Thresholds: 8 ways to help a child in transition
- Barbara Hawley
- Jun 23
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 6
Do you know a child standing on the threshold?
(Not literally, although I see myself as a girl, shyly lingering in the classroom door as a new student. Anxiously lingering at the doorway to my dorm room, as the new boarder. Sadly lingering at the entrance of a jetway that would transport me to a life on the other side of the globe.)
If not literally standing in the doorway, then a child in transition.
New to school. Leaving a school.
Shuffling between parents after a divorce.
Between homes as a foster child.
Leaving town. Moving into town.
My history teacher, Mr. G., modeled what can happen when an adult is aware of a child on the threshold.
At thirteen, I was new to the States, still in culture shock, still reeling from saying goodbye to my boarding school friends that were like family. I was being bullied, and wouldn't tell anyone. Not only was I an outsider but I was ignorant of many things my peers could do blindfolded, like making phone calls and counting change from a dollar.
I was out of touch, out of fashion, and out of luck in American junior high.
Mr. G. noticed me. He welcomed me into his classroom, and assigned another student to show me around. Since I was shockingly unschooled in American history, he gave me extra credit assignments. He called on me for answers I knew—like Southeast Asia's role in WWII. One day when I was in tears after class, he sat and listened.
And something I will never, ever forget: after the schoolyear was over, and I returned overseas with my parents, Mr. G. showed up at Philadelphia International Airport to see me off. He was the only nonfamily adult who did. ——————————
💼If you know a child in transition, here are eight things you can do to help.
Notice them.
Welcome them in. . . or see them off, whatever that looks like.
Acclimate them.
Include them.
Involve them.
Allow them air time.
Give them space.
Give them grace.