Not to Correct, But to Expand

Separately, individually, the two boys were sweet, but together they took joy in tormenting their classmates. They called themselves "bad guys." They knocked over block constructions. they gleefully upset games of domesticity. They called names, snatched objects from hands, and roared, all the while giggling together, then running off whenever an adult approached.They never physically harmed anyone, but they definitely frighten some, but mostly, they left a trail of frustration and anger behind them. When one of the boys was not at school, the "bad guys" were likewise absent. It was a behavior that emerged only as a collaboration. Every now and then, I'd find myself alone with one of the boys. When I broached the subject of "bad guys," they would both insist that it was "fun." They also acknowledged that they frightened and frustrated the other kids and knew that their game was "just pretend." Neither felt they were really bad guys. Based on my separate conversations with them, I knew…