A shocking reality

No one wants to think about their child going to prison.....but its all to real for many.

I watched a documentary recently on the "School to Prison pipeline". I had never heard of such a thing but unfortunately it is "a thing".

Many kiddos today struggle from ADHD and other behavioral disorders. And many are very difficult to control or manage in a school or social setting. However, they need help and we must be their advocates at home, in schools and any other social setting they encounter. And we have to find ways to effectively nurture youths developmental assets and social competencies to help them grow into thriving adolescents and adults.

You'll see in the video what happens when we leave our childrens' behavioral challenges to policy and process in today's society. Caution: I had a difficult time watching some of the video footage. You'll hear them say "our kids today are over-corrected and over-penalized". The goal of school administrators should be to prepare our kids for society not push them aside for others to deal with "the problem". Where else do our youth learn? Who else can they trust? Often, the home environment is not always the best but when they bring attitude, outbursts, anger, biting, hitting and more to school at an early age, we need to address what's underneath and inside our youth. There is a REASON they are acting this way and we need patience to learn from them.

I had a situation with my son in his Ninja class a few months back. He had just joined a new group of older kiddos in class. He is a little guy (sorry buddy...thanks to his mama) and most likely the youngest in the advanced class of Ninjas. After successfully completing all of the obstacles on his first try, one of his peers became angry. So angry that he went off to pout in a corner. Next thing we know, the angry kid came back to the group and started choking my son. All out, up against the wall, choking. I wasn't there, but my husband was and he was mortified. He as mad, he wanted to have a word with the family of this kid, the business where we pay for service and more. However, my initial thought...of course was for the safety of my son but quickly thereafter, what is this boys home life like that would cause him to even consider this action? These types of behaviors are most often learned, sadly, and can be managed.

The video observes that if we invested more in schools, our prison population will decline. Suggesting that today, we put our dollars at the end of the problem, NOT at the beginning of development where we should be investing in our youth.

At 1 hour and 26 minutes, the documentary is a bit long, but well worth the watch if you have a passion for youth and advocating for their positive development.

Maine Public Community Films (2019, March 28). The kids we lose. Retrieved from https://www.mainepublic.org/post/kids-we-lose?fbclid=IwAR3PB7CXRxG84Yn0-oupCoyw5izn_GZFLlr0W_LOOLtprsQ6rvgFKr__d6E