Emma took ROTC at JCCHS in 9th grade and hated it.

Recently, I’ve heard from four people who shared some Emma stories with me. I’ve been thinking a lot about Emma’s problem with lying. I’m not sure I really understand lying. Why does Emma lie? Is it a mental illness? Is it a need for drama? I don’t get it. Fiction is one thing, and it’s a shame Emma didn’t use her gift of lying and turn it in to writing her stories instead of hurting other people with them.

In Fall of 2008, when Emma started 9th grade at Jackson County Comprehensive High School (JCCHS), Emma signed up for two electives. One was Drama, which she loved, and she even got the lead in the school play, and another was ROTC. I couldn’t believe Emma signed up for ROTC. My child? It just did not seem like something she would be interested in.
Emma explained to me that there were only two electives to sign up for that period, so it was either dance or ROTC, “And I SUCK at dance!” Ok, I got her point.

You can see from the picture that Emma made a cute little soldier, although she hated ROTC. She did not speak kindly of the other kids in ROTC overall. She claimed a neighbor’s son, who lived around the block from us, became her platoon leader and was abusive. She claimed one of her ROTC classmates was pregnant and had a baby that semester. I discovered that students are not allowed in ROTC if they are pregnant, and one student told me they are not allowed to rejoin if they do have a baby. (Emma also claimed that there were 9 or 10 pregant 9th graders, and this was not true.)
One story Emma told was rather humorous about a young lady who lived next door to us with her mom and stepdad. Kristen C. was in Emma’s ROTC class. Emma claimed that her platoon leader had stalked our neighbor girl, standing out on our street, near their mailbox, staring at the house, waiting for Kristen to appear. This seemed a little odd as you couldn’t even see their house from the road, so I’m not sure what the point would be in standing out by the street, but who am I to question what a lovesick teenager would do? I was in and out several times a day and never noticed this boy at our neighbors’ mailbox, but I could have missed him.
Emma told me a story about how when they had to do an oral presentation in class, Kristen got nervous like she always did, and ran to the bathroom to throw up. According to Emma, Kristen did this every time she had to do some sort of report or presentation in front of the class. Having known people that threw up in the same situation, I felt bad for Kristen and just assumed it was something she’d grow out of.
On this particular occasion, Kristen took so long to come back to class that the ROTC instructor sent Emma to check on her in the bathroom. Emma said she went in and Kristen was vomiting away, and looked up and said,”I don’t know why I do this?” laughed and then wretched again. Cute story. Did it happen? One of Emma’s classmates told me that she never knew of Kristen throwing up in class. She said Kristen was a good speaker and became a platoon leader.
So, what is the point of this story? Does it have to do with the whole Drama triangle thing? Emma is making herself the rescuer in this situation, going to check on an ailing classmate. Was it to make her feel special that the teacher singled HER out to go check on Kristen? Was it to portray Kristen as weak? I just don’t understand lying. Maybe Dr. Genie Burnett (Manna Treatment, Duluth, Ga.), Suzie McGarvey (North Gwinnett Counseling Associates, Suwanee, Ga.) or Dr. Richard Born (Applied Psychological Health, Athens, Ga.) can explain it to me since they are the professionals in this area. Does Emma believe her own lies or does she just lie to have something to say. Emma could look right at you and deny doing something you just saw her do with your very own eyes. Then she could make up something like, “no, I didn’t do that, I was actually doing this……..” and I remember thinking that Emma lied as easily as she breathed. Of course, at the time, I just thought this was being a kid and never dreamed this was a problem.