Over
the weekend, I read an article about how Missouri rehabilitates juvenile
offenders. In many of the "schools" in detention facilities across
the united states students attend classes for only a few hours a week in
classrooms overcrowded with behavioral problems and special needs. These
"schools" often causes juvenile offenders to fall further behind
their peers academically, socially, and emotionally.
The
new approach of the Missouri's Division of Youth Services (DYS) has helped
thousands of juveniles rehabilitate. Students are taught in small groups fostering
communal trust. Students then attend group therapy to develop positive ways of
creating relationships with others and positive anger management.
This
article highlights the amazing results that are possible if people are willing
to truly be revolutionary. I strongly believe that if a child internalizes an
identity of a criminal or a failure, that is most likely what they will become.
This new model in Missouri gives students a chance to positively reflect on
their poor decisions in the past and use their mistakes and the mistake of
their peers to help them make better decisions in the future. This model should not be confined to Missouri. While juvenile crime rates
in Baltimore have declined since 2007, the number of youth who would benefit
from this therapeutic model is enormous. The students we see or the
students that commit crimes and are then committed to detention facilities are
not acting out because they want to fail. They have unmet needs and they are
doing the best they can with the resources available to them, often using
inappropriate methods to meet their needs. By addressing the whole student,
their strengths, their weaknesses and transforming the prison educational
system from that of a punitive model to that of a therapeutic model, the
Missouri DYS is giving these students the best chance for achievement in the
future. Their success merits attention from school districts nation wide. This
revolutionary shift in educational philosophy could transform the way the youth
in Baltimore and other cities are educated.
If
you would like to read the article, here is a link to the PDF of the journal:
2 comments:
I really like this post. I feel that so many children in the juvenile system have the feeling that once they have landed in the system, they are destined to continue on in the same path. Many adult offenders, who spend their lives in and out of jail, have been doing so every since they were teens and see no real way out. But if juvenile facilities did focus more of their energy on rehabilitation and fostering a sense of community, as well as expanding the education program, the youth would start to see more options for themselves. They may not only attempt to avoid the same kind of trouble that landed them in the system in the first place, they may even be presented with more opportunities to succeed. With better education options, juveniles may be pushed to pursue their own career goals, instead of becoming repeat offenders, and with mentorship programs and group therapy, they will have more motivation and support to work hard and achieve their goals.
I also enjoy this post. All of our students could benefit from a holistic approach to education, not just those in the juvenile system. Time and time again I see students fall behind because they aren't in small groups, getting the attention they need to succeed. This model would do well to be applied in Baltimore City. Behavior issues would plummet, students would be more confident, and they would actually get along in a productive way. I think the students, teachers, and administrators would all be better off with this methodology of teaching.
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