Alternatives for Youth, Robert

Robert
Robert, a third grade student, was chronically late for school. His teacher’s efforts to contact his parents about the problem, to encourage him to arrive on time and to discover why he was late resulted in little change in his arrival time.

Mary Vigil, Alternatives for Youth’s Celebrando la Familia Program Director, was asked to make a home visit to see if she could help Robert get to school on time. Mary discovered that Robert’s mother, a single parent, worked a third shift. She would return home early in the morning, fall asleep and, regularly, sleep through the time she needed to get up and help Robert get ready for school. Mary bought Robert an alarm clock and taught him how to use it to get up in time for school. Robert started getting up on his own with the aid of his alarm clock. He would get ready for school, tell his mother he was leaving and get himself to school on time.