Narrative 1: School-Based Team Meeting

It was clear from the way Frances walked into the room and called up the first student for discussion that this was not going to be a quick and easy meeting. The team had taken up their usual places in the conference room as Roslyn fussed with her lenses, trying to synch them up with her tablet. Dean, currently on year 3 of his residency, was clearly biding his time with his favourite obbie game—his eyes were darting and blinking as he ducked and leapt his way through the race. Every now and then he’d jerk his head in a funny way or bite his lower lip. Well-intending and idealistic as he was, clearly Dean was of a different generation than what was seated around the table.

Karen just sat there glowering at the still-blank screen on the wall. The only person in the room with a pen and paper, she seemed to be daring anyone to comment about it. No one did.

Frances cleared her throat a little too unnaturally and said, “okay”, with an attempt at cheerfulness that ended up betraying impatience; Martin was late. He was always late. But the part that really got to Frances was the ready excuses he had every time. If it wasn’t the low charge on his e-bike, it was his tablet he’d forgotten in the Learning Centre.

“We’ll begin then. Roslyn, can you bring up the first name?”

Roslyn had just managed to complete the synch, and the first profile came up. Kody Caspar. The Referral Report included attendance, lack of work completion, and difficulty participating in modules.

There was an audible, collective sigh in the room. “Olari,” she said, “Tell us Kody Caspar’s LPS”.

Olari’s image appeared on the screen. Dressed in cheerful colours, it was clear that Roslyn had, at Frances’ request, prompted Olari to gauge the room’s collective morale that morning.

“Retrieving Kody Caspar’s LPS,” Olari responded warmly and evenly as they generated the visual profile. “Biological age: 15. Gender: male. General academic achievement: level 6 with a confidence band of 3. Executive skills: level 4 with a confidence band of 2. Social/emotional competencies: Not yet determined. Communication skills: Not yet determined.”

Just then, Martin came through the door holding his lunch bag and helmet in one hand, and his tablet in the other. He closed it with his foot as he scuttled over to his usual seat at the table. “Sorry,” he said, out of breath. “I had to use the pedal bike this morning.” Dean looked at him quizzically while Martin scanned in on his tablet.

“Olari, give us Kody Caspar’s mental health profile.” Karen said, acted as though nothing had happened.

“Kody Caspar’s profile incomplete. Insufficient data.”

“No profile? That can’t be right. Olari, tell us more.” Roslyn said.

“Profile rendering is at 36%, reliability rating, poor.

“How can that be?” asked Karen.

Martin looked up. “He’s come in person three times to the Learning Centre. He likes the snacks. Pretty quiet, though.”

Olari replied, “The learning centre attendance data is inconsistent with this information.”

“That’s because he doesn’t want to use the whisp, or a tablet. And, er, because I must have forgotten to enter his attendance myself. He was late each time.”

Dean was intrigued. “He’s not using them? I don’t get it. The kids love using this stuff.”

Roslyn asked, “How long has he lived in the area? Olari, show us where Cody Kaspar has gone to school.”

A map of Western Canada appeared, with nine dots scattered across BC and Alberta. Names of schools, communities, and years attended appeared above each dot.

Karen shook her head. “Kody has certainly been places. Ideas, anyone?”

Martin stared at the screen. “I’m worried about this one. Olari, show us a futures projection for Kody Caspar.

“Please provide administrative authorization.” Olari responded.

“Olari, I authorize the futures projection.”

The map was replaced by a spherical pie graph that slowly rotated. It didn’t look great. Possibility of continued employment in adulthood was low, as was the overall health and the lifelong learning indexes. Rehabilitative incarceration took up a large space.

Olari spoke: “This is a projection, with a confidence rating of 4. Conclusions are not advised.”

Dean spoke up. “Four? What does that even mean?” I thought three was bad.”

“It means the data are too incomplete to be valid. But it also means that if we don’t do something for this boy, it may not turn out so well. He’s already 15. We’re going to have to do something different here. Any ideas, Martin?”

“We know he’s not into using learning tools. But he’s showing up from time to time. The kid’s life has been disrupted a lot, and his negative tech bias is through the roof. Olari, What’s his guardianship status?”

“Please state the name of the person you are referring to.”

“Olari, what is Kody Caspar’s guardianship status?”

“Abigail Richter, Kody’s biological grandmother, current guardian. Wendy Procee, biological mother, no longer guardian. Lars Richter, biological father, rehabilitative incarceration. Secondary contact, none listed.”

Martin looked at the others. “Olari, what do you recommend as a support plan for Kody Caspar?”

“I suggest human intervention to learn more of Kody Caspar’s experiences. Presently, inadequate data is available on which to base any other recommendations.”

 

Narrative 2: Student Interview

CONVERSATION DATE: 14 october 2051 at 10:32 am pst

Martin Gaudet, student support teacher, speaking with

Kody Caspar, student enrolled in level 8, 9 and 10 academic and elective modules.

CONFIDENTIALITY SCALE: Privileged

STUDENT MOOD ANALYSIS: mild elevation, with facial responses indicating concern, sadness, and changeability. student’s perceived Threat level is moderate.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Peer social engagement in common interest area. Adult interaction with goal of reducing perceived threat level. counselling to address perceived abandonment distress and ongoing moderate grief.

OLARI: Capture commencing. Good morning Martin. Good morning Kody. Your conversation is privileged. This means only approved professionals in School District 73 may access its contents or my analysis of it. Do you consent to proceed?

MARTIN: Yes. Kody, you know the drill.

KODY: Fine.

OLARI: Please respond with “yes” or “no”.

KODY: Yeah.

OLARI: Thank you.

MARTIN: Hey, Kody, I’m glad you were willing to sit down with me and talk.

KODY: Sure.

MARTIN: So, you moved here this summer from Prince George?

KODY: Yep.

MARTIN: And I understand you’re staying with your grandmother.

KODY: Yep.

MARTIN: What’s it been like settling in? New town and all.

KODY: I’m pretty used to it.

MARTIN: To living here?

KODY: To moving around.

MARTIN: I checked your records. You’ve moved a lot over the past few years. How many places have you lived in before this?

KODY: I may have lost count. A lot of places. Prince George was a year and a half.

MARTIN: Tell me about moving here, then. How’d it go?

KODY: Gran came all the way out to Prince George to get me, even though it was still drought season. The fires weren’t as bad as last year, she said, and she spent the whole trip watching old tv shows and taking naps.

MARTIN: That’s a bit of a drive to make in summer. She sounds tough: most people don’t bother travelling anywhere in August.

KODY: Her car is hilarious: a 25-year-old Tesla she had retrofitted to self-drive. She insisted they leave the steering wheel in, even though her insurance is way higher. Didn’t steer once all the way to Kamloops. At least we could agree on me picking the music to listen to.

MARTIN: Oh man! With the huge batteries and the steering wheel? Can you even upgrade the protocols in an old Tesla anymore?

KODY: Gran said she got someone to rig a fix for it.

MARTIN: So were you looking forward to moving in with her?

KODY: It was this or Foster Care. Social worker told me I’d need to wear whisp lenses and a watch for communication and safety. I said no thanks.

MARTIN: Those are just to keep track of you when you’re not in the dorm. Sounds like you’ve done that before.

KODY: Yep. I’d rather not have someone or something tracking me every time I go somewhere or use the toilet.

MARTIN: But you’ve probably used a watch, tablet, or whisp in school or at home before. The rules around what’s private and what’s for a social worker to know are pretty strict.

KODY: Maybe. My dad didn’t think so.

MARTIN: Have you been in touch with your dad much? I know about his situation.

KODY: Why don’t you just ask Olari about it, then?

MARTIN: What I mean is, do you guys talk and get along. I’m sure this hasn’t been easy.

KODY: Last time we spoke, he said he was likely to be moved to a closer centre so I could see him in person.

MARTIN: And I’m guessing he shares your view of the technology teachers are asking you to use in school.

KODY: Yep. Look where it got him.

MARTIN: The thing is, you seem like a pretty capable person who’s had a lot of disruptions, what with moving a lot. That’s meant school’s been all chopped up for you over the years. What things about school do you like?

KODY: I’m fine with sciences, and math’s okay. I’ll read a bit if I have to. My gran reads all the time, and there’s not much to do at her place.

MARTIN: You’ve missed a lot of school over the years. Your record is incomplete because of it. And since you’ve moved provinces, we’re not sure where you’re at. The systems are still not as compatible as they ought to be.

KODY: I learn stuff on my own. My dad’s not a fan of schools. Said he didn’t learn anything useful when he was my age.

MARTIN: Things have changed since then. You don’t have to listen to someone droning on while you take notes. You have lots of choices of modules to put together for your studies in each subject. You know this already.

KODY: But what’s out there waiting for me at the end of it? A robotics repair job? The carbon sink fields?

MARTIN: Well, what do you want to do?

KODY: I have no clue. We done here?

MARTIN: Tell you what. I’m going to shut this stuff off. Why don’t we take a walk for a bit?

KODY: Sure. Whatever.

MARTIN: Olari, I’m signing out.

OLARI: You have asked to sign out. Is this correct?

MARTIN: Yes.

OLARI: Goodbye.

END OF CAPTURE