“Okay, so, who in this room has been hurt before?”
Every hand went up.
“What are some of the ways you’ve gotten hurt? Um… Sarah?” He glanced at Tina for confirmation; she gave him a miniscule nod.
Sarah put her hand down. “I fell off my bike.”
“That must have hurt. Did you get injured?”
She nodded. “I scraped my knee. And my hands!”
Ty called on a couple other kids to share their tales of woe. Connor’s dog had stepped on his foot. Monique pinched her finger twisting the chains on a swing set. Ty thought the days of that kind of injury were behind them; hadn’t everyone switched to rubber-coated chains by now?
“Let’s see a show of hands—who thinks Connor should have called 911?” No hands went up. “What about Monique?” Two hands. “Sarah?” Three hands.
God, he hoped they didn’t really think that, but he guessed it was his job to straighten them out. “Let’s try something else. Whenshouldyou call 911 if someone is hurt?”
Connor’s hand went up. “If you break your leg!”
“Good,” Ty said. “That’s right, if you think you broke a bone, you should call 911. What else?”
“If there’s a car accident!”
“If you get bit by a rattlesnake!”
“If you get attacked by a grizzly bear!”
This predictably led to a whole lot more animal-themed disasters. Ty gave up trying to diversify their answers and tried another tactic. “Okay, that’s good—lots of good brainstorming there. Now let’s talk about why you shouldn’t call 911 if it’s not an emergency. Can anyone give me a reason?”
Bless Connor, who had his hand up again. Ty waited to see if any other volunteers appeared, but apparently Connor was the only one brave enough to hazard a guess. Or else he just liked talking. “Okay, Connor?”
“Um, one time, when my grandma was at my house, um, my dog peed on her shoes!”
Oh no. This kid was karmic payback. Ty hadbeenthat kid. He fought the urge to facepalm. “I think we’re getting a little off topic. Anyone else? Monique?”
She put her hand down. “’Cause you’ll get in trouble?”
Not what Ty was going for, but definitely a primary concern for a seven-year-old. “That’s true. If you call 911 and it’s not an emergency, you might get in trouble. Can anyone tell me why?”
No takers. Ty elaborated. “What would happen if I called 911 because I scraped my knee and they sent me an ambulance, but then Miss Tina got in a car accident?”
That finally prompted them down the right track, and Ty spent the remaining ten minutes of class (how had so much time passed going over so little material?) giving an introduction on what to say to a 911 dispatcher when you did get through.
The kids were all still riveted to their seats when the bell went.
Miss Tina smiled at him as she herded them out the door toward their next class. “Not bad, new guy. I’m impressed.”
“I’m exhausted,” Ty said. “I have to do this two more times?”
“Don’t worry. I think your next class is fourth grade.”
“Teachers definitely do not get paid enough.”
The fourth graders got through the 911 talk in ten minutes. Normally that would’ve been great, but in this case it left him scrambling. Obviously he needed to rethink his lesson plan on the fly a little. Or, like, actually make one.
“Why don’t we try some role-play?” the class’s EA, Josh, suggested.
Ty shot him a horrified look, thinkingWhat the fuck, they’re nine, and then Josh went on, “Mr. M will be the 911 operator, and… who can think of an emergency?”
