Harmless fun results in denial

A little girl got on my elementary bus this morning and immediately gained the attention of several of the students around her with a little pink hand held devise that I at first thought was a cell phone. Many of my older students have cell phones but not so many of the elementary students have them yet so I was somewhat intrigued. I observed all of this through the mirror but as no harm was being done except for one little boy who insisted on hanging out in the aisle, I didn’t say anything to her about it. The little boy was admonished as he left the bus because he didn’t heed my requests to stay out of the aisle, but that is not the point of the post so I will move on. On the afternoon bus ride home there was a resumption of interest being generated as with the morning ride so I became overwhelmed with curiosity. As she exited the bus to go home I asked her what it was that she had that was of so much interest to the other students. She said “Nothing, I don’t have anything”. Well, this is the same student that denied eating popcorn the week before. Her sister came up behind her and said “it’s a recorder”. At that point she pulled it from her hiding place and showed it to me. I said “Oh, you were recording their voice and playing it back for them. That’s OK”. It seems she is automatic with denial that she is guilty of anything, even if it is harmless fun. I’ll have to work harder to establish a positive rapport with this student.