You Get What You Pay For

The citizens of Indianapolis who live within the Indianapolis Public Schools boundaries will have the opportunity on November 4th to choose to make a long term investment in the educational success of children and young people by voting to approve a bond issue that will allow IPS to improve facilities in which one of the most important activities in our community takes place - the pursuit of knowledge and learning.

Why shouldn't those facilities be comfortable no matter what the temperature is outside; have adequate spaces for learning, eating, and physical activity; be well-lit, inviting, and welcoming? We wouldn't go to a hospital for treatment if it was dingy, sub-standard, cramped, and run-down. Clearly we want the schools in which our most precious resources are being nurtured and prepared to become the next generation of community leaders, scientists, doctors, and captains of industry to be at least equal to the places where games and sports are played, meaning they should be spacious, well-equipped, and filled with the most modern amenities.

IPS students need to feel that the community really means it when we say we value them and their education. We clearly do this when we provide them with facilities that meet basic standards of comfort and health (which is where most of the bond money will be spent) and when we provide them with access to learn and use modern technology. Computer and internet skills are not a luxury but an absolute necessity in the world today. If we want students to be successful as they move into high school, college, and the world of work, we have to provide them with the tools they need.

I am confident that the voters of our community will see the wisdom in investing their hard-earned dollars in something that will yield significant returns in the long run - our young people and their education. After all, you get what you pay for.

-John

Crunching the Numbers for Youth Services

In the last week, two reports chock full of information were released by local number crunchers. And the reports might have data that will help (1) organizations appropriately target and make the case for services and (2) the Indianapolis - central Indiana community as a whole discover how much we need to do to improve the lives of young people.

We'll be highlighting specific areas of interest over the next few weeks, but you can check out both of the reports today:

• The Marion County Health Department's Marion County Community Health Assessment has a special section on children's health, but several other areas of the report including access to care, environmental health and social and mental health clearly impact the health of central Indiana's youth.
• The United Way of Central Indiana's 2008 Community Assessment also has a section focused on children and youth, as well as several sections that highlight additional community factors that impact young people.

Family Meals Make a Big Difference for Girls

A report released by the University of Michigan (read the summary or the abstract) reveals that, while boys do not see the same impact, middle school girls who regularly eat meals with their families are at a significantly reduce risk for negative behaviors. In the study of 800 middle school students, girls who ate meals with their family at least five times a week were half as likely to engage in substance abuse five years later.

The study doesn’t tackle the roots of the disparity or why boys did not demonstrate the same reduced substance abuse. Perhaps society’s heightened emphasis on social interaction for girls bears some role in the difference.

Regardless of this disparity, family meals are an example of how caring relationships with adults support healthy youth development and help young people make positive decisions. Family meals are one way of fostering a connection between youth and caring adults, but there are many more that can achieve similar impacts.

Have Eighth-Grade Graduations Gone Too Far?

An article in the New York Times points to a curious trend in adolescence - the prom-ification and exuberant celebration of 8th grade graduations. A quick excerpt:

Modern eighth-grade graduations have become a tangle of outdated definitions of a successful education, inducements to remain in school, and contemporary values about self-esteem and enshrining a child’s many rites of passage. In some communities those rites begin with preschoolers wearing mortarboards. In their blow-out iterations, the eighth-grade bashes borrow from bar and bat mitzvahs for 13-year-olds, quinceañeras for Latina 15-year-olds and sweet 16 parties.

That picture certainly a bit different from this 1946 8th-grade graduation shot from St. Joseph School in Monroeville, Indiana.

Leaders, including Presidential contender Barack Obama, are speaking out against what they perceive as the overblown pomp and circumstance of middle school graduations. In Arizona, legislators have twice considered bills to ban the practice of handing out certificates to those heading to high school.

Out of the topic, one question emerges as most important for me, especially for our community which faces high drop out rates: What is the right balance of celebration, encouragement and instilling a real love of learning (and not just achievement) among our youth? Because, as much as we do not need more MTV-style Sweet 16 nonsense, we do need to let young people know that each educational milestone is special and that there is much more to look forward to.

Students Impacted by Asian-American Stereotypes

Facts, Not Fiction, a report released Monday by New York University, the College Board and a panel of educators and leaders, indicated that, by grouping diverse communities and experiences into one "Asian-American and Pacific Islander" group, some young people's needs are likely going unnoticed.

The category "Asian-American" can be used for disparate groups - people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent, but also those whose families originate in India, Pakistan, Samoa, the Phillipines and Cambodia. The economic and educational background of these groups can vary widely, as do individuals within each group. By adopting the "model minority" stereotype of Asian-American students, schools may be neglecting individual needs. The report further argues that the stereotype positions Asian-American communities against other minority communities, creating the perception that one group is a "solution" and other groups a "problem".

It's all very interesting. And the report points to how our focus on groups more than individuals, as well as our culture's reliance on stereotypes, can often hinder young people's opportunities, even when the stereotypical expectations seem to be positive.

Read the report or a great overview at the NYTimes for more information.
To find out more about Asian-American stereotypes in education, visit this article at Eric Digest.
Wikipedia also provides some interesting overviews of the roots, articulation and impact of a variety of Asian-American stereotypes.

DCS: Child Deaths Decline

The Indiana Department of Child Services is reporting a significant decrease in the number of deaths of children who were victims of abuse or neglect. In the 06-07 fiscal year, 36 children died in abusive or neglectful situations, down from 53 deaths in the 05-06 fiscal year. Two of the 36 children were from Marion County.

The report was released as the DCS and its director, James W. Payne, celebrated the hiring of DCS's 800th case worker. Find out more details at the IndyStar's article on the report.

For more on how MCCOY has been engaged in Child Welfare system reform, visit this page.

Magazine Photographer Trains Lens on Teens

Photojournalist Robin Bowman -- who's documented conflicts in Bosnia and Darfur -- spent four years and 20,000 miles photographing and interviewing more than 400 American teens. Some of that work is collected in It's Complicated: The American Teenager. Click here for the story on NPR.

- Chris

Campecine Film Festival - May 17

I'm so excited to share information about Campecine 2008, which will be held at the Indiana Museum of Art's DeBoest Lecture Hall on May 17 from 2 to 7pm. This film festival represents the collective work of a group of young people who document and explore their experiences.

This year's theme is "From Invisible to Invincible / De Invinzivlez a Invenzivlez." In addition to screenings of youth-produced varriomentaries, the event will feature "participatory theatre dialogues." It's a great way to engage in dialogues with young people, and is a great event for youth and adults to attend.