Antoine Evans overcomes violent behavior and personal demons
Rachael Freeman
-Staff Writer-
When he was a young boy, he started fires and made sure to finish every brawl; while in his preadolescent to adolescent years. Meet Antoine Evans, a freshman at STLCC-Meramec born exposed to drugs, who fought to survive at birth, wrestled with his own personal demons and survived to tell a story of victory.
Evans was born with drugs in his system, but he survived; kicking a habit that he involuntarily took on. Imagine this infant, now a toddler, separated from his birth mom for years to come.
In the course of a year, 100,000 prenatally cocaine-exposed children were born in the late 1980s and the early 1990s continuously for 12 months in the United States. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), children born exposed to cocaine are more likely to be aggressive, irrational, and show clinically elevated levels of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) symptoms.. However, the statistics provided are based off record.
“I [had] a really short fuse back then,” Evans’s said. “Anything would set me off. I would throw chairs, break stuff and knock people over. I got into a lot of fights. If people didn’t care about how I talked, I would’ve been fine. I had a lot of anger issues. [Therapists] tried to dig and find out what caused me to be angry.”
Although Evans had a general idea of what caused his anger as a child, he was not completely confident in knowing what was responsible for his uncontrolled behavior. In addition to battling his anger, he also struggled with ADHD.
“[Evans] had a tendency to do things on impulse. That therapist really helped him with that impulse control, be able to think things through and make the right choices,” Tom Evans, Antoine Evan’s father, said.
Molly McMahon was Antoine Evans’s therapist at Edgewood School. Evans was not accepted into Edgewood School until his behavior skyrocketed out of control, mainly because the school serves children with extreme emotional and behavioral illnesses. Edgewood School serves children between the ages 5-17 by providing specialized academic and treatment programs.
Ironically, Antoine Evans had to be expelled from three schools before being accepted into Edgewood School. His expulsion from Oak Hill Elementary, Warner Elementary and Mann School was partially because of his belligerent behavior.
“I didn’t care at that time. I guess it had a lot to do with me being raised by a white family. I got tormented [because of] my dad being white, me acting white, acting like an oreo,” Antoine Evans said.
Tom Evans said that Antoine Evans’ violent behavior was the result of being separated from his birth mother. He also concluded that Antoine Evans might have battled with identity issues. His identity was being challenged by his peers, which caused a mental, emotional and spiritual strain.
“It was hard for him to be able to say, ‘There’s a mom out there I don’t know, but I love her because she’s mom. I got this man keeping me warm, feeding me and taking me to playgrounds. We have fun. If he finds out I care for this mom, is he going to want me?’” Antoine Evans said.
Antoine Evans cares for the mom he never had, but also the dad that had taken him into his home and heart. The rage that consumed Evans blocked his vision, making it nearly impossible for him to realize how much his adoptive dad cared for him.
“Once I realized what he was doing, I said to myself, ‘I really need to change or this is going to turn out really bad,’” Antoine Evans said.
Evans said he saw that he was hurting his father and eventually began to see the path he was headed down, a path of death and destruction.
McMahon, Tom, church, friends, family, social workers and the rest of Edgewood staff had offered Evans a way out of the psychological trap he was in through therapy, tough love and prayer.
“I had to sign permission slips so they could do restraints on [Evans],” Tom said. “It was real hard to watch that happen. [Edgewood staff] told me, ‘we’re not going to call you when he acts up here. We will take care of it here.”
Evans said the love shown to him has helped him get to where he is now and has altered his psyche. He is no longer the livid little boy at Oak Hill Elementary or Edgewood. He has been described as a kind- hearted person with a warm personality by Debbie Corson, vice president of student affairs. Evans is doing well in school, volunteers and is enjoying his life.
“Right now at this moment, I have a really good life. I have a great friend. [Dad and I] have our issues worked out. I’m straightened out. The only obstacle now is getting through college,” Evans said.
