As a paraprofessional, I’ve been in some pretty tight spots. Getting hit in the head making sure that a
driver can safely stop, or trying to stop a participant from going after a
vanilla-normie… There’s many situations
where it’s uncomfortable to try and explain what’s going on, and a good number
of those where even the best para isn’t going to know all the details.
And while there are many people who will come by and thank me for doing my job, and tell me that I’m such a good person for basically making it to work every day (spoiler alert: I’m not such a good person all the time), there are a fair number of people who walk into a situation and automatically decide that they know what’s going on basically because they were the first vanilla-normie on the scene.
That leads to some pretty questionable calls. Paras that will be getting punched in the face will have cops show up, and have had it reported to them that people saw them punching the participant in the face. Paras who use a commanding voice to try and kick a guy out of whatever they’re doing are told to stop yelling at the participant. I’m not saying that our students and clients shouldn’t be taken seriously, but it does lead us to being put on the line, more than the physical, mental, and emotional stress already placed upon us by performing the job as per usual.
It leads to The Black List. Now, for anyone who is reading this who isn’t a para, “The Black List” is pretty much the same thing as a burn on a spy, if you’ve seen Burn Notice. It’s an unofficial listing of people who will, for one reason or another, never hired by any agency that works with our population, as well, often, as in any agency that works with children or the elderly. It “doesn’t exist” in the same way that modern racism “doesn’t exist”. There is no website that has the names and the offences of people who have been black-listed. There’s just a cultural backing, a rumor mill, and a mutual understanding between parents and agencies, as well as by other paraprofessionals. When you’re on The Black List, you’re looking for a new career, probably in a new area.
It exists for a pretty legitimate reason: You don’t want bad people working with people who cannot speak up for themselves. You don’t want Chester the Molester running around with a trenchcoat and teaching kids about how to dress themselves. You want that mofo under lock and key, and as far away from you and yours as possible.
But the problem is, it’s not a “real” list. There’s no court that sentences you to sign your name on The Black List, and thus you have to stay 50 feet from schools and animal hospitals or whatever, and post that you’ve been listed. There’s no set of checks and balances to do quality control on who is on the list, and who isn’t. Say that a perfectly capable and earnest para gets caught in the crossfire of politics or a parent with an axe to grind, and the rumor mill carries away an outright lie. They’re still black-listed.
It doesn’t help that organizations that tend to work with our clientele are also constantly looking to be noticed for how just and true, good and kind they are. I mean, seriously, they’re like sad little puppies that are looking for love and affection- except instead of love, I mean money, and instead of affection, I mean good PR. The minute the story of an abuse case comes up, suddenly they have a band of parents with pitchforks and torches ready to go to town on them. So what do they do? At best, they pull the person from working with the participants (often without pay) so that they can ‘investigate’ the matter for weeks or months at a time. At worst, they fire the person and never even really look into it. In the latter case, the para is instantly on The Black List, and in the former… well, they just as well might be. No one wants to trust a person with their loved ones who has had allegations brought up against them. The same employee who was indispensable to the company for years, is suddenly too hot to handle, and the company either throws them directly under the bus, or they do nothing to help repair that person’s reputation and they go the way of the slow burn.
It’s sad, in an industry that pays so little, that has as hard of a time hiring people as it does, that the reward for service is often a kick to the curb. I mean, pretend that the turnover rate among paraprofessionals wasn’t so high. Pretend that a person outlasted their forties in the field, and started getting up to their fifties and sixties. How much time does a person have to spend in our position before they end up with a bad back, bad knees, bad joints… When that worker bee runs out of juice, it’s not like they find a place where you can still be useful (most of the time). The rule tends to roll, “you can’t do the work, you can’t work”.
No, by and large the beginning and the end of our stories are all the same. You come in with hopes and energy, and then you try to burn out before you black out. Perhaps there’s some solid proof that financially we’re kind of screwed in this kind of work. Perhaps you have to take the aches and pains with a grin. But when it comes to The Black List, we deserve better.
And while there are many people who will come by and thank me for doing my job, and tell me that I’m such a good person for basically making it to work every day (spoiler alert: I’m not such a good person all the time), there are a fair number of people who walk into a situation and automatically decide that they know what’s going on basically because they were the first vanilla-normie on the scene.
That leads to some pretty questionable calls. Paras that will be getting punched in the face will have cops show up, and have had it reported to them that people saw them punching the participant in the face. Paras who use a commanding voice to try and kick a guy out of whatever they’re doing are told to stop yelling at the participant. I’m not saying that our students and clients shouldn’t be taken seriously, but it does lead us to being put on the line, more than the physical, mental, and emotional stress already placed upon us by performing the job as per usual.
It leads to The Black List. Now, for anyone who is reading this who isn’t a para, “The Black List” is pretty much the same thing as a burn on a spy, if you’ve seen Burn Notice. It’s an unofficial listing of people who will, for one reason or another, never hired by any agency that works with our population, as well, often, as in any agency that works with children or the elderly. It “doesn’t exist” in the same way that modern racism “doesn’t exist”. There is no website that has the names and the offences of people who have been black-listed. There’s just a cultural backing, a rumor mill, and a mutual understanding between parents and agencies, as well as by other paraprofessionals. When you’re on The Black List, you’re looking for a new career, probably in a new area.
It exists for a pretty legitimate reason: You don’t want bad people working with people who cannot speak up for themselves. You don’t want Chester the Molester running around with a trenchcoat and teaching kids about how to dress themselves. You want that mofo under lock and key, and as far away from you and yours as possible.
But the problem is, it’s not a “real” list. There’s no court that sentences you to sign your name on The Black List, and thus you have to stay 50 feet from schools and animal hospitals or whatever, and post that you’ve been listed. There’s no set of checks and balances to do quality control on who is on the list, and who isn’t. Say that a perfectly capable and earnest para gets caught in the crossfire of politics or a parent with an axe to grind, and the rumor mill carries away an outright lie. They’re still black-listed.
It doesn’t help that organizations that tend to work with our clientele are also constantly looking to be noticed for how just and true, good and kind they are. I mean, seriously, they’re like sad little puppies that are looking for love and affection- except instead of love, I mean money, and instead of affection, I mean good PR. The minute the story of an abuse case comes up, suddenly they have a band of parents with pitchforks and torches ready to go to town on them. So what do they do? At best, they pull the person from working with the participants (often without pay) so that they can ‘investigate’ the matter for weeks or months at a time. At worst, they fire the person and never even really look into it. In the latter case, the para is instantly on The Black List, and in the former… well, they just as well might be. No one wants to trust a person with their loved ones who has had allegations brought up against them. The same employee who was indispensable to the company for years, is suddenly too hot to handle, and the company either throws them directly under the bus, or they do nothing to help repair that person’s reputation and they go the way of the slow burn.
It’s sad, in an industry that pays so little, that has as hard of a time hiring people as it does, that the reward for service is often a kick to the curb. I mean, pretend that the turnover rate among paraprofessionals wasn’t so high. Pretend that a person outlasted their forties in the field, and started getting up to their fifties and sixties. How much time does a person have to spend in our position before they end up with a bad back, bad knees, bad joints… When that worker bee runs out of juice, it’s not like they find a place where you can still be useful (most of the time). The rule tends to roll, “you can’t do the work, you can’t work”.
No, by and large the beginning and the end of our stories are all the same. You come in with hopes and energy, and then you try to burn out before you black out. Perhaps there’s some solid proof that financially we’re kind of screwed in this kind of work. Perhaps you have to take the aches and pains with a grin. But when it comes to The Black List, we deserve better.
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