Comparing T.O. to my students

Terrel Owens must not have felt that he was receiving enough attention from the media latley, so he decided to spit in the face of DeAngelo Hall. What a class act. I am not sure what Terrel Owens was like in high school or what his life was like growing up, but I can imagine and guess a few things. First, he was (or at least could have been) in Special Education. I don't say that in a deragotory way. I say that from experience as a teacher of students with emotional disturbances. I see so many parallels to T.O.'s behavior to that of my students it's not even funny (although I do laugh sometimes). One of the key characterstics that my students share is the need to bring attention to themselves in any way possible. T.O. seems to need to have the spotlight in his face all of the time. My students will often throw temper tantrums, argue, swear, yell at each other, yell at me, throw things, break things, etc, etc, etc (you can pretty much plug in the behavior of an angry two year old and that's what behaviors can emerge at any given time). For fun, I found an article highlighting some of T.O.'s calls for attention and thought I would compare that to behaviors I have observed in my classes throughout the years.

T.O.: 2004 - In an interview with Playboy magazine, Owens hinted that ex-teammate Jeff Garcia was gay, a claim he later recanted.
My classes: Students will always call others names, especially when they can't accept their own short comings. It is a way for them to put the blame for something they did on someone or something else in an attempt to avoid the real problem from being exposed.

T.O.: 2005 - After hinting that he might hold out of training camp, Owens shows up with a bad attitude, refusing to acknowledge the media or speak to his teammates. After a confrontation with head coach Andy Reid, he was suspended for one week.
My classes: If they don't want to be at school that day (there might be a test or maybe they just didn't sleep well) they will have a bad attitude at best and do what they can to get themselves suspended for at least a week.

T.O.: 2006 - On July 5, Owens released a tell-all book revealing his side of the story associated with his time in Philadelphia.
My classes: There are always two sides to every story. It is usually best to make sure you are wearing your hip-waders when listening to their side however.

T.O.: 2006 - On September 26, Owens was taken by ambulance to Baylor University Medical Center for what was thought to be a suicide attempt. The following day, Owens denied trying to kill himself, claiming a mixture of pain pills and supplements caused him to be "out of it" when talking to emergency respondents
My classes: Students will often talk about killing themselves. 99% of the time I know it is not serious, but I still need to report it. I have never had a student actually go through with this threat, it is just a call for attention but still needs to be taken serious. Notice all of the attention T.O. received after this.

T.O.: 2006 - On December 16, in a victory over the Atlanta Falcons, Owens spit in the face of cornerback DeAngelo Hall.
My classes: I actually had a student fill up a water bottle with urine and dump it out on a study carrel in the corner of my room (those are the desks with sides, like mini-cubicles).

The last incident had me "pissed" off (bad pun intended). Although I did not see who did it, I know exactly who it was. I know my students and their behaviors well enough. I had two choices when this incident happened. I could have acknowledged that it happened and brought attention to it or I could ignore it. I ignored it, until after school in which I cleaned it up. I never once mentioned it. You see, much like T.O., this student wanted attention. This same student used to write in pencil on his desk, "fuck off" all the time. (He did at one time branch out his horizons and write, "fuck the world"). Funny thing is, it wasn't hurting anyone, so I ignored it and it stopped. It still arises from time to time, but not in the frequency it was at the begining of the year. That student has not yet tried to repeat his actions because he does not get the desired outcomes. As mad as it made me, I realize this kid has mental issues. Some things are his fault, some are not. He needs attention for doing the positive things that he does, like his school work or helping me with my recycling.

This is why I state T.O. could have been in special education. He needs attention. Early in his career he was getting it for all of the positive things he was doing on the field as a player. When that attention started to wane and shifted to other people, his negative behaviors started increasing so that he would be back in the spotlight.