Gone Too Soon, Part II

DERRION ALBERT.  By now you know him.  His name has been in the news for the past two weeks.  Derrion Albert.  His videotaped beating death in his schoolyard has been broadcast around the world.  Derrion Albert.  He has caused many people, young and older, to pause for a moment or two to think about the safety of children and the safety of children in schools, particularly urban schools.  Derrion Albert.  His story is being told in the White House, in the halls of the Justice Department and in the halls of the Education Department.  Derrion Albert.  His story has brought attention to a city where he was reared, educated and killed.  Derrion Albert.  How can young people process his death and the death of so many other "Derrion's"?  How many young people residing within urban and suburban communities in this nation have lost their lives to school violence?  Surely if known, the numbers would be shocking and unbelievable.   What does the death of Derrion Albert and others like him ultimately mean?

There will probably be many answers to this last question.  Most positive, a few not so positive.  Truthfully, only time will be able to give the accurate answer.  Time will tell how the name Derrion Albert moved a school, a community, a city, a country, a society to awake and realize that the issue of school violence, also known as student-on-student violence, is a GLOBAL problem, which requires a global response.  Not one that occurs in one neighborhood, in one city, to one person.  The world has lost out on what could have been for Derrion Albert.  Gone could have been the next inventor, the next orator, the next big difference in the lives of many.

What should young people think of the attention this week on the issue of school violence?  I'm not a young person, but if I were, I would breathe a big sigh of relief and think and hope that all this attention would foster in a new day.  A day in which the focus is on how to make the lives of young people better.  Attention that is much needed and undoubtedly welcomed.  There is much talk about the outrage and disgust of a city and country that has thus far failed at protecting some of the most precious of all, our children.

This is what I say to my students and to young people:  I know you are disgusted and most importantly, fearful.  Disgusted that you don't feel safe coming to or leaving school.  Disgusted that the very place where you are told you can advance your life can also take your life.  Disgusted that you have too many "RIP" t-shirts for friends lost.  Disgusted that you feel forced to carry a weapon in which to render protection if needed.  Disgusted that no one seems to "hear" your pain, discouragement and disillusionment when you act out violently toward yourself and others.  Fearful that you may be the next victim of school violence. 

I ask them, what will YOU do?  What will YOU do to address YOUR problems?  Will you get mad, start fights, engage in criminal behavior or experiment with illegal substances or alchohol?  OR will you confront and challenge your parents, school leaders, church leaders, and community leaders who are responsible for guiding you, leading you, directing you.  Responsible for showing you what to do when you feel angry or mad about the ever-mounting pressures of teenage life.  Responsible for showing you how to address the pain felt from past and current traumatic experiences.  Violence in all forms, is about pain and the inability, at a given time or moment, to adequately and appropriately address it and put it in its proper place within our minds and actions.  Show me a young person who acts out violently and I'll show you a young person who is in pain, most notably, emotional pain. 

Herein lies the lesson for young people.  Don't underestimate yourself and your ability to influence.  Don't wait for the change to come from city hall, your state or national government.  You have a voice, a voice that can and will be heard by the adults in your life.  Use your voice, not your fists, for expression and change.  Use your voice to speak to the world about what you need to feel safe, to feel productive, to feel hopeful.  Use your voice to hold those adults around you (parents, relatives, teachers, counselors, pastors, coaches, community leaders) accountable in what they need to do and should do for you.  Use your voice to ask for things.  Ask for conflict resolution.  Ask for job training.  Ask for academic support.  Ask for extended learning opportunities.  Ask for better libraries, more computers, more nontraditional learning environments.

Derrion Albert and countless, nameless others like him.  Gone too soon?  Absolutely.  We, those they left behind, know their deaths have not been in vain.  They are the symbols of hope and change.  Hope for days when no young person will fear the schoolyard and change in how young people think about themselves, others and the world around them.