How are we with our youth? BLOG POST #4

 BLOG POST #4- Put the key theories/ resonances/ teachings from these texts in conversation. Choose one takeaway from each piece--what jumped out at you, made you feel/ think/ wonder? How do these learnings speak to each other, line up, crisscross, or complicate? 

What does it cost to take a second and be patient with a student? That question arose when I read the letter to the teachers. I may not be as patient as I would like, and I resonated with reactive responses to things that happen with students. My focus would be making sure people are safe in any and every way, especially for kids. The question in the letter was: How will we try to heal one another, address human needs, and alleviate harm to human beings we see in the world? Another piece that felt fair to read as someone else is the expert. To learn freedom is to teach openness to our students and offer that to the world. 

One takeaway from Sean’s letter was that Democracy requires dispute; the school could have valued his questions, but who knows where those questions may have been taken. Sean, the love letter, and Discrit are complicated crossovers and line up. Sean is the first-hand example of a white ⅞-year-old boy, and Discrit discusses ableism and racism in the conversation. 

In the Distrit piece, the two takeaways were the discussion of the intersectionality of race and ableism, which I highlighted throughout reading each article. I make notes in the index to explain how my understanding is. The chapter on racism and ableism is normalizing interconnected and collusive processes. In other words, racism and ableism often work in unspoken ways, yet racism validates and reinforces ableism, and ableism validates and reinforces racism. I felt the connection between all three pieces then and there. Black folks are 13 times more likely to be removed from spaces than their white counterpart, while both have behavioral and emotional issues. You can understand in the conversation with the letter of love and the piece on Sean that students like Sean are “dealt” with more patience. If Sean was black or brown, he may have responded differently.  District article reminded me of the students I interact with, and you are reminded that there are barriers.

The three readings felt interconnected to me - they were focused on the reactions and the actions of children and educators. We deal with different circumstances and different levels of supported parents/people. The blame should not be immediately placed on the child or the parent. There may be neurological, traumatic, or medical explanations as to why a young person is acting a certain way; medication is not always the answer, but being humble can be the answer.