This week, our group met up with Karen Notsch a community policing specialist with the Minneapolis Police Department. She spoke to my "No drugs" group in addition to the "No Gangs" group which chose to organize this.
Most of my personal time with my group was spent before and after the meeting. Before the meeting I told them we would be moving to the media center for the meeting, instead of the classroom. As soon as we left, I realized that I should have stated that we would walk together and not run down the hallways - which is what happened with half of my group. The remainder stayed with me and were able to find our meeting spot at the same time.
I felt like she wanted to say a great deal more, but wasn't sure what to say or not say to pre-adolescents. She let us coaches know beforehand that she had looked for information that was relevant to this age group, but could not find a whole lot. She considered our PA groups could work on creating at least one piece of literature directed to this age group, which she would help distribute city-wide. This sounds like a potential project, but her pitch to the students didn't seem to go over as well as she had wanted. We will see if either of our group's will be interested in doing this during our last few sessions.
After class, I let my group know that we would also be speaking with an addiction counselor the next time we meet. Speaking individually to some of my group members who were participated less, they each said they liked the speaker coming. I am hoping thy are more enthusiastic next time.
Most of my personal time with my group was spent before and after the meeting. Before the meeting I told them we would be moving to the media center for the meeting, instead of the classroom. As soon as we left, I realized that I should have stated that we would walk together and not run down the hallways - which is what happened with half of my group. The remainder stayed with me and were able to find our meeting spot at the same time.
I felt like she wanted to say a great deal more, but wasn't sure what to say or not say to pre-adolescents. She let us coaches know beforehand that she had looked for information that was relevant to this age group, but could not find a whole lot. She considered our PA groups could work on creating at least one piece of literature directed to this age group, which she would help distribute city-wide. This sounds like a potential project, but her pitch to the students didn't seem to go over as well as she had wanted. We will see if either of our group's will be interested in doing this during our last few sessions.
After class, I let my group know that we would also be speaking with an addiction counselor the next time we meet. Speaking individually to some of my group members who were participated less, they each said they liked the speaker coming. I am hoping thy are more enthusiastic next time.
It's a tough balance to figure out how to share information that is 'developmentally' appropriate and also not use that as an excuse to further oppress kids by denying them key information. Any thoughts on that line as you continue to work on this project?
ReplyDeleteWell, after this week's meeting - I feel like the students were more engaged this time. There was actually a whole lot more relevant information that was personalized to them than last time. These students have literally seen and tried to change situations where someone was addicted. I really think holding back too much information is less helpful than most adults assume, especially when some are facing tough realities - and their friends definitely are.
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