So Tell Me What You Think!!! Tell me what you think and offer any suggestions as to what programming and services that you think at-risk youth and their families need in order to achieve resilience.

So, I completed my research and community assessment. I conducted 6 interviews and received 1 personal reflection. I distributed 330 surveys and received 195 back. Needless to say I gained a wealth of knowledge and insight as to what current at-risk youth, former at-risk youth, and parents of at-risk youth see as being important to ensure that these youth do not remain at-risk and achieve resiliency. I found that it is important for youth to have the following things to help them not to be at-risk and to transition from being at-risk to resilient.

·         Church, God, Faith, Prayer

·         Parenting

·         A Father Figure

·         A Positive Role Model

·         Education

·         Extra-Curricular Activities

·         Trust

·         Bravery and Courage

·        Support, Someone to talk to an listen, Guidance and Direction, Love, Caring and Encouragement

Based on what I see as causes and symptoms to the problem, what the participants of my research see as being important to fostering resiliency and my own personal experience, I would like to start a faith based organization that has programs designed to help youth and their families acquire the necessary life skills to become successful and prosperous adults as well as achieve a healthy and supportive family environment. The programs will assist them in overcoming difficult community, school and family challenges and achieve resiliency. I came up with the following possible solutions which are listed below.

·         Youth Development

o   Confidence/Self-Esteem Building

o   Mentoring

o   Academic Support

o   Career Training

·         Youth Recidivism Prevention

o   Peer Mentoring

o   Transition to work

o   Educational Assistance

o   Accountability and Behavior Change

·         Family Development

o   Parenting Skills

o   Bonding Techniques

o   Communication Skills

o   Family Counseling/Individual Counseling

Trying To Make A Differnce...

Urban school districts are experiencing a high number of students who have difficulty with resilience in overcoming difficult school, community and/or family situations. My experience has brought me face to face with many issues that students deal with on a daily basis. On many occasions I have had conversations with students where they express that they feel neglected, as if no one cares about them or notices them, they are crying out for love and feel as if they have a lack of support. Many students deal with family dysfunction, whether it is living in overcrowded homes, having parents who are completely uninvolved, have a lack of parenting skills, do not take the time to get to know their children and create strong bonds or the youth witness abusive behavior of adults in their lives. 

An overwhelming number of students deal with family separation in the form of loss of a parent, living with extended family, abandonment, being orphaned, being adopted, being in Department of Children and Families (DCF) custody, being in foster care, having social workers or surrogate parents as guardians, and living in group homes. Many students live in poverty; some cases are more severe than others. Some students deal with homelessness and only eat at school. 

It breaks my heart on a daily basis to see the number of students who deal with pregnancy, abortions, and miscarriages; who are victims of all forms of abuse: verbal, mental, physical, sexual, rape, and molestation; who suffer from substance dependence (alcohol, prescription drugs and narcotics) and are on either probation or parole because of violent offenses and/or gang activity. I was shocked to discover the number of students that get under diagnosed and/or over diagnosed with mental, health, and developmental health issues, learning disabilities and as special education. The italicized words are some of the factors that contribute to the struggles faced by urban youth. Symptoms of a problem as they manifest in schools are: lack of motivation and/or interest to learn, poor self-worth/image, low confidence/self-esteem, truancy, lack of respect for self and for others, poor overall attitude, no or few goals for the future, and no sense of hope. 

I am conducting my graduate research on at-risk youth with the hopes of finding out what is happening among students who have resilience in overcoming adversity and difficult school, community and/or family situations within urban school districts and how we can increase resiliency? I am currently in my community assessment phase of my research and I am looking to interview youth who are currently at-risk, adults who are former at-risk youth and parents of at-risk youth who have overcome difficult school, community and/or family situations. If you are interested in participating in my research please let me know.