I remember 2 years ago when I met my students for the first time. Among all my students, I strongly think that Alex is the student that matured the most. Alex lost his father from a car accident only about 2 years ago. Sometimes when he hears someone talking about their dad that their dads played with them or that they bought a present for them, Alex is suddenly silent. There even was once a time when he started to cry because he said he wanted to see his father. It is then when I started to understand his reasons of bullying other students. Alex typically only bullied other students that a family where it was not broken, the students that talked about their dads in our class, and the students that were picked up by their dads after the Sunday school was over. I believe that Alex’s defense mechanism is displacement. Displacement involves taking out our frustrations, feelings and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening. Displaced aggression is a common example of this defense mechanism. Rather than express our anger in ways that could lead to negative consequences (like arguing with our boss), we instead express our anger towards a person or object that poses no threat (such as our spouse, children or pets). Alex, age 8, who had to suffer the loss of his father at the age of 6, acted in destructive and rebellious behavior at his arrival in the community. If I were to rate Alex according to the Piaget’s cognitive development stages, Alex was only at stage 1, the sensorimotor stage when I first met him at age 6. Now in two years, Alex noticeably matured to stage 3, the concrete operational stage. Now Alex can use mental operations applied to concrete events; and is able to carry out a well-spoken conservation. Alex is now a leader among the community who invites new comers and allows them to feel comfort. This experience with my students led me to grasp for more values that community offers
