Our Adolescents…

Author: Maj*K

Over the past few years a buzz has been growing in the Ithaca area. The concerns
seem to theme around instances of juvenile delinquency and the communities’ inability to
address it. I hear community members sharing that they are not equipped to occupy,
educate or redirect the adolescent population of Ithaca.
It is true that our society has designated the family, the school district, and, police
and community organizations raise our children. It is also true that most parents or
guardians are working when their adolescent aged child (ren) return home from school at
3:30pm. The circumstances are not the fault of the school district or the family because
neither institution imposed the 40 hour work week. In addition, when a child is released
from our compulsory schooling responsibility they are no longer the legal obligation of
the school district.
In our present societal state by removing the family and the school district from
the equation we are left to rely on the police and the local service organizations. The
police department is often unsuccessful in supporting and occupying adolescents. This is
simply because the police are a reactionary organization. Basically, police often “protect
& serve” after an incident has occurred. The department does not seem to be equipped to
provide a supportive, engaging and consistent program serving adolescents. Therefore, in
this case it is illogical to think that calling the police will solve anything.
When it comes to youth services Ithaca has a descent number of quality programs
and organizations. The concerns that have come to light show that there may still be
youth who are not being reached. This is not always the fault of the organizations and
programming…to the contrary of compulsory education, adolescents are not required to
attend programming offered by the community. There are a descent amount of dedicated,
self-directed and engaged adolescents in our community, however, their conquests and
social contributions are rarely credibly acknowledged.
Politically, when we think about the ways in which we treat the adolescents in our
community it is eerily similar to the way we treat non-white people and people living in
poverty. For instance, and in terms of engaging the political process to produce salient
“change”, the adolescent often finds themselves filling a token role on an executive board
or in a pretentious position of mocked authority on a planning committee for a youth
event.
I encourage us as individual adults to work in our spheres to honestly
acknowledge adolescents by engaging them in credible social participation and creating
social benefits from their social participation (participation == conformity). For
example: A recent initiative at GIAC offers adolescents the experience of interviewing
and meeting the elders of the community. The group will then be invited to share the
project with the community at the local History center.
In addition as adults we must stand up together and support the older children
(adolescents) of our community. For example: When we see a group of adolescents
unsupervised and misbehaving we can ethically and maturely address the action. In this
fashion we act as a community family and show our concern and compassion for each
other through authoritarian practice; firm, yet supportive. If as individuals we are
intimidated by the large numbers of adolescents than I suggest we utilize the support of
other adults to care for our youth.

It is our social responsibility to identify critique and amend errors in our social
construction in hopes that we will eventually cease to construct counter-evolutionary and
neglectful approaches to the practice of “the family”.

Additional Suggestions:
1) Lobby the local correctional agencies like George Junior, Lansing Residential
Center & Lou Gossett Residential to offer incarcerated adolescents engaging,
educational and constructive “correctional” programming.

2) Challenge the school district to offer positive reinforcement to all students who
exhibit behaviors that are socially appropriate and demand that none of its
employees offer positive reinforcement for negative behaviors.

3) Utilize the police as a potential ally as you lobby for inclusive, equitably
distributed and accessible adolescent programming and services.
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