Dr. Natalia Lopez- YDEV Retreat

Saturday's retreat was an empowering experience for me. I feel more connected to my YDEV peers. From being vulnerable with one another, we became more of a family. All I can say is, I wish I  could turn back time and relieve the whole experience. 

People may hear the word Race and think they can easily define it. But it's a complex word that has a complex definition. When we were working in groups last Saturday, I found it difficult to come up with what I think Race is. 

Dr. Natalia Lopez’s explanation about the origin of the History of Race in US starting in 1779 was information that was new to me. I am making a commitment to learn more about the five I's of Racism as well as the School to Prison Pipeline. 

Week 5- YDEV Ideologies

Principles of Youth Development- Quotes/Reflections

                                                                            

We denigrate as a “social butterfly” a person who cares too much about             

superficial connections, especially when that person seems to sacrifice character,

adopting whatever opinions or behaviors are popular. When confidence outruns

competence, danger looms. (page 1)

Reflection #1: Unfortunately, this happens every day with our youth. In their eyes, fitting in with the “popular crowd” means everything to them. I see it in my after-school program. Some of my introverted youth tend to be become a different version of themselves just to gain attention from their peers. Most of the time, they gain this attention by being rude to the after-school staff.  

Young people gain competence and character by being connected with others; especially caring adults, and their competence and character in turn help them form new connections. (page 1)   

Reflection #2: I firmly believe that if after school programs and youth led organizations were to shut their doors tomorrow, our youth would lose the very few people that have not given up on them. Nowadays, our kids are ostracized, labeled, and ignored by some of their teachers, administrators, and parents. They find the support and care they need from after school organizations/programs. We treat our youth as equals. Their voice, opinions, and concerns matter in our space.

When youth are selected to participate in a program because they are at risk or enmeshed in problem behavior, selection confirms their identity as trouble. Furthermore, being thrown together with others who are also stigmatized may unintentionally reinforce undesirable behavior. (page 5)

Reflection #3: When I came across this quote, I automatically thought of one student groups that is ostracized in my school. The “Behavioral Defiant (BD) Youth”. To be honest, I could not tell you where the BD classroom is. All I can tell you is that the kids come down to the cafeteria 10 minutes before the lunch period starts to get their food and they go back to their classroom. Why they have this routine, I do not know. But it makes me curious. Why the separation? The “BD kids” are in their classroom from 7:45 am until 2:30pm.

The fact that all youth are developing and their development can be either enhanced or impeded by the opportunities available to

hem in their families, schools, and communities definitely does not mean that all youth need the same thing. (page 5)

Reflection #4: We cannot assume that all of our youth need the same things. I work at Roger Williams Middle School in South Providence. Most of my kids’ families are on the poverty line. However, my kids have different needs. One of kids needed a “safe place” to hang out after school. One of my kids needed a winter coat for herself and her sister. One of my kids needed an outlet for her anger towards her teachers. Never assume that all the kids in your youth space/classroom have the same needs.

We have to be able to recognize and accommodate gender differences while recognizing that sometimes gender is less important than that of race or class or age or simply interests and aspirations. (page 6)

Reflection #5:

I disagree with this statement. Gender is just as important as race or class. Race, Gender, and Class all correlate with one another. A black woman living in poverty is treated differently than a white woman living in the suburbs.  

Week 4- Marcus On Being Good

I found Marcus to be an exceptional young man. If this article was given out to some teachers or parents, most of them would automatically look at Marcus and say, "That kid has a behavioral problem" or, "that kid is disrespectful and needs to be taught how to listen to his teacher(s)". Nine times out of ten, they would never stop and say, "All this kid wants is to be treated as though he has some value". He wants to be seen as an equal. He wants to help". This is the biggest problem with the educational system. Youth are taught to obey authoritative figures. Forced to agree with their way of thinking. If they disagree, they are seen as insubordinate. If they voice their own opinion, they are seen as a "troublemaker" trying to rile up the class. They become stripped of their own identities. They hold no power in their educational journey. Our youth are often not given the chance to teach or to lead. They see this. Youth spaces such as; the Boys and Girls Club, Youth in Action, AfterZone, Youth Pride challenge the educational ideology of teachers lead, students listen. In these spaces, youth are given the opportunity to teach adults. They are given the floors and seen as the experts. Its giving them that sense of pride. Marcus being only seven at the time, came to the realization that he was his own boss. His teacher didn't have all the answers. He refused to allow his teacher to turn him into someone that he wasn't. If he wanted to comfort a classmate that wasn't being tended to, he would tend to them. If he wasn't given the opportunities to help and lead, he would take them on his own accord.

One of the visible rules that governed Marcus's classroom was the gathering of circle time. All Ms. Emily had to say  was, "its circle time and the kids know to make their way to the rug". In addition to the circle time announcement, is the "take-a break table" in the back of the room. Children/youth know once they are separated from their classmates that they are there due to their behavior. There is also the partner room some teachers utilize as a next measure if the "take-a break table" is not effective.

In my youth space (AfterZone), "troublemaking" often consists of; being somewhat rude to staff or program  providers, walking out of programs at the spur of the moment, and/or saying they are not going to participate in a particular activity because its dumb or stupid, With the talking back, we often take the particular youth aside and ask them whats going on. I always ask them,"Have I done anything to disrespect you or make you feel bad". More often than not, the answer is always no. So then I try to turn it around on them and say, "how would you like it, if out of nowhere I came up to you and started yelling at you. Would you like it? They say no. So, I remind them to keep how they would feel in mind before they are rude to someone else.

With the walking out of programs, I like to give them a space to regroup. They probably are having a bad day and don't want to be around a lot of people. We all have those days. Its perfectly fine. Given 15 to 20 minutes by themselves, they tend to return to their programs.

With my more combative youth who tend to sit out on activities, I give them a chance to lead. One day in particular, I had a student named Devon. He had just gotten in trouble with the principal and was looking to dissuade his friends from playing basketball. I knew the type of influence he had over them. If I didn't get Devon involved somehow, they would lose interest in playing basketball. So, I decided to host a friendly pick up game and made Devon the referee. He enjoyed his role. So much so that he asked to be the referee the next time we had a pick up game. Devon is often seen as a troublemaker by his teachers. He looks for attention. Anyway he can get it, he will get it. Like Marcus, he needed opportunities to be heard, to be seen, to be known, to he helpful, and to let him make you proud. 

Week 3- Stereotypes

Black youth particularly black girls according one of our assigned articles, Adults think Black Girls are older than they are and it matters are often stereotyped as one of the following; a jezebel, one who is seen as hyper sexual; a sapphire; someone who is often angry and shows it through her actions; or as a mammy, someone who is nurturing,committed to one partner and has a nurturing attitude. Black girls are also being adultified. People automatically assume that they are older based on face value.

Our second article, Denaturalizing Adolescence: The Politics of Contemporary Representations written by Nancy Lesko critiques assumptions based on adolescents distinctive nature. I believe Lesko wants us to truly look at our adolescents and not automatically imply that they are the way they are or act the way they do based on their age and those around them. 

Adults hold all the power. Especially within schools. To make matters worse, they have no problem holding that power over students heads. In my after school program, I had three students tell me that their history teacher told the whole class that she would fail every student in her class if they disrupted her teaching. No disciplinary action was taken against her. On another occasion, I overheard one teacher tell another teacher that her student would never go to college. All he would amount to was prison. Again, there was no disciplinary action taken against this “educator”.