|
“Where are the Irish American
boys? Where are the Italian American boys? Where are the German American boys?
Where are the Jewish American boys? Where are the Korean boys? The Japanese
boys? The Chinese boys? They are definitely not crowding Emotional
Behavior Disorder classes, in school Suspension classes, youth detention
centers, jails, funeral parlors, and graveyards.
They are being “educated” to
seize power and run America and the world.”
Kill Them
Before They Grow: Misdiagnosis of African American Boys in America's
Classrooms, 1997
Michael Porter
Fact
"Young men with the
highest incarceration rates have the lowest academic achievement
rates, and because black males are the youth most likely to drop out
of school, they exhibit higher levels of anti/social behaviors, and
separation rates from their families and communities as well."
The 3
R's
The African American Male Leadership Institute's "Reaffirming,
Returning and Reconnection (3R's) Black male youth initiative is
designed to address the growing and staggering male drop out rates
and juvenile delinquency problems in urban communities. Even though
our initiative cannot address all of the correlates of youth
delinquency / anti-social behavior (i.e., Family factors, School
Factors, Economic influences and community variables), we believe
our initiative can positively affect the behavior of the male
population in question to such a degree as to help stem the tide of
"disconnectedness" within the institutions/communities where the
initiative will operate. It is our hope that our initiative will
prove to be a valuable intervention that can be further developed to
include additional critical components to address other key factors
associated with academic under-performance, anger, anti-social
behavior and delinquency.
AAMLI's
reaffirmation / reconnection methodology
1. Provide 4, 90-minute "Psychology of the Community of Self"
sessions for male students / youth taught by members of the AAMLI
training team. Session content would consist of the following:
-Attachment to
School, Family & Community
-Consequences of "Disconnectedness"
-Mastering the "Community-of-Self."
-Style Over Substance
-Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
2. Provide male
youth with the AAMLI's "Reaffirming, Returning, and Reconnecting
Students To School, Family and Community" (3R's) multi-media weekend
retreat, and a series of interactive skills-building workshops (10
sessions - 40 - 60 minutes each).
3. Provide male
youth with available resources within the community, which they can
access to enhance their academic, socio-economic and personal
pursuits.
4. Provide the
parents/guardians of male youth with two ½ - day workshops on the
"Adolescent Black Male Development, " and "Psychology of Black Male
Academic Success."
5. Evaluate and
document the results of the AAMLI's 3R's male youth initiative.
|
