"Last month, due to a lack of funding, the juvenile lock-up where I taught a weekly “life skills” workshop was shuttered. According to my very rough calculation, in the year that I worked there I had about 400 young men of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds pass through my group. Of those, about half came and went frequently, often gone for a couple of months to less than a week, and then re-offended to find themselves right back where they started....
"At the end of my last group I gave each boy a copy of “Life’s Little Instruction Book,” which is a lot less hokey than it sounds. We had ended each group up until then with each kid reading five sound bytes of advice. They understood what that final gesture meant, that I’d be with them wherever they landed, that I was dedicated to their success. I wasn’t allowed to hug them when I said goodbye, but my handshakes were long and warm, and my tears told them that I would never, ever forget them."
http://kidsinthesystem.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/when-young-offenders-and-their-teacher-say-good-bye/
Short on time? Use our Category Search page.
Comments (0)