Let's just let our jail system fix it.

On June 13th, 2014, five students in my classroom will graduate from my program and enter the adult world. Every single one of these 5 boys have recently began to emphasize their need to stay in school. They have started panicking. When they leave me in June they have to begin life without the support of their class family. I have been their role model, their positive energy flow, and their stand in parent for years. They are scared of what it means to function without me. This is a legitimate fear as it actually seems like functioning healthily and legally after graduating from my Empowered Program just doesn't happen, or at least it hasn't happened yet. Every single one of my graduates is addicted to drugs or selling them. All of them tried hard for the first few months after graduation, but failed to get a job. The sad part is that every single one of them would happily trade their lives now to come back to the classroom and be supported, and feel successful. This is the complete and devastating truth.


This month I watched this incredible downward spiral unravel before my eyes. A student I recently graduated was coming by the class every single day. He would grab a computer, apply for jobs online, then he would grab resumes and leave hopeful that this was his lucky day. Hopeful that by nightfall, he would have a job. I would encourage him and praise him for his efforts each morning. At first he accepted my kind words, he would smile and step out of the room with a bounce in his step, full of hope. Then slowly he started to doubt that he would ever be hired. His positive hope turned to negative self-talk. He said he didnt think he was smart enough or looked good enough to be hired. He said he had trouble talking to the managers. He needed more help than I could give him. I have a classroom full of students that need me.

Then I noticed that he stopped pulling out the computer. He was still coming around the school in the morning, but he stopped talking about his job hunt. It didnt take us long to figure out he was dealing drugs to the other studnets. It's just too easy. Drugs are rampant in the lives of these kids. This student already spoke the language of the streets, he had the cliental and the product at his fingertips. He needed money and now he has cash in his pocket. Too easy. There are too many for me to consistently support into adulthood.

One parent writes, "My son has struggled through school, right from elementary with no success....his confidence was at an all time low and I let him quit school...he has started Stacey's program and his confidence went from 0-10...he now knows he isnt stupid...his self-worth and attitude have changed from night to day" Another one writes, "My son didn't get out of bed for two years and now his depression and anger are gone, thank-you". Another foster parent writes, "Thank-you so much for saving my child". A text message I received two days ago from a parent of a new student of mine reads, "I am so thank-ful that you have helped my son finally like to go to school. He was definitely not getting much positive reinforcement in the past". I could write pages of parent and guardian quotes that all sound the same. The general message is that they are grateful their children are finally being recognized for their strengths and are finally happy to go to school.

As a post elementary system we are beginning to get the alternate school experience right. This is fantastic. I watch my students flourish before my eyes. While they are with me, I see their confidence build and I see them try to change their negative thoughts and language to positive. I see them start to believe in themselves. Even my student who was born and raised in a remote reserve hours from civilization. This student watched his entire family die. He watched his cousins homes be burned to the ground, he watched his sister learn to live without arms, he was pulled from the drunk driving accident that his parents parished in. He can't even sit in the front seat of my car for fear that people will look at his face. He is so broken, and even he is currently succeeding within the loving walls of my room. Even he is trying to change his thoughts. I watch him struggle with the anger inside of him every single day. He only just recently began to let me hug him. He will be gone in June. Gone to what? Gone where?

This is where we are falling short. We are working hard on these kids for only a snap shot of their time on earth. Why are there no serious alternative supports before middle school, and none after highschool? These students are constantly compared to mainstream students all through elementary school. They feel stupid, they feel different, and they struggle to fit in. By the time our alternate system gets a hold of them in grade 7 or 8, they have already formed their negative self-talk and their self confidence is at rock bottom. They have felt alone at school since kindergarten. Our alternate sites finally give these courageous individuals a chance to show what they can do. Who cares if it's not algebra or a freaking novel study. These guys don't want to go to university. These students just want to be unjudged and successful in their own lives.

A small, loving, supportive alternate school environment from kindergarten right through until graduation would make our jobs at the alternate highschool make a little more sense. Why can't there be a different plan for these guys right from the start? Full support, a seperate acheivable curriculum that actually prepares them for the life they are going to live. A place where the teachers teach love and positive thinking and where hugs are rampant. A place where there is no comparison and they feel special. Too much to ask? Then I guess a university program that supports them in their job hunts, whatever direction that may be, is also too much to ask. A few years of success is all we, as a society, is willing to give them. When they turn 18 they are kicked out of the school system, out of their group homes, out of their foster homes, and onto the street. The only true support system we have developed for these guys, after they leave me, is the jail system. That should fix them.

Our jail systems must be pumping out successful, empowered individuals by the second, or else we would have something else in place for them. Wouldnt we? Its enough to make me scream.

I delivered work this month to one of my students who is too drug addicted to come to school. He lives in a shed. He asked me for money, like he does everytime I visit him. I told him I don't carry cash, like I tell him every time I visit him. I gave him a brief counseling session. Then I asked him if he wanted to get clean...again. He got mad at me...again. Then I left. This is the extent of my contact with him. He has lost his family, he has lost his life. I believe this could have been prevented, our school system could have made a difference. He is actually a bright individual, he just isn't academically bright, so he thinks he's stupid and worthless. He thinks he is a worthless human being because he can't complete the math requirements that his age is "supposed" to be able to complete. He thinks he can't do life because he forgets where the punctuation marks go. We've been telling him he's not good enough from the start. We failed him.

Yes, we can continue to rant about the lack of parental guidance, and the neglectful upbringings. We can rage about abusive homes and drunk pregnant women. We can say it's their fault. We can continue to forget that it takes a community to raise a child. However, until we rememeber, we are truly failing a large portion of our society's children.

Oh ya, I forgot, we have our fantastic jail system to fix this for us. Thank-god!