In Lumberton, I work with the guidance counselor. As a guidance counselor, we talk with the children and see how they are doing. When we apply the ecological model to working with children, we first look at the microsystem. The microsystem of one of the children we speak to consists of his grandmother, his school and his parents. She currently lives with her grandmother because her mother is constantly at work and her father is in prison. Her grandmother takes care of her and her brother during the week and they go home to their mother on the weekends. The mother is known to use drugs and they have solar panels in their home, which means the electricity is often cut off. The grandmother took them in because the mother's boyfriend is mean and the children don't have much to eat at their mother's house. This child's mesosystem is his relationship with his mother and grandmother. She doesn't like going home to her mother because of her mother's boyfriend. The grandmother has a great relationship with the little girl. Even though the little girl has a difficult home life, she was student of the month. She is an excellent student and continues to get good grades. She uses her school as a coping mechanism rather than taking action. This girl's exosystem is the mother's job and that could possibly be the Department of Social Services. Mother's work keeps mother away most of the time.