In order to offer perspective to children that come together from various cultural backgrounds I want to share experiences with the Dutch Antilles in this chapter. The concrete suggestion is a link between education and the police: the pedagogic police.

Afraid on the couch
It is Tuesday. The heat has come inside and lowers the pace. I walk outside in the break when a teacher calls me. She is standing by the gate and holds a child. A big group of children is moving restlessly around them. I quicken my pace and see that Cartino has clenched his fists firmly around the spikes of the fence. There has been a fight and he is completely cramped. The teacher finds it impossible to free him and Cartino is no longer amenable to reason. We ask the children to leave and give him the choice if he wants walk himself or if I will have to carry him. He turns away his head. I take him up and carry him to the team-room. His tearful, wild face and his cramped fists ask for a cooling down period. I get him something to drink and sit down beside him. The headmistress comes in, sits down and asks him in all peace if he wants to talk now or rather not. He says very softly that he wants to talk now. He talks about the row with Malice with which the others started interfering. When the headmistress asks at a certain moment if she has to call his aunt (Carlino does not live – like many other children - with his parents) he starts to cry in a heart-rending way. We get the impression that this is not just caused by the conflict but that is it much ‘deeper’. We let him cry and tell him that we think it is important that Malice sees and knows this. The headmistress gets her to him. We tell them that they may not start a discussion and that we do not talk about the row again. We ask Malice if she sees how Cartino is doing. “He is sad” she says, “and he was angry in the break.” We ask her what could be the reason. She understands it exactly and tells that you often have to cry afterwards about situations in which you have been angry. “Because it is annoying what made you angry and because you do not want to be angry…” Cartino is sitting more upright. The headmaster asks if this is true. He nods in a satisfied way. He does not want to tell how he feels. The headmistress tells what she thinks and he confirms it every time. Both indicate that they understand each other and that it is probably sufficient to continue in a pleasant way. Describing emotions without an explanation of the conflict seemed to be the key to a good continuation. When I enter the computer room an hour later I see Cartino and Malice sitting together. “We are going to do a project together”, Malice smiles.

The next morning I ask Cartino how he is doing. He does not react very enthusiastically. “Did you sleep well? ” I ask. And then he tells in one breath that he slept badly. He often sleeps badly. He lives together with his little brother at his aunt. The house is near a dark wood. His aunt and his little brother sleep in the bedroom and he sleeps alone on the couch in the living-room. He indicates he is often afraid and never sleeps before 23.00 hours. I thank him for his frankness, wish him a nice day and pass on the information to the teacher. The recognition of his emotions after the conflict yesterday had made him more talkative. A good beginning. The future will lay bare many impossibilities. And Cartino is not the only one……..

If you cannot walk 80 kmph….
Claire Walkate is headmistress of a primary school and former counsellor of children with all kinds of autism. She reacted with reference to my proposal to appoint a pedagogic police: “I know one” and told the following story:

“Marnix is 16 years old when he comes in my group. He has a different view on the world from most boys of his age. Marnix approaches everything from mathematical formulas. He calculates by heart the root from high numbers, he knows the speed with which the book that has just fallen, reaches the ground. He understands the route that a falling object covers. For Marnix there is always a way from A to B. That there are more ways leading to Rome, is a foolish remark. Marnix does not know what to do with proverbs, he speaks in short, logical sentences. He cannot appreciate jokes. If his environment becomes too full of language Marnix leaves the group to walk route on the heath that has been determined before in ‘he knows exactly how many steps’.

One morning Marnix has been so much out of balance that he decides to walk home. He only knows one route as he is taken there via the motorway…. When I have contact with the police Marnix has just been arrested on the A27. The motor police saw him walking there, understood immediately that Marnix needed a special approach and asked for directions via de telephone. I am searching for a logical, mathematical approach and ask the man to tell him that you may only walk on the motorway if you move at minimally 80 kilometres per hour and I urge him not to touch Marnix in any case. The policeman calls in the help of a car, explains to Marnix what the desired speed is and can take him to the police station without any problems where I am heading to.
Now it is customary tot put the arrested person in a cell with all additional necessities as removing shoelaces and belt. Fortunately the policeman who has mercy on this young man understands that locking up ‘normally’ is a very bad idea in this particular case.
When I arrive at the police station I am send to the cell. On a board Marnix and the policeman are sitting beside each other. Marnix is without laces and belt… the policeman too! This pedagogic professional has prevented him from crossing the motorway and has broken no rule with his empathic ability. They are still there!”