Go VOTE - It DOES matter!

Written by: Vicki Zeller, MCCOY Board Member

I understand how it is easy to become jaded during the election season.  I admit to moments I refer to as “election rage”.  This is the overwhelming desire to hurl the closest object at my TV as the barrage of negative ads appears on the screen.  It causes me to frantically search for the remote in a desperate attempt to change the channel before the ad can emit five words.  All the while pleading with the candidates to stop telling me what is terrible about their opponent and please, please just tell me their plan and vision.

In 2008 only 64% of eligible voters turned out to vote.  OK.  Let’s be honest.  Your individual vote will most likely not change your state from red to blue or blue to red.  However, many local elections are decided by a room full of people. Your elected officials will be voting on legislation that impacts your community and your children.  Not sure what the recent legislation is? That’s where MCCOY can help.  Go to http://www.mccoyouth.org/images/stories/2012_Voting_Record_for_State_Legislators_FINAL_on-line.pdf to see what legislature was voted on in the last year and how your officials voted.  It really is that easy.  When you are done looking at all the user friendly info MCCOY has compiled and you’ve made your decision…..GO VOTE.  It does matter.  

Put a Stop to Bullying through Legislation

 

Written by: Cindy Muse, MCCOY Board Member

The commonly held definition of bullying by those in the field is repeated, unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. 

As I was growing up, I was bullied by a group of guys – surrounded on a city street and subjected to taunts – in junior high school and in high school by a bigger size girl who pushed and taunted me.  My son, just as cell phones, e-mail, Facebook were becoming the norm, was also bullied by a group of guys during his senior year in high school.  My son and I could see the faces of our bullies – we knew who they were.  Today, bullying is often not done face to face and sometimes the bully is faceless.  

  

MCCOY (Marion County Commission on Youth) is working to bring interested organizations and persons together to address the bullying problem among our youth and help craft state legislation to define bullying and mandate training for both youth and their teachers.  I recently participated in a roundtable with State Representative Greg Porter discussing legislation he wants to introduce in 2013 to the Indiana General Assembly.  I applaud MCCOY for taking the lead on helping to provide Representative Porter the support he needs to move forward with his bill.  Hopefully this year, the anti-bullying legislation will be heard and voted out of committee, passed by both legislative bodies and signed by the new governor!

To learn more about MCCOY's Anti-bullying legislation and to lend your voice, visit: http://www.mccoyouth.org/Advocacy/advocacy.html.

 

 

Lets make real, long lasting change happen for youth

Written by: Eric Kilbride - MCCOY Board of Directors



As I considered topics for MCCOY’s Board Member blog entry, I reflected upon my 20+ years of involvement as a youth worker and advocate—the lessons learned, strides made and ever-present challenges, both then and now.   

In the mid-90s when I joined the then two-year old Marion County Commission on Youth as a staff member, youth development was a rewarding, yet difficult, endeavor. 

The socioeconomic challenges of the time were manifest and manifold.  Though the economy was beginning to emerge from recession, social problems were significant—juvenile crime was spiking, school dropout rates rising, and central venues such as the Circle Center Mall were beset by gang activity.

The assembly of young people was laborious. Youth workers disseminated information to the community through radio ads, handmade posters and leaflets, and tireless recruitment…of course with actual participation often won through the promise of food.

Communication among organizations took effort.  Faxed news blasts were regarded as innovative, email was yet a luxury, and websites were only for the exceptionally funded.  Funding was precarious.  Though youth organizations worked diligently to support and encourage young people with everything from basic services to developmental programs, they found themselves having to demonstrate improvements in deficit data points (not only difficult to measure, but of highly complex etiology) in order to secure the next grant dollar and keep the doors open.

Over the years, many of us have worked diligently.  We’ve experienced successes, gained experience and learned valuable lessons.  And yet, there will always be socioeconomic struggles, a paucity of funding, and difficulties in energizing communities.  Youth development endeavors are still hard.   

So what are the next steps?  How do we better reach, educate, and invigorate young people?  How do we better galvanize communities for positive change?  How do we better coordinate our efforts to win and make best use of funding?  

In the two decades since MCCOY’s inception, there have been marked advancements in technology and communications.  Now, virtually every youth organization in town has not only a website, but a Facebook page and a Twitter following.  Almost every youth worker has at least one email address and young people are convening virtually to discuss issues that are important to them.  Only last year, energized young people using social media ousted the long-time theocratic ruler in Egypt.

“I want to meet Mark Zuckerberg one day and thank him [...] I'm talking on behalf of Egypt. [...] This revolution started online. This revolution started on Facebook. We would post a video on Facebook that would be shared by 60,000 people on their walls within a few hours. I've always said that if you want to liberate a society just give them the Internet.”

- Wael Ghonim, Google marketing manager and catalyst for Egyptian revolution

Let’s be clear- I am not suggesting young people use social media to take down governments, but if young people can make this type of change in an allegedly “developing country,” can’t we harness these media to make even the smallest of policy changes in our community - to improve schools? To increase access to resources?  To give young people a voice in their future?  We have a means to connect youth to their peers across the globe, and to alert them to life’s possibilities beyond their immediate circumstances.  We have a means to connect with one another to coordinate efforts, develop complementary programs, and to pursue ambitious projects.   We need to use them.

There is no easy prescription or just one valid road to go down.  Real, long lasting change comes from a collection of ideas and convening of stakeholders.  Let’s start a virtual dialogue on how this can happen- and let’s do it now!

You can become a Champion of Youth! Learn how.

The Value of Grit

Delay of Gratification Testing

As a child development research AND public radio junkie, I was thrilled this past weekend when NPR’s This American Life aired an hour-long segment highlighting the factors that allow students to succeed in school and in life. Spoiler alert: intelligence isn’t at the top of that list. 

The segment explored emerging theories on what to teach kids from Paul Tough’s new book, How Children Succeed . The radio show and book explain that “soft” or “non-cognitive” or “executive” skill sets are actually much more important than was previously thought to a child’s future success. These are sometimes describes as character traits such as self-control, conscientiousness, delayed gratification, curiosity, perseverance/grit, and optimism. 

Have you ever heard of the Marshmallow test? This is a cognitive test administered to young children where they are given one marshmallow. The adult instructs the child that they will leave the room and if the child hasn’t eaten the marshmallow before the time that the adult returns, the child will receive two marshmallows. You need only search the somewhat hilarious YouTube video archives to get a sense for the internal dilemma that these children are faced with. But these researchers have found that children who are able to delay their gratification—who are able to bear the wait for that second, larger reward—do better on their SAT's, make more money in adulthood, and continue on a life trajectory of achievement.

Unfortunately, not all children ace their marshmallow tests. Children who have adverse childhood experiences (violence, poverty, hunger, and trauma) experience considerable stress in their environment which actually stymies the brain’s development of these essential, non-cognitive skills. As a result, these children are much more likely to have behavioral problems and difficulty in school and experience higher rates of chronic disease later in life. 

Thankfully, these essential skills can be learned even in spite of adverse childhood experiences if children have strong, supportive connections to adult role models like parents and other community members.

In Marion County these resources are vast. Indianapolis is a home to mentoring organizations like 100 Black Men, the Boys and Girls Club, the Center for Leadership Development, United Way’s Youth Leadership Initiative, Girls Inc., and so many more.

For a comprehensive list of mentoring services, academic and non-academic support services, college and career prep organizations and other resources, visit the Own Yours Campaign Student Resources page on MCCOY’s website. 

This research only confirms what we already know: that success in life is determined by resourcefulness, determination and conscientiousness, that it takes a strong, caring community to raise a child, and that we can all take up the charge of investing in the growth and success of children. 

Visit ownyours.org

Join the Table: Improving our Youth

Written by:  Kenneth Lacy Jr, MCCOY Board Member 

Greetings all!  As an emphatic advocate for education, I find it important for us adults to support our children and their school systems.  Your contribution can be big or small, but the most important concept is to get involved.  Have your VOICE heard.  One way to be heard is to participate at www.whatspossibleindy.com.  Vocalize your sentiments about the necessities and desires that you would wish to see within our children’s’ schools.  Making your opinion known can make a difference. 

Another approach is to VOLUNTEER, in which I am very passionate.  I feel that volunteering is the best way to give back to your community.  There are many ways that you can serve your time toward school education.  I chose to volunteer as a team mentor with the 100 Black Men of Indianapolis, Inc.  I and a few other good men shared our time and experiences with 5^th and 6^th grade boys at IPS school 51.  It was one of the most rewarding experiences that I encountered as a volunteer.  The students showed dedication and aspirations of achieving at a higher level after each session that we all had.  It is interesting to see how the young boys thought processes evolved and how they handle issues with their peers from the information that we taught them during our after-school sessions.  I can truly say that I learned just as much from them as they learned from me. 

                So how will you serve our youth today?