Pathologizing the Poor: Implications for Preparing Teachers to Work in High-Poverty Schools by Kerri Ullucci

           Ullucci makes claims in this case study that students from low income backgrounds are less likely to have medical care.  This can cause students to have vision, hearing, dental, and other health ailments, like asthma ( Ullucci, 2014).  Not having medical care can affect their academics greatly because if students cannot see how can they soak up the knowledge they need? If students cannot hear they won’t be able to comprehend what they need without the proper supports.

            Ullucci also suggests that children who come from an impoverished background move from place to place or are homeless (Ullucci, 2014).  When children move from place to place they miss out on the proper academics that they need year to year because they are only getting bits and pieces of what they need without any support. Without a home and a place to do their work it would be hard for any child to flourish without a guiding hand in the environment that they live in.

            Many children living in poverty are seen as the “other” (Ullucci, 2014).  Many people feel that those living in poverty are lazy or don’t want to live a different life than what they are in right now.  The more those that do not live in poverty downsize those that do and boast about how living in the middle class is better and know more than those in poverty, we take the power away from those in poverty to better themselves because then they feel like they don’t matter; those in poverty become marginalized.

            Poverty might impact a youth development space because those living in poverty will need different supports and activities to help them learn in a way they can understand.  Those students living in poverty in a youth development space need to have what they can do highlighted than what they can’t.

When I begin my career I can see myself working in either a suburban or urban area in a preschool or head start setting.  I can see myself working in a place which will guide me and support me through my career as a youth worker.  I want to be someone a child can look up to and be the person to help guide them, so they can eventually be on the path that is right for them.

Here is a great link for anyone working with youth to see what they can do to help disadvantaged students: Click here

Event #1: Artists' Exchange Fall Out of Summer Festival

Hey everyone!  For the first public event reflection this semester I attended the Artists’ Exchange Event: the 7^th Fall Out Of Summer Arts Festival with my family in Cranston, RI at Rolf Square.  The festival was an all-day out door event mainly centered on children and their families.  Many of the family fun games that they put together were hand-made by the kids/adults in the organization.  There were carnival games that the artists made themselves centering on different famous paintings.  There was a fishing game called Fishing with Monet, where there were paper fish in a kiddie pool and the children used handmade fishing rods to see how many fish they could pull out.  Another game was named after Vincent Van Gogh and it was called Vinny Vang’s Star Toss.  The artist that made this game painted a replication of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting, The Starry Night.  In order to play this game the ball that is tossed has Velcro along with the painting and the ball that is tossed had to stick to the Velcro on the painting.  This festival was filled with knowledge and learning for children.  The Artists’ Exchange made it fun for children to learn and to raise money for their organization.  Children could also participate in music, face painting, ceramics, and giant jenga.

               

          This festival was centered on the arts and the community.  The Artists’ Exchange fosters many programs for children like summer programs, kid’s clay making, and music together classes. This festival provided an outlet for both children and adults to showcase and sell their artwork.  The Artists’ Exchange hopes to "revitalize the community they live in, which is in Cranston, RI.  They pride themselves in providing opportunities for the interaction of all kinds of people, with and without developmental barriers, with art acting as the unifying force bringing the community together(http://www.artists-exchange.org/falloutofsummerfest.html)." 

         This Festival really relates to how a youth worker can use their talents within an organization to teach children art and music.  So far in class we have talked about the types of jobs and internships a person can get with youth development.  The Artist Exchange brings knowledge to children in a hands on environment through music and art.  The children at the festival seemed very happy, and the youth workers very patient with the children in teaching them new skills in relation to art and music.  It was so nice to see the imagination and craft it took to put this festival together.  I could tell that many of the youth had in put and new a lot about the games that they were putting on for the other children. As we have been learning in class it is so important for youth to have input because it makes them feel like they are apart of something important; something that will make a difference. By all the children and families that were there I would say that the event was a success.

For links related to the Artists' Exchange: Events click here, Ways to get involved click here, General Information click here

This is my cousin Arianna in a handmade airplane by one of the artists.

Fishing with Monet

Map of the festival

Remake of "The Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh made by an Artists' Exchange artist

"Main Ideas of Problem-Focused Services by Costello"

     This week's reading was broken up into three sections.  I was assigned the Problem-Focused Services section.  Under problem-focused services is Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice systems.  These two systems "have extensive contacts with children and families and a lot of power over them" (Costello, 211).  This reading by Costello gave a really great background behind the history of Child Welfare and the Juvenile Justice System.  

Child Welfare

     -Began in the last half of the nineteenth century.

-Charitable organizations were developed to take responsibility for children when the care and protection that is provided by families is inadequate.

In a world that was and still is changing economically and socially the size of the population overwhelmed  informal arrangements (Costello, 211).  The creation of these organizations are meant to supplement or substitute for parental care.

Settlement Houses

Around this time, settlement houses were founded and intended to "protect and promote the development of children and the well being of families" (Costello, 211).  These settlement houses offered a range of primary supports as well as problem-focused services.  During the 1960's the prevention of physical abuse to children became a high priority and emphases was placed on the interests of children and their entitlement under the civil rights legislation in the 1960's.

Juvenile Justice Systems

In the 1970's youth became subject to court supervision and incarceration for behaviors like truancy and running away from home.  If these youth were adults and committed these "crimes" they would not be held accountable because they are of age.  In 1974 the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act ended incarceration of juveniles for these "offenses."

  My Thoughts

     After I read through all the main ideas of this article the author, Costello, makes a great  point when it is stated that as a community/society children in the child welfare system are viewed as innocent victims because they couldn't help how they ended up with the state.  Essentially, it was out of the children's realm to protect themselves from ending up in state custody because of either a bad family home life or other things going on in their life.  This differs very much from those children in the juvenile justice system because they are viewed as perpetrators because they could have simply not broken the law.  To view these two issues of social services and juvenile justice as one being innocent and the other being perpetrators seems so wrong because all these children need is help and guidance to take the path they need to to live the best life possible.  The youth in these two situations have "unknown adults taking control of their lives (Costello, 214)."  In one situation control is meant for a safe society and in the second  control is used to protect them from further victimization.

     

     Youth work is not just cut and dry.  There are a lot of laws and regulations that any youth worker needs to be briefed on in order to do what is in the best interests for the youths that they work with.  As youth workers we significantly impact children's lives many children do not have the willingness to bond with a youth worker they are working with for fear that they won't be working with them for long and risk becoming close to them.  As youth workers we have to prepare to work with all different types of children from all different types of families.  After reading this article I realized that if more organizations involved youth in decision making such as program development they would be seen  as individuals who have their own mind and are able to figure out the best path for them with a little guidance from a youth worker.

Here is a great website about youth laws and policies click here.  This organization assess the impact of public policies on young people.

"Digital Natives"

     Hey everyone! So this week’s reading was all about Digital Natives and how in today’s day and age all youth know is the Internet, e-mail, and video games.  Reading this article brought me back to the days where I would be on the computer for hours upon hours tuning everyone and everything out on instant messenger and e-mailing.  Today I still am always on the computer, but for different things like homework, e-mailing professors, and researching different subjects for school.  By using digital natives such as the Internet, I have gained a lot of knowledge on different subjects like history, politics, and the education system.  The Internet can be a great place for children to explore and gain other knowledge that they might not get in school.

     As a youth worker and knowing that youth are prone to always being on the computer and playing interactive games it would be natural that a child would unsuspectingly come across Neuroplasticity games.  My dream job would be to work with children in preschool through grade 2 in a school setting where they can learn and grow.  Technology could help me teach youth about the world in the sense of states, countries, Mathematics, Science, and History.  As seen in the You Tube video, The Machine is Us/ing Us, by Wesch, interactive maps and games can be a way for children to learn about the countries and places that they live in.  Many interactive games can be equipped to expand a child’s knowledge, such as interactive Internet games like Luminosity, that are equipped to challenge children and adults, but there are those that can fail at providing knowledge.  According to Marc Prensky, “…if some of these games don’t produce learning it is not because they are games, or because the concept of “game based learning is faulty.  It’s because those particular games are badly designed.”  When a game is designed to produce learning it will but when it is faulty the game is not to blame, but the design is.  I hope to use technology in a way to increase knowledge and instill confidence in the youth I work with, so that they can know that they can learn and have fun at the same time.

Here is an article showing 12 ways to use technology in the classroom:12 Easy Ways to Use Technology .  These 12 ways show how to make learning fun and interesting for the youth we work with.

"A World Where Youth Hold the Power"

     This article, "In a World Where Youth Hold the Power," written by Adeola  A. Oredola really speaks to how our youth are our future.  Youth In Action takes into consideration how the youth feel about the community they are growing up in and how they can all work together to create positive change within their community.  The teenagers along with the adults in Youth in Action work as a cohesive team to develop programs in which youth can get involved in all aspects of their  community in regards to media, politics, organization, community health, and many others.  In this organization the youth run every aspect and have a distinct voice.  Youth in Action provides a family like atmosphere, where youth can feel comfortable giving their opinion where in other situations they might not feel as comfortable (Oredola, 47).  Youth in Action is a great way to make the youth, who are the future of our communities, feel involved and like they matter because one day they will be the ones ultimately making all the decisions.

                

     There was this age old saying when I was younger and that was, “children should be seen and not heard.” If my opinion was not asked then I would not give it and that is why I can relate to many of these youth wanting an outlet to be heard and make a difference.  As 17 year-old Marlie Chatelain stated in the article, “As a young person, if you raise a controversial issue you’re usually shut down (Oredola, 51),” which is the way I felt many times throughout my youth.  Many times a young person is told what to think without needing to do any critical thinking because someone “older” and “wiser” might have told them that one certain way of thinking is better than the other.  Youth in Action makes it okay for youths to understand that their possibilities and ways of thinking are endless.  I can definitely relate to the youths in these aspects and I just wish I knew about this program or a program like this when I was a teen.  Youth in Action helps students find their voice in a safe place where they will be heard.

About Me

     Hi everyone! My name is Regina Figueroa and I am what they call a "Super Senior" here at Rhode Island College.  This is my fifth year at Rhode Island College and I was formally an Elementary Education major, but found that it wasn't quite the right fit for me.  I like to work with youth, especially Pre-k and as of right now I work at the Little Shepherd Preschool in Cranston as a Teacher's Assistant. I previously worked at the Explorations program at Henry Barnard School on campus and tutored at Ricci Middle School a couple years back. I am so glad that Youth Development is a major because it gives me the chance to do what I love without some of the hassle of going through an intensive teaching program.  I love helping children develop their critical thinking skills on both the academic and social level and also instilling confidence in the students that I do work with.  When I graduate I would love to possibly be a director or co-director of a Preschool because the ages of three through five I feel are very critical in preparing a child to be in the public school system.  I am looking forward to learning a lot from this class and getting to know my fellow classmates!