Identity -- EDPR 7/8112 Adolescence Sec. 001 0500-0800 R

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Date Posted: 18:44:00 03/28/07 Wed
Author: Ethel McKinney (perturbed)
Subject: Identity

I must say that last week I was ready to give up teaching. There are children in my neighborhood that would rather hang around and vandalize homes and property than do anything worthwhile. My neighborhood isn't bad but bad people have started to hang around. The Memphis gang the Vice Lords are trying to claim my neighborhood as theirs. They have apparently recruited several local boys to terrorize us with vandalism and theft.
These same young people have no parents at home as far as I can tell. They roam around from morning to night. No one calls for them to come home, no one comes around looking for them.
Many of the Psychologists we have discussed recently believe that a developing child's greatest influence is the home environment. If all you have at home is an uncaring parent or a gang banging relative, you have nothing good to identify with.
I hope someone somewhere can publicize an appealing program to influence these children to strive for better things. Monday morning between 3am and 6:15am, our car was severely vandalized and burglarized. We fixed the damage through the insurance company to the tune of $1500 with a $100 deductible. On Wednesday morning between 6:40am and 7:50am, they did it again.
It's really hard not to wish them ill, but they need to identify with more positive influences. STAY IN SCHOOL!

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Replies:

[> Re: Identity -- Cassandra Schuyler, 19:02:57 03/28/07 Wed

I have a student who is in that same gang. I really try to get him to concentrate on more positive things and show him how I can relate to him and that their is still hope for him to carry himself down another path. He still constantly writes the number 5 on everything and recently got suspended for a huge gang fight. His mother as far as I can tell is a pretty straight path mother but his brother is a big gang banger as well. It is hard to have a positive influence over somebody if they are rarely in school. They do need a good role model to identify with and they need to be able to identify with them selves and find out that choosing another direction is more wise. But by the time they realize the "right" path, it tends to be too late.

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[> Re: Identity -- Evelyn Moore, 20:47:11 03/28/07 Wed

It is very true that you can not positively motivate a youth unless they are present in class. On last week I was told that one of the students had been shot in the stomach. He was out of the hospital but his mother will homeschool him for the remainder of the year. Case in point he did not come to class. He was asking for trouble. You could see it coming but I relized tht I could not have an impact unless he was present in class ans not skipping. There is another one who is a gang member and wants to get out. So we have to work very closely with him. I found that being a woman of my word has had an impact on him. When another student came to class that did not know me and was trying to play his game on me, it was that student who told the gamer that I did not got for that. This is a trial and error job. We will not win them all but we can make a good dent in the problem as teachers as long as we are all consistent. The thing about gangs is that they understand order, chain of command and authority. They operate off of fear. You can be afraid or let them see you sweat. TRUE!!!

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