle.
DRAMA IN REAL LIFE
Running on Empty“We can’t let Casey keep running out of the room,”
the school principal said gravely. “It’s dangerous, and
we’re responsible for his safety.”
It was March of Casey’s first-grade year, and the
principal was presiding over a meeting that included
Casey’s teacher, occupational therapist, guidance coun-
selor, special education coordinator, parents, and psy-
chologist. Casey was blowing up a lot less often at
home, but there were still some kinks to work out at
school.
“Well,” the psychologist said, “as you know, in some