关爱教育边缘孩子：激发潜力与改变未来的策略

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For over a decade, I have studied young people that have been pushed out of school, so-called dropouts. As they end up failed by the education system, they're on the streets where they're vulnerable to violence, police harassment, police brutality, and incarceration. I follow these young people for years at a time across institutional settings to try to understand what some of us call the school to prison pipeline. When you look at a picture like this of young people who are in my study, you might see trouble. I mean, one of the boys has a bottle of liquor in his hand. He's 14 years old and it's a school day. Other people, when they see this picture, might see gangs, thugs, delinquents, criminals. But I see it different. I see these young people through a perspective that looks at the assets that they bring to the education system. And will you join me in changing the way we label young people from at risk to at promise?

How do I know that these young people have the potential and the promise to change? I know this because I am one of them. You see, I grew up in dire poverty in the inner city without a father. He abandoned me before I was even born. We were on welfare, sometimes homeless, many times hungry. By the time I was 15 years old, I had been incarcerated in Juicy three times for three felonies. My best friend had already been killed. And soon after, while I'm standing next to my uncle, he gets shot. And as I'm waiting for the ambulance to arrive for over an hour, he bleeds to death on the street. I had lost faith in hope in the world and I had given up on the system because the system had failed me. I had nothing to offer and no one had anything to offer me. I was fatalistic. I didn't even think I could make it to my eighth birthday.

The reason I'm here today is because a teacher that cared, reached out and managed to tap into my soul. This teacher, Miss Russ, was the kind of teacher that was always in your business. She was the kind of teacher that was like, Victor, I'm here for you whenever you're ready. I wasn't ready. But she understood one basic principle about young people like me. We're like oysters. We're only going to open up when we're ready. And if you're not there when we're ready, we're going to clam back up. Miss Russ was there for me. She was culturally relevant. She respected my community, my people, my family. She listened to my story about my uncle Rubin, who would take me to work collecting glass bottles, which often caused me pain. Miss Russ told me, "Victor, this is your power. This is your potential. Your family, your culture, your community have taught you a hard work ethic and you will use it to empower yourself in the academic world so you can come back and empower your community."

With Miss Russ's help, I ended up returning to school. I even finished my credits on time and graduated with my class. But Miss Russ said to me, right before graduation, "Victor, I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it. Now it's time to go to college." College me. Man, what is this? Teachers thinking, I'm going to college. I applied with the mentors and support she provided, and got a letter of acceptance. One of the paragraphs read, "you've been admitted under probationary status." I said, probation? I'm already on probation. But it was academic probation, not criminal probation. This highlights how teachers like Miss Russ help young people succeed.

I propose three strategies for helping young people like those I study. First, get rid of our deficit perspective in education. These young people come from cultures of violence and poverty. They are not empty containers; they have resilience and potential. Second, value the stories young people bring to school. Their experiences already demonstrate grit, character, and resilience. Helping them refine and take pride in their stories strengthens both their identity and academic engagement. Third, provide adequate resources. Grit alone is not enough. Mentoring, counseling, job training, and teaching them to learn from mistakes instead of criminalizing them is essential. Implementing restorative justice in high schools ensures that young people are supported rather than punished.

We tested these ideas in the Watts community in LA with 40 young people who had been pushed out of school. William, one of them, had been labeled a gang member and a criminal. Initially resistant, he gradually opened up through consistent support. He learned to transform his story from a narrative of victimhood to one of survival and overcoming adversity. William eventually finished high school, earned a security guard certificate, and now works in a local school district. Miss Russ's mantra was always, "When you teach to the heart, the mind will follow." By valuing the souls of young people and helping them recognize their resilience, we can improve their academic outcomes. Belief, resources, and encouragement are key. My teacher believed in me so much that she tricked me into believing in myself.