Ever
since November 1997 I have been fascinated by the troubled
youth of our land. During the month of November, I taught
a 2-day workshop on my book "Rediscover the Joy of Learning"
to teachers and counselors of the Utah Corrections Department.
These teachers and counselors were responsible for the adolescents
who had been incarcerated in the Utah Prisons. Later on in
May 1998, I spoke at the statewide Troubled Youth Conference
for the State of Utah. and my fascination grew even more.
As I listened to the key-note speaker tell his story of growing
up on the streets and his affiliation with gangs and how he
turned his life around, I was struck by the insights that
came from listening to his story through the logical levels.
(See discussion of logical levels below.)
I also was struck by the similar patterns I had noticed in
some of the students with whom I had worked. As school shootings
increased around the country, I became even more curious as
to what I could do.
I was primarily fascinated by the process of HOW these adolescents
got to where they were. How was it that they dropped through
the cracks of our social system? Were there any patterns that
would reveal fundamental problems in our social systems that
could be corrected? Could I, using Neuro-Linguistic Programming
(NLP) modeling processes, find these patterns? I went back
to my office in Oklahoma City and started my own kind of research.
As I worked with individual students who were "at risk",
I started noting some patterns that I thought might contribute
to these students. plight. I wrote an article that was published
in the October, 1998 issue of Anchor Point, an international
NLP journal. The title of the article was "Help for Troubled
Youth. Finding the Missing Piece to the Puzzle." Then
I wrote a sequel to the article "The Faulty Foundation
of our Schools" that was published in the February, 1999
issue of the Journal of the United Kingdom Association of
NLP. These articles are also posted in the article section
on my web site www.RediscoverTheJoyOfLearning.com.
I decided to widen my database of students and started working
within local "Alternative Schools" which serve struggling
students who are having a hard time making it in the normal
school setting. I interviewed the students and teachers to
see if I could find any patterns in their experience that
would explain why the students had "dropped through the
cracks" of our educational system. And did I find patterns!
And, the patterns were consistent almost to a student! And,
the patterns revealed some potential solutions in how we need
to relate to students.
The major patterns that were present in all the "troubled
students" that I have interviewed were:
- Trauma. There was trauma in
all the students. For the more severe "at risk"
students, there were multiple traumas. Some of it occurred
in early years in the home or with the family. Some of it
occurred in relationships with peers. And, much of it occurred
in school as the result of not being able to succeed in
the academic assignments. With many students it occurred
in all three. Some of the time, the trauma was a perception
of the student, instead of an obvious physical or mental
trauma. Or, in other words, it was traumatic because of
the meaning the student assigned to the event.
- Inappropriate feedback. There
was some type of inappropriate feedback, a type of inappropriate
communication that the students received from teachers,
parents and peers when their behaviors were not consistent
with expectations. For example, a student might make a bad
grade on a test and the parent might get mad and curse him
or punish him. If the feedback were perceived to be abusive
or blaming or judgmental, the students would fight back
or withdraw. This would attract more of the same kind of
feedback and the fighting or withdrawal would escalate.
The perceived unfairness of the feedback, along with the
escalation, causes anger that grows into rage if not reversed.
- Inappropriate meaning. The kind
of meaning the student attaches to the feedback usually
dictates their response. Many students "take it personally"
by taking it to the Identity level (as in the example above,
the student might think he is "dumb" or "stupid"
or "learning disabled."). Many times the feedback
is perceived to be abusive and personal. Other times, the
feedback is well intentioned and designed to help them but
the student assumes that something is wrong with them. This
places it at the Identity level. Escalation. In all "troubled"
or "at risk" students, escalation of on-going
disagreements or arguments had occurred. Instead of the
feedback being a "one time" event which could
generate a correction, these students and their family,
peers or teachers escalated the feedback to an ongoing battle.
So, in the example above, if the student did poorly on another
test, the parent might get even more angry and the student
would react angrily to the anger. The parent then starts
to react to the student. s anger. Many times the original
reason for the battle was buried under the escalating battle
over issues of control or of winning or of who was right
or of independence. The growing rage over the perceived
unfairness and a lack of anger management strategies fuels
the escalation even more.
- Alienation. Since the student
feels attacked at the Identity level, they feel different
than the other students who seem to be doing all right (the
ones that the system deems okay). They feel separated and
alienated. This increases the emotional impact and they
become even more traumatized. As the escalation continues,
they look for ways to recapture a sense of worthiness and
belonging.
- Search for identity and belonging.
Desperate to find an identity and to feel like they belong,
they look around for others with whom to identify. They
find others in their school and community who are going
through the same type of experience and band together. They
could be attracted to each other by a common interest in
a type of music, a philosophical or political position,
a style of dress, hair, body adornment, recreational drugs,
etc. Such forces as TV, or movies, or music groups often
influence their search. This sense of identity and belonging
has a strong influence on the way they live their life.
- Group rebellion. The group now
can become the one who is doing the rebellion or striking
back at parents, teachers or the kids who used to torment
them. To not only have an identity and a group to which
they can belong, but also to have a common purpose is pretty
heady stuff. This group level activity insulates them from
the personal responsibility of their actions. This can lead
to the many violent behaviors that occur, including the
gang drive-by shootings and the growing number of kids who
are shooting other kids.
These patterns do not occur in a linear fashion. Many of them
occur simultaneously over a long period of time. The unique
role that school plays is that it is one of the major ongoing
environments within which the above patterns are bred and
develop. Going to school is one of the major activities of
growing up. How they do in school, both academically and socially,
IS one of the major concerns of youth. It is THE primary focus
of concern for most youth.
As the above patterns continue to escalate to extremes, and
the alienation becomes more severe, the kids group together
with common feelings of being treated unjustly and unfairly.
The rage becomes justified within the group. Revenge would
be a common way to seek relief. When we factor in the violence
of the movies and TV and computer games where these students
spend a lot of time (I wrote about this in the article "Help
for Troubled Youth"), shooting people who have mis-treated
them previously could seem like the cool thing to do. This
is particularly true when they join a like-minded group and
they sit around discussing their common plight. The alienation
grows and so does the demonizing of those from whom they feel
alienated.
Most of the proposed solutions that are in the news are not
at the appropriate logical level. To quickly review the logical
levels:
LOGICAL LEVELS
Spiritual/Greater System - Attempts to communicate or change
at this level affect our experience of being a part of a much
vaster system. Answers the question of WHO ELSE DOES THIS
SERVE? Or, WHAT IS MY GREATER VISION?
We all live in systems. These systems serve larger systems,
etc. If our lives serve something bigger than our self, it
gives purpose and meaning to our lives.
Identity - Attempts to communicate or change at this level
affect self-image and overall purpose. Answers the question
of WHO AM I? and/or WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?
Changes at the Identity level are harder to make. When others
judge who we are, we tend to get defensive and protect ourselves.
When students assign feedback to this level (even if the feedback
is well intentioned) and make it negative, real damage occurs
to the self-esteem of the student.
Beliefs and Values - Attempts to communicate or change at
this level affect the motivation and permission by affecting
the reasons that we do it. Answers the question of WHY DO
I DO IT?
Real and strong motivation is elicited if the academic task
at hand is connected to the student. s values or criteria.
Unfortunately, many students, parents and teachers do not
know how to elicit these criteria and utilize them.
Capabilities - Attempts to communicate or change at this level
affect behavioral actions through a mental map, skill or strategy.
Answers the question of HOW DO I DO IT?
For most students, this is a missing level since the schools
do not officially teach them how to learn in the classroom.
they leave it to the student to figure it out. The mental
learning strategies that students use are often inefficient
and ineffective. This missing level is the source of much
of the academic trauma for students.
Behavior - Attempts to communicate or change at this level
affect specific actions taken within the environment. Answers
the question of WHAT DO I DO?
Students will attempt to solve problems at this level by
changing the way they study or the amount of time they will
study or by changing what they do to study.
Environmental - Attempts to communicate or change at this
level affect the external constraints a person has to live
within and react to. Answers the questions of WHERE and/or
WHEN and/or WITH WHOM DO I DO IT?
Many parents or students will attempt to solve problems in
school at this level by changing schools, or teachers or studying
with friends or alone or changing the location of where they
do their studying.
Most of the proposed solutions like tougher laws on guns,
curfews, dress codes and the like are at the Environment and
Behavior Levels. If you analyze the major patterns listed
previously, most of the causes for the anti-social behaviors
are at the highest Logical Levels. Feeling alienated from
society or God (or some other higher power) is at the top
logical level of Spiritual/Greater System as well as an Identity
issue. Joining a group of like-minded individuals is the students.
attempt at solving their problem at the top two Levels. so
they will have an identity and belong. Unfortunately, that
does not stop the alienation, it only perpetuates it and the
rage. Albert Einstein once said "You cannot solve a problem
at the level at which it was created. you have to go to a
higher level." I think that is so true in this situation
also.
The interesting part of this to me is how the "Rediscover
the Joy of Learning" certification training graduates
are SO qualified to help deal with this problem. They learn
how to teach students how to learn and how to think about
school in a positive manner. They learn how to give feedback
in a way that builds self-esteem. They learn how to change
limiting beliefs when students assign the wrong meaning to
certain events. They learn how trauma affects students. lives
and how to work through the trauma with the student. They
learn how to deal with issues at ALL LOGICAL LEVELS. including
Identity issues. They learn how to deal with anger and rage
and how to clear the student. s body of the emotion.
I recently had a mother call me. She had a 7-year-old boy
who had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder with
Hyperactivity (ADHD). He was out of control with anger and
rage and would physically attack his fellow students and even
the teachers. He had been expelled 3 times in the two previous
weeks prior to his mother bringing him to see me. To quote
her e-mail to me "Donny (not his real name) had an outburst
at school. He scratched a little boy all over his face, arms,
and back! He got kicked out of the after school program and
is not allowed to go on any school trips unless an adult accompanies
him. He is "on edge all day" at school, according
to his teachers. This means he is having difficulty sharing
with others, paying attention, and staying focused. He says
these bad thoughts just start coming into his head and he
can't stop them! He says he runs from the teachers because
he thinks they are going to hurt him."
I worked with Donny primarily on his anger and the trauma
he had experienced while being abused on numerous occasions
as a small boy. After several weeks back home, I received
the following e-mail from the mother "Thank you soooo
much for the pictures! It was great, Donny immediately remembered
what he was doing and saying in the pictures! He has now had
2 WEEKS of GREAT, GREAT DAYS at school, his teacher says it
is incredible the changes she is seeing. She feels certain
that what you did with Donny has made a definite difference."
John Bartlett, one of the graduates of a recent "Rediscover
the Joy of Learning," went to work as a counselor at
the Colorado Youth Challenge Corps in Ft. Carson, Colorado.
a boot camp type environment for "at risk" youth.
If they don. t make it there, some go to prison. After reading
the draft of this article, he responded with the following
comments:
"Based on my experience of working for nearly one year
with over 200, "at risk kids," in the Colorado Youth
ChalleNGe Corp (CYCC or ChalleNGe) at Ft. Carson, CO. I find
the major patterns of the students you describe in "Kids
Shooting Kids" fit our youth almost exactly.
The original assessment of the youth confirms the patterns
and the continuous contact validates it even more. The following
examples may lend some credibility to your research:
These youth seldom have one trauma that adversely affects
their life and school. They have multiple traumas to deal
with from all forms of human abuse at all levels. A full 95%
of the youth at ChalleNGe have suffered some kind of trauma.
One young woman, a great athlete, was the victim of six rapes
before she was 17 years of age. Two were from counselors,
a male and one female. A coach put down her athletic accomplishments
because she seemed too cocky and boastful. (Inappropriate
Feedback) She responded to her traumas by running away, drugs
and alcohol. (Escalation)
One young man, a Native American that I worked with, was
victimized by a grade school teacher. She would take the paper
from him that he had been working on, mark the mistakes and
then announce to the class how poor the work was. She would
tell the class that this was the best that Indians or Blacks
could do. (Inappropriate Feedback) As he progressed on through
school, he withdrew more and more and did even more poorly.
To him it validated the teacher. s words--I. m an Indian I
can. t do well. . (Identity issue and Inappropriate Meaning)
A young man with blue hair, a different haircut, chains and
dressed in black ran away from home when approached on changing
a little after the Columbine High School incident. (Inappropriate
Meaning) He was totally unwilling to communicate about any
of the issues. His clothes, hair, actions, music etc. were
who he believed himself to be. (Search for Identity and Belonging)
We believe that a full 50% of the youth here at CYCC have
been or are now affiliated with gangs at one level or another.
(Search for Identity and Belonging and Group Rebellion) An
additional 45% are involved with some group (e.g., skaters,
Goths, bikers, etc).
Overworked, overloaded, exasperated teachers may slip up
and say an inappropriate comment and/or not take enough time
with a student and the student locks on to that one incident
above and beyond any other thing that the teacher did or said
for the entire year. (Inappropriate Meaning) One man, angry
about his inability to read or spell, blamed his teachers
and school. His attendance was so bad that he was dropped
from Elementary School. He started smoking pot at age eight.
He and his mother had the same probation officer.
Some of the processes and techniques I learned at the "Rediscover
the Joy of Learning" helped me considerably with these
youth. Some of the techniques were so simple but yet for these
kids, they made a real difference. The Spelling Strategy,
the Math Facts Triangle, The Vocabulary Strategy, the Reading
Comprehension Strategy, the ADD Dance, The 6 step Belief Change,
and the use of the Logical Levels are among many of the strategies
which worked very well.
One young man, a graduate of the program, told me "The
reason to do good in school is that the kids that do good
in school get all the good friends. When I didn. t do good
in school my life was a mess and I couldn. t do anything about
it. (Alienation and Search for Identity and Belonging) The
four-step thing (ADD Dance) did it for me. The Spelling Strategy
got me to believe I could still learn."
One young man turned around when we identified his learning
style as audio and gave him a cassette tape player and tape.
He claimed the 6-step belief change did him the most good
on really believing he could change. He did it four times
for good measure on shifting the belief to "I can learn."
He was the class honor graduate, winning two out of five positive
merit awards. When asked, "What was the greatest thing
you learned at ChalleNGe?" He replyed with conviction,
"When I changed my life, I understood how much I really
loved my family." (Search for Identity and Belonging)
Spelling was fun for the kids. The ChalleNGe spelling word
was "Super cala fraga listic expy ala dos has."
Speed races of spelling the word forward and backwards without
making a mistake or stopping; produced speeds of 17.5 seconds
as the top record. It was common to overhear spelling bee
races in the halls and in the lunch line.
After the Columbine High School shootings, I had the occasion
to see 95 of the youth in two days in small group sessions.
It was mentioned by six different kids, "Before I came
to this program, I could have been a shooter. I understand
why the shooters did what they did. I know how to get weapons
and I know how to make pipe bombs!"
In my contact with the youth, I found less than 3% of the
kids could not be helped with the material that I learned
in the "Rediscover the Joy of Learning" course.
Most of the kids really turn on to learning after they are
shown how to learn and believe that they can learn. The other
disruptive behaviors disappear fairly quickly.
I let some of the youth read one of the drafts of this article.
Of the youth that read it, there was an overwhelming 100%
agreement that the Patterns were right on the money."
(An interesting note. just days after the Columbine High
School shooting tragedy, the Colorado State Legislature voted
to shut down the Colorado Youth ChalleNGe Corp program effective
July 30, 1999.)
If we could teach parents and teachers appropriate feedback
strategies to implement on the spot, then we could head off
these powerful escalating feelings of being separated and
alienated. We could also teach parents and teachers how to
help students find the more empowering meanings to assign
to certain events. We could even teach the students how to
find different and more empowering meanings for the events
that occur in their everyday life. Then their self-esteem
would be elevated and boosted rather than torn down. In fact,
wouldn. t it be nice if we taught the students how to do this
for their classmates.
I am up to the task of setting this out as a vision and a
mission. Help is certainly needed in this facet of our lives.
The world is crying for a solution. If you are of the same
mind set and if you would like to get involved with a vision
such as this, come join me. Let me know how and what you can
do. If you do not know yet, call me or contact me in another
way and let. s discuss how you can make a difference in the
world! I personally think EVERYBODY wants and can make a difference
in the world. Don't you? In my opinion, transforming children.
s lives makes a big difference in helping to make the world
a better place. Come join me!
About the Author
Don A. Blackerby, Ph.D. is a former math teacher and college dean and founded SUCCESS SKILLS in 1981 in order to focus on using NLP in helping struggling students in school. In 1996, he wrote a book “Rediscover the Joy of Learning” in which he describes his NLP based strategies and processes on
how he helps struggling students including those who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Don is not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or medical doctor, he is an educator who is certified in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and practices as a Personal Development and Academic Coach. On a spiritual path he is an ordained minister and registered in the State
of Oklahoma. He may be contacted in various ways. His address and phone numbers are: SUCCESS SKILLS, 1517 Walnut Cove Road, Edmond, OK 73013, USA. His phone number is 1-405-330-0164. His fax is 1-405-330-0167. His E-mail is info@nlpok.com . He also has a web site: www.nlpok.com . |
