Supporting Our Youth/Adolescent Aged People
The People’s Emancipation Party (Anthony Gallucci) offers the immediate and everlasting commitment to support ethical and engaging programming at the Southside Community Center, Greater Ithaca Activity Center, Learning Web, Bridges for Youth & Families, Ithaca Youth Bureau and other local non-profit organizations and groups of people that serve our youth. We support the community organizations in their efforts to expand services to the entire family, diversify their current work staff and future employment opportunities and with their efforts to support every family ethically and in equity. As part of the initiative to support youth we also propose the city support of the construction, maintenance and sustainability of a locally based youth run center/business.
Immediate Commitments:
1- Appointment of Youth aged people to credible city committees that serve the interest of youth and offer decision making power to an often disenfranchised community (Teen voice)
2- City support for the creation of a self-sustaining teen run business/teen center
3- Continual support to the local branch of the “Youth Power Summit” movement and full support of the petition to empower youth
“It is ALL of our social responsibility to collaborate across age to identify critique and amend errors in our social construction. We must move forward to create a society that will cease to construct counter-evolutionary and neglectful approaches to the practice of nurturing our youth.”
(Anthony Gallucci)
Opinion: 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.
Our society has designated the family, the school district, the police department and community organizations to 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. Furthermore, 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.
When it comes to youth services Ithaca has a descent number of quality programs and organizations. However, 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. Furthermore, 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 “adult” council or in a pretentious position of mocked authority on a youth council.
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.
For example: A 2010 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 nurturing our youth.
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 equity in doling of 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 to the Ithaca common council for inclusive, equitably distributed and accessible adolescent programming and services.
(Anthony Gallucci)
Our society has designated the family, the school district, the police department and community organizations to 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. Furthermore, 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.
When it comes to youth services Ithaca has a descent number of quality programs and organizations. However, 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. Furthermore, 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 “adult” council or in a pretentious position of mocked authority on a youth council.
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.
For example: A 2010 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 nurturing our youth.
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 equity in doling of 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 to the Ithaca common council for inclusive, equitably distributed and accessible adolescent programming and services.
(Anthony Gallucci)