Uplifting Stories About Young Adults

            This morning (5/28/13), one of the local morning shows did a segment on “Three Teens Who Give Their Generation a Good Name[1].”  The segment briefly mentioned three students who overcame obstacles to graduate from high school. 

            The segment highlighted an openly gay student in Colorado, who as the class speaker at graduation, thanked parents for “raising their children the right way.”  The student spoke about being accepted by his fellow classmates and he was never bullied or called disparaging names by his classmates during his four years at school. 

            The segment also highlighted a student from Louisiana who is awaiting a heart transplant and received his diploma at a graduation ceremony at the hospital where he is being treated.  This individual discussed the importance of getting an education.

            The third segment highlighted a homeless student from Georgia who graduated with a 4.66 grade point average (gpa).  In the Valedictorian speech, the student spoke about how the family slept on mats on the floor and didn’t know where their next meal or shower would come from.

            These remarkable stories of young adults successfully overcoming obstacles should be the norm by media outlets, but sadly it is not.  There are more negative stories reported about young adults than positive ones.  The un-balanced reporting has portrayed all young adults in a negative light.  Our society has become more familiar with the short comings of young adults that we have lost sight of the countless young adults who are not getting into trouble and are making a difference in our society.

            With all the attention given to teen moms and the antics of spoiled rich kids and young entertainers, the young adults who will be the next tech guru, the next CEO, the next President, the next social justice advocate are being cheated of their right to be recognized for their tenacity, persistence and resilience.

            Imagine if media outlets provided more stories on the positive things students across the country are doing, would we become more involved in the fight against the closing of schools and the cuts to Art and Music programs?

If we consider these students as the norm, our perspective changes and our focus will be on providing opportunities for the majority of the students who are doing the right thing. By providing opportunities for the majority of the students who are doing the right thing, it is my belief those who are struggling to do the right thing will see the benefits of doing right and turn their lives around.

Thank you to all young adults who are doing the right thing!

---

[1] http://eyeopenertv.com/2013/05/28/three-teens-who-give-their-generation-a-good-name/#axzz2Ubi0BR8Q

Heroic Teachers

            As we mourn the lost of young lives at the Briarwood Elementary and Plaza Towers Elementary Schools in Oklahoma City, stories are emerging about the heroic acts of teachers who put their lives at risk to keep students safe during the deadly tornado.

            According to several media reports, students talked about how teachers shielded them with their bodies to protect them from tornado debris and comforted them by letting the students know “they are going to be fine[i].”  The heroic acts by teachers should remind us of the intangibles teacher bring to the job that go unnoticed. 

With teachers coming under fire for poor student performance, the heroic performance of the teachers at Briarwood and Plaza Towers Elementary Schools should remind us of the many facets of being a teacher.  A teacher is not just a disseminator of information.  A teacher is not is not a highly paid “babysitter.”  A teacher is not the sole reason for the problems plaguing education.  The heroic acts of the teachers at the schools disprove these beliefs about teachers.

We also need to be reminded that many teachers are parents, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts, some are even grandparents.  They are coaches, mentors, confidants and in some cases substitute parents.  With the imminent threat of death, these teachers thought not about the consequences to themselves or their family, they thought about protecting their students.

This is the true nature of a teacher.  Thank you for showing the world what a teacher should be.

---

[i] www.today.com/news/good-job-teach-educators-heroes-okla-tragedy-6C9996529#

Reading: Oh the Places You’ll Go

                As graduation season approaches, one of the gifts many graduates will receive is the Dr. Seuss book “Oh The Places You’ll Go.”  As a person who loves to travel, my love for traveling began with reading. 

                As a young reader, books took me to other universes and realms to save humanity, save the damsel in distress, or to solve the unsolvable crime.  I thought about the joy reading has given me over my years and how the ability to read has given me access to opportunities that have brought me to this point in my life.  My love of reading also made me think about the children and young adults who are struggling readers or dislike reading.

                I am troubled by a child or young adult who does not like to read.  Since reading was heavily emphasized at my house, I know the foundation for developing the love of reading begins at home.  As a child and young adult, there were a plethora of books, magazines, comic books and encyclopedias in my home.  My mother read to my brother and I, I read to my brother, my grandmother took us to the library and during the summer break we were required to do book reports. 

                My love for reading was recognized and supported at the schools I attended.  During my elementary school years, we had daily quite reading time, in middle school we were allowed to do a book report and present on one of our favorite books, and in high school, my history and English teachers suggested books to us that would enhance our interest in the topics were studying.  From these experiences, I became a life-long learner.

                Unfortunately, many children and young adults are not afforded this opportunity.  Parents are sitting children down in front of the television as an electronic babysitter and they expect children will learn to read by osmosis.  In many homes, there are very few books, magazines and encyclopedias are non-existent in homes due to the internet.  Many children do not see their parents reading and many parents are not encouraging or cultivating their children to develop a love of reading.  More importantly, many parents are looking to their child’s school to teach them to develop a love of reading.  With the current climate of preparing children and young adults to pass the battery of standardized tests, developing the love of reading is lost.  This is most likely where children and young adults develop a dislike of reading.

                I could discuss the obvious outcomes of children and young adults who don’t develop a love of reading (poor academic achievement, underachievement, etc).  However children and young adults who don’t learn develop a love of reading stifles their imagination, hinders their expectations and future opportunities, and is a threat to self improvement.  Additionally, when they become adults, it is highly likely the cycle will continue with their children.  Lastly, it is highly likely as adults they will not become life long learners.

                If children and young adults do not develop a love for reading, they will not have a reference of where they could go.  Developing a love of reading gives children and young adults the inspiration to take chances in their adult life.  Developing a love for reading could transform the imagination of childhood into reality in adulthood and show them the places they could go!

Encourage a Child to Develop a Love Reading

The Case for Public Speaking

            Growing up, I was taught and always reminded that I live in a dual society; the world of my family, neighborhood and culture, and mainstream society.  Living in a dual society, I was taught how to be “bilingual” or to use another term “code” switch. 

For those unfamiliar with code switching, it is a practice where the dialect of a racial or ethnic group (ie: non-standard English, slang or native tongue) is spoken around family, in their neighborhood and their friends. It is not spoken when an individual interacts with “mainstream” society for work, school, etc, standard English is supposed to be spoken.

I can recall my mother cutting me the “look” or asking me “what did I just say” in a tone that reminded me that we are out in public and not at home or with my friends and I should use the “proper” language.  I also recall my teachers penalizing us for not code switching and using non-standard English in class.  However, when we went to recess, we were allowed to code switch and use slang and non-standard English. 

It appears as though duality and the teaching of code switching has been lost.  Since there seems to be no adult at home or in school talking to young adults about code switching, many young adult conversations are unfiltered with an excessive amount of cursing mixed in with non standard English.  Because young adults have not been taught to code switch, no one is reminding them the ability to use standard English is a valuable asset to have when interviewing for jobs or college admission, or applying for a loan.  If a potential employer or college admissions counselor or loan manger can’t understand or is offended by the way a young adult speaks, opportunities are lost.

            To combat this problem, young adults should be required to take a public speaking class.  Having a public speaking requirement will ensure young adults will have the opportunity to be instructed in code switching.  Public speaking will also aid young adults with finding their voice, learning to speak with confidence and open their eyes to the expectations of mainstream society.  More importantly, young adults will learn the cultural capital and power of code switching will have on their future adult lives.  Hopefully the experience of public speaking will renew a commitment to fully engage in the educational experiences being afforded to them while they are still young.

            As an undergraduate, all freshman were required to take a public speaking course.  The course is the reason I can present to a room filled with hundreds of people, have a conversation at a formal affair, or successfully defend my dissertation.  With public speaking, I found my voice in my freshman year and I have never looked back.  I want the same for all young adults.

What if School Was Like the Prom?

            It is prom season.  For many young men and women, the prom is the final event before graduation.  Prom season is one of the few occasions where students want to dress up, dance and take pictures at venue that is designed to celebrate them. 

            Prom is also a time where everyone pays attention to young men and women.  You have parents and teachers who make sure the young men and women have purchased their tickets, rented or purchased their prom outfit, make sure hair appointments are made and corsages are purchased.  More importantly, prom is a time where young men and women are told how “beautiful” they are by their parents, relatives, teachers and their peers.  Prom is where young men and women are made to feel important.

            What would happen if schools took those same positive characteristics from prom and integrated them into school climate and instruction?  What would happen if our young men and women were provided with all the attention they receive at prom on a daily basis regarding their education?

            School should be a place where young men and women are nurtured academically and cultivated socially into the adults they aspire to become.  School should be a place where young men and women feel welcomed; where they feel “beautiful” inside and out; a place where they matter. 

To accomplish this, school staff should strive to develop a school climate where learning and growth will occur regardless of a student’s current academic level.  Academic supports and interventions should be provided as electives and not as a “pull out or push in” model as is currently done for students’ with disabilities.  Schools should help develop peer support groups where peers can tutor and mentor each other.  Schools should honor students who are making gains in their academic levels.  Finally schools should have the student who has made the most academic gain a special speaker at graduation.

If schools emulated the positive characteristics and attention they give to students attending the prom, our country would not have to worry about our young men and women being able to compete in the global market.