Where has the community gone?
I have begun to question the place of community in relation to adolescent mental health and wellbeing. Many adolescents are not connected to their community. They do not have networks beyond their immediate family. For many adolescents school is the only place they have and feel a connection.
As educators we acknowledge the role school's play and the importance of developing a sense of connectedness amongst our adolescents, particularly our Students At Risk. We strive to promote this sense of connectedness through a variety of means including extra curricular activities, committees and by developing relationships with the students we teach.
I find myself questioning the lack of community, beyond the school gates, supporting our young people. Increasingly I find myself unpacking the lives of the teeagers I work with and discovering they lack community connections. They lack a support network beyond the school itself.
Where has the community gone?
It also came to the forefront, through my work with targeted classes to counteract the bullying and harassment amongst students within my site, that many of our teenagers do not have a sense of social responsibility. I provided students with a series of statements pertaining to bullying and harassment. Students were asked to read these statements and respond with any thoughts that came to mind (things they agreed with, disagreed with, found interesting and any questions). One common response was students' disagreement with the statement: "bullying is everybody's business". I asked students why they felt this, and their responses followed the logic that bullying was only the business of the victim and the perpetrator, if it didn't affect them directly it was not their business. I have since counteracted this idea within the class using an analogy involving the poaching of elephants for their tusks "we don't have elephants in Australia so why should we care if poachers kill all of the elephants oversee?". This provoked a passionate response form the students, and has begun to shift their beliefs as students have now begun to question their role in the bullying and harassment with the classroom. Howevver, I have digressed a little. What I wanted to highlight is the lack of social responsibility held by these stduents. Their lack of a sense of community.
Where has the community gone?
As a counsellor it is easier to support students when the family, school and other agencies work together. Sometimes this is impeded by a lack of knowledge about the services or agencies involved, a lack of communication between the different parties or and unwillingness on behalf of the family to work with the school and agencies/services. It is when we all come together, when a community builds around the student that things just work.
It is interesting how primary schools develop a greater sense of community than high schools. What happens? It is as if students transition to high school and "poof" the connections between school and home disappear. Part of this may be because teenagers are trying to seperate themselves from their parents and become more independent. Some of it may also be that high school's use students as a vehicle of communication between home and school by asking them to relay information through their planner/diary, notes, letters etc. I wonder if parents don't feel welcomed in the high school environment and if maybe for some their own negative experiences with high school means high school is not a welcoming place? What can high school's do to promote a greater sense of community?
Where has the community gone?
Historically we lived in small communities and the entire community was responsible for, and involved in, raising the younger generation. More recently the extended family was heavily involved in rasiing children. Now days the community is rarely involved and the extended family has become less of a influence, in some cases children are being brought up in single parent families with little support from the extended family, if any.
Where has the community gone?
I believe that community is a protective factor for adolescents. Students who have a sense of social responsibility are more empowered to take action. Students who can identify a network have a range of people they can seek support from and problem solve issues with. Students who feel supported are more likely to take safe risks and inturn increase thier resilience.
Western society is losing its sense of generosity. It isn't just our youth that lacks a sense of social responsibility, but many of the adults within our society and dare I say our government. I don't know if this is true but soembody said the other day that in Finland communities take responsibility of thier unemployed. If someone in a community is unemployed it is the community's responsibility to find them something to do to re-engage as a productive and valued member of the community. Everybody helps eachother. In Australia we don't all help eachother.
The question isn't where has the community gone but rather how do we begin to rebuild our sense of community?
As educators we acknowledge the role school's play and the importance of developing a sense of connectedness amongst our adolescents, particularly our Students At Risk. We strive to promote this sense of connectedness through a variety of means including extra curricular activities, committees and by developing relationships with the students we teach.
I find myself questioning the lack of community, beyond the school gates, supporting our young people. Increasingly I find myself unpacking the lives of the teeagers I work with and discovering they lack community connections. They lack a support network beyond the school itself.
Where has the community gone?
It also came to the forefront, through my work with targeted classes to counteract the bullying and harassment amongst students within my site, that many of our teenagers do not have a sense of social responsibility. I provided students with a series of statements pertaining to bullying and harassment. Students were asked to read these statements and respond with any thoughts that came to mind (things they agreed with, disagreed with, found interesting and any questions). One common response was students' disagreement with the statement: "bullying is everybody's business". I asked students why they felt this, and their responses followed the logic that bullying was only the business of the victim and the perpetrator, if it didn't affect them directly it was not their business. I have since counteracted this idea within the class using an analogy involving the poaching of elephants for their tusks "we don't have elephants in Australia so why should we care if poachers kill all of the elephants oversee?". This provoked a passionate response form the students, and has begun to shift their beliefs as students have now begun to question their role in the bullying and harassment with the classroom. Howevver, I have digressed a little. What I wanted to highlight is the lack of social responsibility held by these stduents. Their lack of a sense of community.
Where has the community gone?
As a counsellor it is easier to support students when the family, school and other agencies work together. Sometimes this is impeded by a lack of knowledge about the services or agencies involved, a lack of communication between the different parties or and unwillingness on behalf of the family to work with the school and agencies/services. It is when we all come together, when a community builds around the student that things just work.
It is interesting how primary schools develop a greater sense of community than high schools. What happens? It is as if students transition to high school and "poof" the connections between school and home disappear. Part of this may be because teenagers are trying to seperate themselves from their parents and become more independent. Some of it may also be that high school's use students as a vehicle of communication between home and school by asking them to relay information through their planner/diary, notes, letters etc. I wonder if parents don't feel welcomed in the high school environment and if maybe for some their own negative experiences with high school means high school is not a welcoming place? What can high school's do to promote a greater sense of community?
Where has the community gone?
Historically we lived in small communities and the entire community was responsible for, and involved in, raising the younger generation. More recently the extended family was heavily involved in rasiing children. Now days the community is rarely involved and the extended family has become less of a influence, in some cases children are being brought up in single parent families with little support from the extended family, if any.
Where has the community gone?
I believe that community is a protective factor for adolescents. Students who have a sense of social responsibility are more empowered to take action. Students who can identify a network have a range of people they can seek support from and problem solve issues with. Students who feel supported are more likely to take safe risks and inturn increase thier resilience.
Western society is losing its sense of generosity. It isn't just our youth that lacks a sense of social responsibility, but many of the adults within our society and dare I say our government. I don't know if this is true but soembody said the other day that in Finland communities take responsibility of thier unemployed. If someone in a community is unemployed it is the community's responsibility to find them something to do to re-engage as a productive and valued member of the community. Everybody helps eachother. In Australia we don't all help eachother.
The question isn't where has the community gone but rather how do we begin to rebuild our sense of community?
posted by Lynette at
7:42 pm
4 Comments:
dana boyd makes the point ( link ) that with increased supervision / lack of a sense of freedom in physical spaces that many youth are looking to sites such as myspace to replace the vacuum
(i realise this is only a partial answer to the question you raise)
By
Bill Kerr, at 19 September, 2006
Thanks for the link Bill.
This is true, youth are establishing online communities; socialising via text messages, msn and myspace. They are building communities online.
Dana's comment "These kids need a safe space to be themselves" rings true. And the social spaces enabled by such tools enables them to interact, explore and develop their own identities.
And I wonder if there are ways to foster their sense of social responsibilities through these vehicles?
Something for me to ponder i think.
By
Lynette, at 19 September, 2006
"The difficult task of raising moral children is compounded by other forces in the lives of children and parents (e.g. culture, media, peers, etc.) that promote unethical, immoral, and self-focused behavior. "Only rare and fortunate teenagers encounter the kinds of experiences that help them break out of this envelope of self-interest and learn to contribute to others" (Ryan, 1986, p. 232)."
My understanding is that you are talking about this - moral and social responsibility. This article relating to character
education seemed to me to be a good one.
I also found this quote very relevant and it seems to be consistent with the reference that Bill Kerr made in the previous comment
"He advocates a Just Community approach to education which includes equality of the participants, "ownership" of decisions by all group members, and a teacher that advocates mature moral reasoning but who does not present morality in an authoritarian way (Harding & Snyder, 1991)."
and this that happens far too much
"The following methods have also been found to be ineffective in promoting character in youth: lecturing and moralizing, authoritative teaching styles, externally derived codes of ethic, and setting the ethics agenda without involving students in the process (Matthews & Riley, 1995)."
What is an "externally derived codes of ethic"? Is this talking about a set of values that students feel that they were not really or remotely involved in developing?
and finally this
"Rewards motivate students to get rewarded, therefore, children do not develop a commitment to being generous or respectful. Similarly, punishment only produces compliance in the short run and only teaches children what they are not supposed to do instead of teaching them what they are supposed to do (Kohn, 1991). Rewards also tend to reduce children's interest in performing rewarded behaviors for their own sake. Children who are frequently rewarded are likely to only behave pro-socially when they believe external pressures are present (Grusec & Dix, 1986; Kohn, 1991)."
So if we set up a set of values and then also set up a reward system for students who live by our values then we will have the answer? What is really being said here when this happens? A few little questions and answers, a bit simplistic but anyway
Q. Why would students and parents think that a reward system for demonstrating our values would be good
A. Because they want someone else to take responsibility. Being the source of the rewards means being in charge.
Q. Why would teachers like a system like this?
A. Because it is a way of demonstrating that they are taking the responsibility, are in charge, and so doing their job.
Q. Who really should have the responsibility?
A.
BTW - I liked the analogy of the elephant tusks. I think that the answer is in the elephant tusks, well at least providing stimuli like this that are provocative and encourage youth to think more deeply about their values.
By
Wara, at 20 September, 2006
Cheers for that Wara.
My thought are now forming around the idea that students need to take responsiblity for themselves as well as those around them. And in order to do this they need to have an investment in the community to which they belong, be it the classroom, school yard or wider community. That investment can come from a sense of connection/belonging which will sporn an internal motivation for them to act responsibly to protect that community. This can't be forced, it needs to be nurtured in order for a sense of ownership to develop.
The third quote you have included refers to generoosity. Generosity is something I am interested in promoting/developing with students; in particulalry with my year eights at the moment. I belive that social responsibility is connected to generosity (considering other people's feelings and needs). It seems that a siginificant number of students do not consider their impact on others nor do they appear to care at times.
Go the Elephants!
By
Lynette, at 21 September, 2006
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