At Risk

This is for my School Resource Officers, my teacher friends, my school administrators, my involved parents, my kids.  This is for everyone who is affected by going “back to school”. 

I’ve had a very eye opening experience in a recent assignment that allowed me to work with at-risk-youth.  In this assignment not only did I have the perspective of law enforcement, but also of teacher, and administrator/liaison between the school board and the parents.  When I look back at the position that was in a very new and raw program I wasn’t prepared for the lessons I learned.  They weren’t all good.  And I wasn’t the best person for that position, only I was the one who realized it, not my supervisors or the school admins or anyone else. 

When I look back at the purpose of the program, it wasn’t a punishment for the ‘bad kids’, it was a support system and redirect for the forgotten ones.  The definition of “at-risk” in the dictionary is divided into “at” and “risk”.  “At” meaning a point of, and “risk” meaning the hazard or chance of loss.  That’s not exclusive to the kids assigned to the program.  Sadly, it defines every single one of our youth attending any school.  Yes, even my own son who is now home-schooled. 

“At-risk” doesn’t just pertain to the ones who act out in class, or skip school, or have failing grades.  It includes the popular kids, the athletes, the smart kids who already have college degrees by the time they hit senior year.  All of our kids are exposed to the same learning material, the same teachers, the same administrators, the same law enforcement school resource officers.  Our kids are at risk, or at a point of loss, if we don’t see this opportunity to change the risk. 

They should be at risk.  At risk of finding a mentor, a person who can make a difference in their lives.  They should be at risk of getting an education that will help them become productive members of society and not just able to pass a standard test.  They should be at risk of having a positive view of law enforcement in spite of the negative media portrayal we receive.  They should be at risk of being successful.  They’re all at risk of becoming the next generation of School Resource Officers, teachers, school administrators, and involved parents.  It’s up to us to show them that it’s a risk worth taking. 

  

As law enforcement we’ve all heard parents tell their kids we’d arrest them if they didn’t behave, or refuse to eat their peas, or whatever the stupid reason.  In the previous role I filled as an instructor for this program, I heard too many parents (and even teachers!) use me as leverage to make the kids behave.  Like I was the punisher if they didn’t comply.  When I sat with the kids one-on-one to talk they soon realized I wasn’t the punisher, I was the protector.  I didn’t allow their behavior to continue, nor did allow excuses, however I did allow freedom of speech without persecution.  I allowed that “safe place”, just not in the liberal sense of “you hurt my feelings”, but the safe place for them to be honest and express their frustration and anger before taking it out on the wrong person or sealing their fate with expulsion.

We lost a few to street violence, then there was one who went on to graduate with a B average and sober!  Yet six months earlier he was on felony probation and the verge of incarceration as an adult for his crimes.  As cheesy as it sounds he found Jesus.  A much forgotten ingredient in our education system, yet it was the one ingredient that saved this young man’s life and future.  

As adults we aren’t very good at listening to understand.  We listen to respond, especially when it comes to dealing with kids.  This is our fault.  We blame society, but HELLLOOOOO, we make up society.  There’s a few, a very select few, who listen to understand and can effectively communicate a better way for our youth.  The few kids we worked with had a redirect, an opportunity to change their perspective.  All it took was the right SRO/teacher/school admin/parent to listen.    

My only regret with stepping away from the program is not being able to see the kids every day to reassure them that they are worth it.  That regret was nothing compared to the sacrifice I made for a job/schedule that literally replaces me the second I go on annual leave and will fill my very expendable position if I resign or die.  No hard feelings, it’s just the nature of the beast in my line of work.  Instead of staying in the program or taking another assignment at a desk job I decided to go back to patrol and work midnight shift so we could home-school our 5^th grader.  This decision came after some of those ‘hard lessons’ I learned from kids in the program as well as some changes with our family.  I decided being present for my son was more important than being what I deemed as successful in my career at the cost of someone else raising him. 

**Disclaimer, I AM NOT A STAY AT HOME MOM!  God bless the men and women who can do that and maintain their sanity.  I work full-time, even have selfish hobbies that allow “me time”.  I’m just learning how I can be a more involved/present parent.  Not everyone is granted this blessing, and I’m running with it full speed while I have it.   Someday I’ll share those hard lessons.  For now, all of my SRO’s, teachers, admins, parents, and kids, be “at-risk” and make it worth it.  Have an awesome school year!