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."
Već više od deset godina proučavam mlade ljude koji su izbačeni iz škole. takozvane otpadnike. Kad ih iznevjeri obrazovni sustav završe na ulici gdje su podložni nasilju, policijskom zlostavljanju, policijskoj brutalnosti i kažnjavanju zatvorom. Godinama pratim te mlade ljude u različitim institucionalnim uređenjima kako bih razumio ono što neki od nas zovu "kanalom od škole do zatvora."
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. So will you join me in changing the way we label young people from "at-risk" to "at-promise?"
Kada pogledate sliku poput ove, mlade ljude iz moje studije... možda vidite nevolju. Ipak, jedan dečko drži bocu žestokog pića u ruci, ima 14 godina, a radni je dan. Kada ostali ljudi vide ovu sliku, možda će vidjeti bandu, razbojnike, delikvente -- kriminalce. Ali ja to vidim drugačije. Gledam te mlade ljude kroz perspektivu koja vidi čime oni mogu doprinijeti obrazovnom sustavu. Pa, hoćete li mi se pridružiti u mijenjanju etiketa koje dajemo mladima od "rizičnih" do "obećavajućih?"
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
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 juvy 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 and 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 18th birthday.
Kako znam da ovi mladi ljudi imaju potencijal i obećavajuće izglede da će se promijeniti? Znam to jer sam ja jedan od njih. Odrastao sam u teškom siromaštvu u unutrašnjosti grada, bez oca -- napustio me prije nego što sam se i rodio. Živjeli smo od socijalne pomoći, katkad beskućnici, više puta gladni. Do svoje petnaeste godine bio sam u maloljetničkome pritvoru već tri puta zbog tri prekršaja. Mojeg najboljeg prijatelja već su ubili. Ubrzo nakon toga, dok sam stajao uz svoga ujaka, netko ga je ubio. Dok sam čekao da stigne hitna pomoć više od sat vremena... on je iskrvario na ulici. Izgubio sam vjeru i nadu u svijet i odustao sam od sustava jer me je iznevjerio. Nisam imao što ponuditi i nitko meni nije imao što ponuditi. Bio sam fatalističan. Nisam mislio niti da bih mogao doživjeti svoj 18. rođendan.
The reason I'm here today is because a teacher that cared reached out and managed to tap into my soul. This teacher, Ms. Russ ... she was the kind of teacher that was always in your business.
Razlog zašto sam danas ovdje je jer je jedna nastavnica marila za mene, ponudila pomoć i uspjela mi dotaknuti dušu. Ta nastavnica, gospođa Russ ... bila je onaj tip nastavnika koji uvijek zabada nos u vaša posla.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
She was the kind of teacher that was like, "Victor, I'm here for you whenever you're ready."
Bila je tip nastavnika koji bi rekao, "Tu sam za tebe kad god budeš spreman."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
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. Ms. Russ was there for me. She was culturally relevant, she respected my community, my people, my family. I told her a story about my Uncle Ruben. He would take me to work with him because I was broke, and he knew I needed some money. He collected glass bottles for a living. Four in the morning on a school day, we'd throw the glass bottles in the back of his van, and the bottles would break. And my hands and arms would start to bleed and my tennis shoes and pants would get all bloody. And I was terrified and in pain, and I would stop working. And my uncle, he would look me in the eyes and he would say to me, "Mijo, estamos buscando vida." "We're searching for a better life, we're trying to make something out of nothing."
Nisam bio spreman. No, ona je razumjela osnovni princip mladih ljudi poput mene. Mi smo kao školjke. Otvorit ćemo se samo kad budemo spremni, a ako niste tamo kad smo spremni, opet ćemo se zatvoriti. Gđa Russ je bila tu za mene. Bila je od kulturne važnosti, poštivala je moju zajednicu, moje ljude, moju obitelj. Ispričao sam joj priču o svom ujaku Rubenu. Vodio me sa sobom na posao jer nisam imao novaca, a znao je da mi treba. Zarađivao je sakupljajući staklene boce. U četiri ujutro na radni dan, bacili bismo staklene boce u njegov kamion i one bi se razbile. Šake i ruke bi mi počele krvariti, a tenisice i hlače bi se umrljale krvlju. Bio sam užasnut, bolilo me i prestao bih raditi. Ujak bi me pogledao u oči i rekao bi mi, "Sinko, tražimo život." "Tražimo bolji život, pokušavamo napraviti nešto iz ničega."
Ms. Russ listened to my story, welcomed it into the classroom and said, "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."
Gđa Russ je slušala moju priču, primila je u učionicu i rekla, "Victor, to je tvoja moć. To je tvoj potencijal. Tvoja obitelj, kultura i zajednica su te naučili mukotrpnom radu i ti ćeš to iskoristiti kako bi osnažio sebe u akademskom svijetu kako bi se mogao vratiti i osnažiti svoju zajednicu."
With Ms. Russ's help, I ended up returning to school. I even finished my credits on time and graduated with my class.
Uz pomoć gđe Russ, vratio sam se u školu. Čak sam je završio na vrijeme i maturirao sa svojom generacijom.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
But Ms. 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."
Ali, prije mature, gđa Russ mi je rekla, "Victor, tako sam ponosna na tebe. Znala sam da ti to možeš. Sada je vrijeme za fakultet."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
College, me? Man, what is this teacher smoking thinking I'm going to college? I applied with the mentors and support she provided, got a letter of acceptance, and one of the paragraphs read, "You've been admitted under probationary status." I said, "Probation? I'm already on probation, that don't matter?"
Fakultet? Ja? Čovječe, što ova nastavnica puši kad misli da ću ja na fakultet? Osigurala mi je mentore i podršku, pa sam se prijavio, dobio sam potvrdu da sam primljen, a u jednome od odjeljaka je pisalo, "Primljeni ste na probni rok." "Probacija? Već jesam na uvjetnoj, zar to nema veze?"
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
It was academic probation, not criminal probation. But what do teachers like Ms. Russ do to succeed with young people like the ones I study? I propose three strategies. The first: let's get rid of our deficit perspective in education. "These people come from a culture of violence, a culture of poverty. These people are at-risk; these people are truant. These people are empty containers for us to fill with knowledge. They have the problems, we have the solutions." Number two. Let's value the stories that young people bring to the schoolhouse. Their stories of overcoming insurmountable odds are so powerful. And I know you know some of these stories. These very same stories and experiences already have grit, character and resilience in them. So let's help young people refine those stories. Let's help them be proud of who they are, because our education system welcomes their families, their cultures, their communities and the skill set they've learned to survive. And of course the third strategy being the most important: resources. We have to provide adequate resources to young people. Grit alone isn't going to cut it. You can sit there and tell me all you want, "Hey man, pick yourself up by the bootstraps." But if I was born without any straps on my boots --
Bio je to akademski probni rok, ne uvjetna kazna. Ali, što nastavnici kao što je gđa Russ čine da uspiju s mladim ljudima kao što su oni koje ja proučavam? Predlažem tri strategije. Prva: Riješimo se te svoje deficitne perspektive u obrazovanju. "Ti ljudi dolaze iz kulture nasilja, kulture siromaštva. Ti ljudi su rizični; ti ljudi su ljenčine. Ti ljudi su prazni spremnici koje trebamo napuniti znanjem. Oni imaju probleme, mi imamo rješenja." Broj dva. Cijenimo priče koje ti mladi donose u obrazovnu ustanovu. Njihove priče o premošćivanju nepremostivih prepreka su tako moćne. I znam da znate neke od tih priča. Upravo te priče i iskustva su pune borbenosti, karaktera i žilavosti. Pa, pomozimo mladim ljudima da oplemene te priče. Pomozimo im da budu ponosni na sebe, jer naš obrazovni sustav pozdravlja njihove obitelji, kulture, njihove zajednice i vještine koje su naučili kako bi preživjeli. I, naravno, treća strategija, ona najvažnija: Resursi. Moramo mladima osigurati adekvatne resurse. Borbenost nije dovoljna. Možete tu sjediti i do sutra mi ponavljati, "Hajde čovječe, skupi samopouzdanja i digni se." Ali, ako nemam samopouzdanja --
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
How am I supposed to pick myself up?
Kako da ustanem?
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
Job training, mentoring, counseling ... Teaching young people to learn from their mistakes instead of criminalizing them, and dragging them out of their classrooms like animals. How about this? I propose that we implement restorative justice in every high school in America.
stručna izobrazba, mentorstvo, savjetovanje ... Podučavanje mladih da uče iz svojih grešaka umjesto da ih tretiramo kao kriminalce i izvodimo iz učionice kao kakve životinje. Kako se to čini? Predlažem da uvedemo restorativnu pravdu u sve srednje škole u Americi.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
So we went out to test these ideas in the community of Watts in LA with 40 young people that had been pushed out of school. William was one of them. William was the kind of kid that had been given every label. He had dropped out, he was a gang member, a criminal. And when we met him he was very resistant. But I remember what Ms. Russ used to say. "Hey, I'm here for you whenever you're ready."
Iskušali smo ove ideje u zajednici Watts u Los Angelesu na 40 mladih ljudi koje su izbacili iz škole. William je bio jedan od njih. William je bio takvo dijete koje je dobilo sve moguće etikete. Prestao se školovati, bio je član bande, kriminalac. Kad smo ga upoznali, jako se odupirao. Ali, sjećam se što je gđa Russ govorila. "Hej, tu sam za tebe kad budeš spreman."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
So over time -- over time he began to open up. And I remember the day that he made the switch. We were in a large group and a young lady in our program was crying because she told us her powerful story of her dad being killed and then his body being shown in the newspaper the next day. And as she's crying, I don't know what to do, so I give her her space, and William had enough. He slammed his hands on the desk and he said, "Hey, everybody! Group hug! Group hug!"
Tako je s vremenom -- s vremenom se počeo otvarati. Sjećam se dana kada se promijenio. Bili smo u velikoj grupi i jedna mlada žena u našem programu je plakala jer nam je ispričala moćnu priču o tome kako su joj ubili oca, a sljedeći dan je njegovo mrtvo tijelo bilo u novinama. Plakala je, nisam znao što da radim, pa sam joj dao prostora, a Williamu je bilo dosta. Udario je šakama o stol i rekao, "Hej, ljudi! Grupni zagrljaj! Grupni zagrljaj!"
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
This young lady's tears and pain turned into joy and laughter knowing that her community had her back, and William had now learned that he did have a purpose in life: to help to heal the souls of people in his own community. He told us his story. We refined his story to go from being the story of a victim to being the story of a survivor that has overcome adversity. We placed high value on it. William went on to finish high school, get his security guard certificate to become a security guard, and is now working at a local school district.
Suze i bol te mlade žene pretvoriil su se u veselje i smijeh jer je znala da je zajednica uz nju, a William je tako naučio da ipak ima svrhu u životu: pomoći iscijeliti duše ljudi u svojoj vlastitoj zajednici. Ispričao nam je svoju priču. Oplemenio je svoju priču tako što je od priče jedne žrtve to postala priča onoga koji je preživio, koji je premostio nedaće i teškoće. Iznimno smo to cijenili. William je završio srednju školu, dobio je certifikat za rad u zaštitarstvu i sada radi u mjesnom školskom okrugu.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
Ms. Russ's mantra -- her mantra was always, "when you teach to the heart, the mind will follow." The great writer Khalil Gibran says, "Out of suffering have emerged the greatest souls. The massive characters are seared with scars." I believe that in this education revolution that we're talking about we need to invite the souls of the young people that we work with, and once they're able to refine -- identify their grit, resilience and character that they've already developed -- their academic performance will improve.
Mantra gđe Russ -- njezina mantra je uvijek bila "kada podučavaš ka srcu, um će slijediti." Veliki pisac Khalil Gibran kaže "Iz patnje su izronile najveće duše. Veliki karakteri su obilježeni ožiljcima." Vjerujem da u ovoj obrazovnoj revoluciji o kojoj pričamo trebamo pozvati duše mladih ljudi s kojima radimo, a onda kad budu sposobni obogatiti -- identificirati svoju borbenost, žilavost i karakter koje su već ranije razvili -- njihov akademski učinak će se poboljšati.
Let's believe in young people. Let's provide them the right kinds of resources. I'll tell you what my teacher did for me. She believed in me so much that she tricked me into believing in myself.
Vjerujmo u mlade ljude. Osigurajmo im prave resurse. Reći ću vam što je moja nastavnica učinila za mene. Toliko je vjerovala u mene da sam i sâm počeo vjerovati u sebe.
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)