All too often youth are seen as the cause of societal problems like drugs and violence. But when youth get a chance to tell their own stories, we've found that perception and reality are very different. As one of our Streetside Teaching Artists says: "If you don't tell your own story, someone else will tell it for you."
This San Francisco Chronicle
column addresses the suspiciously high
arrest rate among African-Americans in San Francisco. The article talks about how unevenly justice is applied in this famously openminded city. And in the process, it debunks a common
myth--that crimes committed by youth are increasing. The crime rate among youth in San Francisco has actually dropped sharply--and teen pregnancy and dropout rates have fallen too. Our youth are, more and more, making safe and responsible choices. Oddly, it's middle-aged people who are being arrested more often. As the author, Michael Males writes:
Even after a generation of dramatic changes, today's law-enforcement authorities, with their thinking stuck in decades past, perceive of crime and drugs as "youth crises." So they continue to blame young people -- who comprise small and diminishing fractions of the city's arrests. This backward thinking prevents formulation of innovative policies that match the trends.
We notice the choices of San Francisco youth as we help them write their stories. All too often, youth write about the fear of becoming a victim of crime. They talk about their desire to avoid bad choices, and to contribute to their communities. Alot of the time, they're thinking about the things we hope they would be thinking about: homework vs. Playstation, a trip to an amusement park, family, making new friends...
Jennifer Ling wrote about finding a friend smoking:
"I saw Big C smoking a cigarette. I felt myself having pressure like two giraffes just jumped on me. I quickly ran outside the slimy bathroom. Then she came out looking shocked."
Ry'Ann Alana Richardson wrote about dong community service:
"At the senior center, I worked for two hours playing games like checkers and cards with the seniors while they told me folktales, or tales of their lives as children."
Yandy Padilla shared a story about a family member in Honduras who joined a gang:
"I think about the choices that my cousin has made. I don't want to make the same choices. As a gang member, he gets into trouble and gets into fights. He runs away from the cops and uses drugs. But I want to do well in life and school. Some people ask me to do drugs, but I say no because that is bad for me."
It's so important that we hear the voices of our young people straight from the source. Youth have lots of
stories to tell, and Streetside gives them a platform to make their voices heard.
Peer pressure seems to be inevitable. Fortunately, there are positive forms of peer pressure to balance those negative ones we are consistently reminded of and exposed to. It seems the programs developed by StreetSide can be a source of positive peer pressure in that children share their stories, and in these stories peer listeners are exposed to ways of dealing positively with their own challenges. For example, if a child hears that they are not alone in facing the peer pressure to smoke or use drugs in the stories of their friends, it is of great value to them to hear that these same friends resisted the pressure to smoke or use drugs. Since we are more likely to listen to those we relate to most, it seems to me that StreetSide has a good thing going in giving children the opportunity to listen and learn from those they relate to most - their peers.