When I was working as a NEETs coordinator in East London, almost all of my students had severe Social Emotional & Mental Health needs & the borough I was working in was 1 of the most
2/ deprived in the country. Around 7 years ago, this was when London street violence really started in increase with stabbing, shooting & the new trend, acid attacks becoming terrifying more common.
Out of my students, there was 1 young man ‘Mark’ (not his real name) who I will
3/ never forget. Mark was an 17 year old who was a suspected drug dealer & had a big reputation in the area. Mark was as thin as a rake, with a mind like a steel-trap. Observant, decisive & logical he was a guy that everyone would listen to. Luckily
4/ Mark & I got on & he helped me control the group.
Mark was on the radar of the Youth Offending Team & there were various agencies trying to get involved to help.
One time I was teaching about different career options in my class & Mark was unusually irritated. He was more
5/ disruptive & disrespectful than normal. I confronted him in class & he said to me “working a normal job is a mug’s game. Only idiots do that.”
This started a debate that I’ll never forget.
I made my point that working is something that is noble, you have peace of mind &
6/ you can provide nice things for your family. I encouraged him to go to University & get a new life. He replied the following:
* Peace of mind? Every adult that he knew was always stressed about money & if they will keep their job
* All the drug dealers that he knew made more
7/ money in a day than some people would make in a month.
* He explained that his elder cousin went to university to study a law degree but couldn’t get a placement & could only find a job in Waitrose & is 27k in debt
* He said that they chase the drug dealers but it’s the banks
8/ that are the real criminals as they gambled their money away during the Credit Crunch & got us the tax payers to pay for it. He called it the ‘greatest robbery in history’
* He explained that we were less than 10 miles from Canary Wharf, London’s financial heart
9/ but none of that wealth ever touched their area & they don’t care about the kids in their area. Plus those were the people that bought & sold the drugs that ended up on the street.
* He cussed the schools saying that the subjects that he learnt had no bearing to his reality
10/ I.e Henry 8th wives don’t mean s#*$ to me.
* He believed that music, sports & drugs were the only way out for kids like him.
I was stunned.
When I told him that drug dealing would lead him to death or jail he shrugged & said “everyone has to go sometime.” & walked out.
11/ At the end of the day, that conversation shook me to my core. How could he be so nihilistic & he has barely started Life?
But he was right. How can we preach to kids the right way when there are so many injustices in our system?
12/ When Austerity hit, our centre was forced to close because we lost budget.
As the violence increased in London over the years, I often think about what that young man said & think about the lost souls on the streets because the system is rigged against
13/ certain groups of people. I know a lot of young people who did all the right things like go to uni & behave themselves only to be locked out of the higher arenas of life because they don’t have the cultural capital or connections to get them to their dreams.
14/ it breaks my heart & that’s why we need out the box thinking to engage these young people before they become a lost generation.
1/ Morning guys. After a bit of reflection (& bedrest) I wanted to talk a little about children with Social Emotional & Mental Health (SEMH) difficulties & how to engage them.
I wrote a blogpost talking about making a ‘Social Contract’ to compliment the School Rules which
2/ proved a bit controversial. I was told that it was ‘vague & confusing’ & that we as teachers should take a ‘hard line with the behaviour policy’ until they follow it.
If you are dealing with children who can self-regulate & can verbalise their feelings that is fine but
3/ for children that have SEMH needs not only will this not work but this could be potentially catastrophic.
In my experience, kids who are severely disruptive often have untold traumas that affect their interpersonal relationships. In clinician speak they have ACEs which mean
1/ An East London Tale 2
***Names, dates & locations have been changed to protect the identities of people in the story***
Off the theme of friendship, when I was growing up in the ‘Endz’ there was a dude I knew called ‘Fred.’ Fred was a friend on a friend so we weren’t tight
2/ like that but we still chill together sometimes. Fred’s best friend’s name was ‘Jamie.’ Fred was a good looking guy, decent at school & was an aspiring singer.
Jamie was a bit closer to the streets & wasn’t academic - he was a bit more ‘Road’ & had the gift of the gab
3/ These guys went primary school together & were super tight. Then in the mix was a girl around the way called Sarah.
Sarah was a bit of a tomboy but as we all grew older, she started to blossom into a beautiful young woman. Around Year 10, Fred asked Sarah out & they
1/ Since I’m lying in bed & have to think, I’m going to expand on an earlier quote about allies & friendships... Just indulge me...
I grew up in a rough part of London & we grew up with a ‘code’ & one of the most important parts of that code is ‘loyalty is everything’...
2/ No matter what, your boys should come first. In my mid to late teens, I would have happily jumped in front of a friend at harm to myself if it meant that I saved their life.
I feel in with the wrong crowd, disobeying my parents & not even focusing on my studies...
3/ My mum hated my friends. She knew that they were no good & was so scared for me she put me in another school out of the area to keep me away from them.
It did no good.
I was walking around the ‘Endz’ like I owned it, just as long as I could be with my ‘boyz.’
“Baby”
“I gave you keys to the whip”
“Call me/you on my cellphone”
“Escalade”
“I can love you better he/she can”
“Ice”
“My boo”
“Wifey/My man”
“Creeping”
“Keep it on the downlow”
“Fresh”
“Why you tripping/fronting?”
“Chillin”
1/ After talking to some of my colleagues in person & over social media, I am shocked that even Post COVID19, the toxic level of bullying, unfairness & quite frankly, discrimination in schools have not let up.
Looking at our bat poo-poo world, I would have thought,
2/ That those in positions of authority would have been more compassionate about the wellbeing of their staff.
This is not a pop at SLT/Mid Management - I know many very hardworking, honest & virtuous leaders that are leading their staff the best they can & I salute you.
3/ But I am calling out the management who deny good worthy staff opportunities. Who make their team do their work because they want an ‘easy life.’ Who demean & humiliate their staff & punish those who call them out of their poor behaviour. Those who take joy
1/ If you are creative it's not easy. Your ideas will fail. People will not understand you. Sometimes it gets lonely. you may feel rejected. And sometimes, you will see others who took the conventional path get further ahead with apparent ease while you struggle...
2/ But if what you do makes you happy, gives you peace, changes someone else's life for the better then it is noble. These things are priceless. Youthful energy can mask a lot of cracks, but as the body & mind slow down, these cracks become canyons...
3/ So many people I know who were 'pushed' by their parents/society/careers advisors into jobs that they hated but paid well. Their perks have become prisons & they feel lost.