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.