My Lost Boys

About a month ago, I was introduced to a group of four boys who were fresh out of jail and settling into the halfway house that falls within our district boundary. One of them started dating one of my kiddos, who I'll call Samantha, and my room became the place to be, especially before school for a couple games of dice. One of them in particular really bonded with me, I'll call him Joe, and gave me these paintings that he did while he was locked up.

2 of the other boys were actually put into my classes. One was expelled after only one day in class for shaking hands suspiciously on camera. The other was suspended yesterday for truancy, along with the other member of the group who is not actually in my class. Yesterday Joe came to my room with Samantha. He was visibly agitated, and talking about leaving. Apparently he saw "staff", i.e. the security guards that work at the halfway house, and automatically thought he was in trouble for something. He cried. He paced. And then he ran.
Today, none of my boys were at school. Samantha wasn't at school. I'm used to them bursting into my class to chat at inappropriate times just to talk, just to have someone appreciate that they're there. It was eerily quiet and orderly in my class today, and they were definitely missed. Not a single person called me Ms. Gangster.

Joe will most likely be sent back to jail for breaking the terms of his probation, as will the other boys. And the cycle continues. Do I think these boys are angels? No. They commit crimes. But why? How should we be rehabilitating them? This obviously isn't working at all. By the way, I refuse to believe that a kid who gets excited about putting icing and sprinkles on some cookies is pure evil.

Maybe I'm not supposed to be this concerned with my students' lives, I'm supposed to be able to compartmentalize it and go have a beer. This whole teacher schtick is getting old fast to everyone I know, I'm sure.
I always knew I wanted to teach, but I never expected it to be such an all-consuming passion or that I'd form the relationships that I have with my kiddos. It's difficult with these types of students to go home on the weekends and not know if you'll ever see them again come Monday. When I took the job at my school, I knew there were a lot of "at risk youth" that I would be dealing with. It looks so cut and dry on paper.
Statistically, x number of students will graduate, and x number will drop out. Truefacts. But to see in real time the decline of a bright, gifted student to dropout is excruciating. And on days like today, I feel helpless to stop it.