conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide the first five paragraphs for a book with the title 'The Lost Boy'.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Lost Boy
  From the 1970s point of view, foster care was not accepted. For a child to go to foster care meant there was something wrong—a complete failure in parenting. This was a failure that society did not want to face, even when given details of some drastic home situations. Because of this, foster care was twisted into something very negative. Individuals involved in foster care—both parents and children—were seen as second-class. The viewpoint even went so far as to believe that foster children had done something bad—unlike an orphan who was an innocent victim, for example. It has taken, and still takes, a long time to come to grips with what foster care, and the parents involved, can accomplish.
  Today, child-rearing dynamics, awareness of the dysfunctional family, and direct evidence of the product of loveless or abusive parenting are matters of public record and psychological and educational research. Teachers and counselors are being trained to manage, test, evaluate and intervene.
  I have been teaching special education now for 12 years. I have seen learning disabilities and delays in learning in specific areas. But family dysfunction and abuse cause emotional disturbances and learning delays that can be horrendous. I have seen students steal to gain attention, or carve the life out of shop and cooking equipment for the complex pleasure of artistic revenge. Such students are incapable of social self-restraint, and press their peers and teachers to react.
  The disability of poor parenting is more likely to cause disruption in a child's intellectual and social growth than a physical disability. A child who has supportive parents and a reading disability may be delayed in reading, but in my mind has a better chance of general life success than an abused child without a disability.
  David Pelzer is an exception. Although all I knew about him was that his home life had been incredibly bad, I was very aware that he was an extreme individual. In class he wasn't as "shifty" as the others, but very restricted in movement. I knew him because he was a demanding student who pressed his questions and pressed for answers. No other high school kid would stay after class, actually sitting on my desk to gain attention. He made sure he was noticed. Students would often visit their teachers with the simple intent of being friendly, but David was more purposeful and demanded consideration through his attitude and posture.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide three more paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Dave's case was reviewed by C-Wing staff, and he was assigned to me during his stay at juvenile hall. Dave thrived on the individual attention and the behavior modification program. He established a bond with all the staff and demonstrated phenomenal growth both socially and emotionally. Dave entered the juvenile justice system at a time when resources were available to focus on the individual.
  Dave left San Mateo Juvenile Hall in a much healthier state than when he arrived. In 1989, 15 years later, Dave and I met again in the most unusual manner. I was the superintendent of the Yuba/Sutter Juvenile Hall, and Dave was stationed at Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County. Dave came to the juvenile hall to volunteer his services to the youths detained there. Dave worked as a very effective volunteer and was eventually hired as a part-time staff person until being transferred by the Air Force.
  It is with great pleasure and deep personal and emotional satisfaction that I have had the opportunity to see Dave rise above his excruciating childhood. He is a living example and a model to others who have suffered under similar circumstances. As Dave walked out of juvenile hall in 1974, as a child, I bade him good luck. And as he walked back into juvenile hall in 1989, as a counselor, I felt a tear in my eye and simply said, "Bravo."
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Provide the last five paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A couple of months later I received a telephone call from David, who said he wanted to visit. I said, "No, I have to go up to San Francisco International to pick up my paycheck." "Great," he says, "I'll drive you up there. I want to show you something." What he wanted to show me was, of course, a black Corvette that he was the owner/operator of for the next month. A few months later David arrives in an El Camino—his company car—with a motorcycle strapped to the back. Dave mentioned that he might try a new job. I asked what he was planning, and he replied, "Well, I'm going to Hollywood to become a stuntman." There was what a writer would describe as a pregnant pause, as the impact of his words crashed into my unbelieving psyche. I chastised him, focusing on his lack of athletics and experience, his clumsiness and, of course, the absence of contacts in L.A. I then ripped into him for another half hour with heavy emphasis on the importance of a high school diploma.
  Then once again David persisted and ultimately found a niche: boom operator on an aerial tanker! He landed an assignment "booming" on the supersecret Mach 3 spy plane—the SR-71 Black -bird. He was hooked for years. During this period he became involved in the community around him, on and off base. His awareness of what he had and who he was brought to the surface a drive within him to diminish other people's hurts, to wade in and solve problems, and to contribute some positive payback.
  A retired Air Force air crew member, Dave played a major role in Operations Just Cause, Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Dave was selected for the unique task of midair refueling of the then highly secretive SR-71 Blackbird and F-117 Stealth Fighter. While serving in the Air Force, Dave worked in juvenile hall and other programs involving "youth at risk" throughout California.
  When not on the road or with his son, Stephen, Dave lives a quiet life in Rancho Mirage, California, with his wife and box turtle named Chuck.
  Dave is recognized as one of the country's most effective and respected communicators addressing corporate America. Dave is often dubbed "the Robin Williams with glasses," and his unique presentations and delivery target overcoming obstacles, positive self-esteem and goal achievement. Addition ally, he provides specific workshops for those in the human services, educational and law enforcement fields. Dave also spends time working with "youth at risk," and junior high and high school assemblies, as well as presenting programs on child abuse prevention, drug and alcohol awareness, and personal responsibility.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Swap the first and the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Dave also spends time working with "youth at risk," and junior high and high school assemblies, as well as presenting programs on child abuse prevention, drug and alcohol awareness, and personal responsibility. I said, "No, I have to go up to San Francisco International to pick up my paycheck." "Great," he says, "I'll drive you up there. I want to show you something." What he wanted to show me was, of course, a black Corvette that he was the owner/operator of for the next month. A few months later David arrives in an El Camino—his company car—with a motorcycle strapped to the back. Dave mentioned that he might try a new job. I asked what he was planning, and he replied, "Well, I'm going to Hollywood to become a stuntman." There was what a writer would describe as a pregnant pause, as the impact of his words crashed into my unbelieving psyche. I chastised him, focusing on his lack of athletics and experience, his clumsiness and, of course, the absence of contacts in L.A. I then ripped into him for another half hour with heavy emphasis on the importance of a high school diploma.
  Then once again David persisted and ultimately found a niche: boom operator on an aerial tanker! He landed an assignment "booming" on the supersecret Mach 3 spy plane—the SR-71 Black -bird. He was hooked for years. During this period he became involved in the community around him, on and off base. His awareness of what he had and who he was brought to the surface a drive within him to diminish other people's hurts, to wade in and solve problems, and to contribute some positive payback.
  A retired Air Force air crew member, Dave played a major role in Operations Just Cause, Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Dave was selected for the unique task of midair refueling of the then highly secretive SR-71 Blackbird and F-117 Stealth Fighter. While serving in the Air Force, Dave worked in juvenile hall and other programs involving "youth at risk" throughout California.
  When not on the road or with his son, Stephen, Dave lives a quiet life in Rancho Mirage, California, with his wife and box turtle named Chuck.
  Dave is recognized as one of the country's most effective and respected communicators addressing corporate America. Dave is often dubbed "the Robin Williams with glasses," and his unique presentations and delivery target overcoming obstacles, positive self-esteem and goal achievement. Addition ally, he provides specific workshops for those in the human services, educational and law enforcement fields.A couple of months later I received a telephone call from David, who said he wanted to visit.