The Dance piece on “Being Hardcore...” was hitting a little close to home for me. Living in Lowell, a town being known for its increasing gang presence, I am always a little extra receptive to the negative effects of the “hardcore” culture. While I found the article enlightening, I did find a big piece of information that was missing: the influence of fear.
To get into a gang, a prospective member needs to be “beat in.” This involves a certain number of gang members (around five, I think) beating on you for a certain amount of time (again, I think it’s thirty seconds to one minute). If the member wants out of the gang, they need to be “beat out,” which involves typically twice the amount of members beating on you. The phrase “within inches of life” comes to mind in this case.
A student once confided in me that they were “beat in” to a gang in Lowell, and that they were afraid to go back, because they wanted out, and were going to need to be “beat out.” I’m not sure that one of Dance’s “ideal-types” fits my student, because none of the ideal-types presented addressed wanting out, or fear of the “hardcore” lifestyle. The student was afraid. In all honesty, I was afraid, too. If the student went back to the gang, and got “beat out,” he/she would be left for dead. If the student decided to rejoin the gang, rival gang fights could also have a final say in a life. Without an intervention from a higher power (school system, law enforcement, protective services, etc) I was sure to see a familiar name in the obituaries.
To my argument, fear is not only looming for current gang members, but I imagine over prospective members, and outsiders as well. The Valenzuela chapter reminds us that the students of Seguin don’t feel the teachers care about them, and this is mostly due to teachers not being in this environment. I don’t think many gang members going onto college (and grad school) to become teachers. Violence begets violence, not change or motivation for change. More so, the teachers of Seguin thought students didn’t care about school, and with living situations as they were (are), I don’t blame the students. If I was fearing for my life, or the lives of loved ones, I would not care about what Shakespeare had to say, or why Stem and Leaf Plots are necessary (they aren’t, but the principle of the matter is that they wouldn’t care).
As teachers, I think its important to (prepare yourselves, this is mind-blowing news coming up, here) know where our students are coming from and going to. It is more important, in addition to that, that we fill that seven-hour day with as much positivity as possible. Whether that be a stable environment, where there are consistent rules, rewards, and consequences, or a safe environment, where the student can feel free from outside pressures, and open to discuss the burdens of life (of course, this also involves a code of trust between student and teacher). Structure and accessibility are two tools that no teacher can afford to be without.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your comments since it enlightened me quite a bit.
Teaching in Lowell as well, I am finding that I am quite naive. I can't help but be curious . . . Are these at the high school level?
The reason that I ask is because most of my teaching has been at the middle school level where one sees "the beginnings" of groups, cliques, and yes, gangs.
But, "in beating," and "out beating," is new. And . . . well . . . "Yikes!"
It does sound, though, that by confiding in you, that student was "hardcore enough." And, s/he was seeking a way to transition away.
As you mention, how do we, as teachers, work that? Simply, that is difficult.
I sometimes let students know (depending grade level) about the amazing opportunities at Lowell High. Not many school system offer Latin. Or television production. Or programming languages, ($3-4K on the outside?). But, this strategy is at the middle school level. Could this be at all effective at the high school level where they already have these opportunities right in front of them? A type of "forest for the trees" situation.
Onward and upward . . .