A community is only as strong as its youngest members. The youth impact a community in more ways than one and in a much larger aspect. They are who are out on the streets playing and representing the neighborhood, but they are also the future of the community and society as a whole. It is a responsibility of the older generation to do its best to provide the best resources to ensure that the youth grow up to be respectful and responsible members of society. There is a large drug problem in the youth of today that lead to drug-related crimes and it is something that can be reduced with the right tools. Of the three proposed courses of action, one seems to be the most beneficial not only to stop the crime but also to prepare the youth of today to become the leaders of tomorrow. By helping to fund several youth literacy programs, the youth will be less likely to become involved in drugs in the first place as well as set them up to be successful in their lives. While there is evidence that supports either proposal, the literacy will be the best fitting and impact the greatest number of students.
Learning to read and write is a basic skill that is used in everyday life and to a point where it is almost hard to function without. People read many things throughout the day; everything from a menu to the traffic signs along the side of the road. While it is possible to live without being able to read and write, it is not possible to be successful. Better literacy skills will be used to not only do well in school but also to get well-paying jobs that lead to a good life. According to L. A. Curtis these types of programs, empowering the youth, are “more successful in reducing crime than traditional community crime prevention.” (2)...
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...age of drugs and is not effective in trying to prevent the crimes from happening.
While all the proposals would help the community in their own unique way, the literacy program would help in more ways than just protecting the neighborhood. It will turn into a life-long skill that will help the youth of today to get jobs and live a good life. The DARE program is a good idea but still needs to be tweaked in order to do the most amount of good in a community since it has little impact on the youth of today. A watch program would help prevent drug-crimes in the particular neighborhoods but it would not prevent them from happening. It would instead be pushing them to different areas that soon will have the same problems. The literacy also has the largest outreach with eight schools and will be able to impact the youth and the community in the strongest way possible.
Law enforcement must turn their attention to the people buying the drugs. To stop drug users from using drugs is for them to seek help through rehab or other social agencies. Most drug users turn to drugs due to personal problems they are afraid to face which has negatively affected their financial means and relationship. Therefore, by sending drug users to rehab centers and not jail would encourage them deal with their underlying problems, get clean and be productive in life to overall improve their well-being. The fourth goal is to restore the quality of life in urban communities by ending street level drug dealing. To disrupt the sale of drugs being pumped into the community, law enforcement must patrol the streets of high drug-dealings to discourage the sale of drugs and target dealers in those areas. This would deter the selling of drugs in these areas, decrease drug consumption and reduce drug-related crimes. The fifth goal is to help prevent children from experimenting with drugs. Most adult drug users started exterminating with drugs in their preteen or teenager years. Teens are more prone to using drugs because they are impressionable. They want to fit into a popular group or to deal with problems at home. Children must be taught the dangers of drug use and its consequences as preventing early use of drugs may go a long way in reducing the potential of drug use and can
...hink that educating the youth on the effects of crack, and teaching them life coping skills can be the most effective way to cut down on the number of those who use crack. The D.A.R.E. organization does this, but they are only one organization and naturally cannot be in every school or school district. If there were more aspiring organizations such as D.A.R.E., I believe there would be a dramatic decrease in the number of addicts and in turn a decrease in violence. In addition, I also believe that parents have to talk to their children and play a more active role in their lives. Everything begins at home, so if a child is taught about drugs at home, when they enter “the real world” they’re already a step ahead.
I previously have mentioned, in prior reflection essays, just how important literacy is for a person’s future. Notice how I didn’t say “student’s” future? Literacy fluency effects several aspects of life, not only academically speaking. Ultimately, the literacy level of a child can directly affect their future as an adult. The whole point of Torgesen’s article “Catch Them Before They Fall” is about preventing students with literacy deficits from slipping through the cracks without the best possible, research-based interventions.
“A nation that does not read much does not know much. And a nation that does not know much is more likely to make poor choices in the home, the marketplace, the jury box, and the voting booth. And those decisions ultimately affect the entire nation...the literate and illiterate.” This quote by Jim Trelease accurately describes the state of our society today. The ability to read is so vital to our past, present, and future. However, though we have raised our standards, demanded higher test scores, and increased the pressure on our educators, there is little to show for it. Jim Trelease shares the statistic in his book, The Read-Aloud Handbook, that despite our desperate efforts, there has only been a one-point improvement in reading scores between
Measures of prevention or intervention that can be taken include creating early prevention programs, collaboration between the school, police, and parents, and policy measures. Programs that focus on increasing positive interactions with peers and encourage self esteem can help deter a child from a lifestyle susceptible to gang recruiting later in life (Simon, Ritter, and Mahendra, 2013). Such programs are vital in the school environment, where a youth spends most of his/her day. Schools must take note of the common signs of a youth with a high risk of becoming a gang member, for instance, poor grades and performance, and social rejection in the form of being bullied or being the bully. Moreover, schools should offer programs that raise awareness
To prevent juvenile drug use communities provide programs to educate parents and children. Teens how are involved in the community and sports are more likely to not do drugs. Coming from someone who has had problems with substance abuse overcoming a problem is extremely hard. However having the support of family and friends is what gives most people the encouragement to overcome their addiction.
Literacy, or the capability to comprehend, translate, utilize, make, process, assess, and speak information connected with fluctuating settings and displayed in differing organizations, assumes an essential part in molding a young's persons trajectory in life. The ability to read speaks to a key factor of scholarly, social, and financial success (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). These abilities likewise speak to a fundamental segment to having a satisfying life and turning into an effective worker and overall person (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1999). Interestingly, recent studies have demonstrated that low reading skills lead to critical hindrances in monetary and social achievement. As stated by the National Center for Education Statistics, adults with lower levels of reading skills and literacy have a lower average salary. Another study evaluated that 17 to 18 percent of adults with "below average" literacy aptitudes earned less than $300 a week, though just 3 to 6 percent of adults with "proficient" reading abilities earned less than $300 a week (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).
...d educate children first, then again as teens, this way they have more knowledge both at a young age and then again at a more mature, older age. Although many events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce their drug taking. Thus, educating our children, or the next generation will help them understand the hazards and how much of their life is at risk. One should always think twice before considering the horrific truth of drugs!!
The majority of youth can be served by these community-based services. Too often incarceration is used as a first step rather than a last resort. By using the money currently spent on incarceration and focusing it on community-based options for treatment and supervision that keep youth close to home should lead to more productive future adults.
Having the knowledge to read and write may take someone into a completely different universe, it allows to see reality or escape from reality. It gives a better understanding of what goes on in the world, that being good or bad depending on how he wants to see it. Malcolm X wrote a short story " A Homemade Education," about how, his experience in prison allowed him to gain knowledge and to grow as an individual. Learning to read and write showed him, how to be mentally alive in a way that changed his life forever. He took it as an ability to grow, to make a change for himself and possibly make a difference in the world. Malcolm X explained how it 's never too late to get an education, there is always time for one to change in life. It is
Every child deserves a positive, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where they will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. My role as an educator is to provide my students with this type of environment as well as an education that will help them succeed academically and become life long learners. It is the responsibility of a literacy educator to provide students with this type of environment, but also to provide instruction that will help students become successful readers and writers. There are numerous programs and philosophies about literacy and reading. Through years of experience and research, one begins to develop their own creative approach on teaching these skills. After looking at different programs and seeing the positive and negatives of each, an integrated and balanced approach of literacy seems to be the best way to teach the differing needs of each student.
It is a “reading world” we live in and students should be guaranteed every opportunity to succeed in this information driven society. Children today are overwhelmed with more reading material than ever before on billboard, television, the Internet and at school, causing reading to become a relevant and essential need in the life of every child (Lumpkin 1972). Being able to read has become the core of our information driven society. Yet, reading difficulties continue to plague the foundation of our education system creating a problem that only seems to be escalating. Hasselbring affirms that reading difficulties are a serious concern to our nation’s students claiming that, “as many as 20 percent of 17 year olds... [are] functionally illiterate and 44 percent of all high school students…[are] described as semi-illiterate”(2004). This is a harsh reality to face – a reality that stems from difficulties developed at the elementary level where reading complications arise and usually go unchecked. These reading difficulties are carri...
Youth Led Community Programs- to help reduce drug activities and to make the neighborhood less vulnerable for those types of activities.
The importance of literacy is how it opens up the world to the reader, or writer. Through literacy, we can shape our thinking on certain topics or create original thought. The vivid detail inside of writing can allow the reader to picture the writing through their own mind without pictures, or any outside help. Malcolm X, who wrote “Literacy Behind Bars”, a literacy narrative about his time in prison, described how the world opened up to him through his readings, and how incredible his life was thereafter through his learning to read and write. Literacy enables you to formulate thought, thus allowing you to formulate opinions about certain social, political, or any other range of topics from an education in literacy.
The first step when beginning to implement drug education in a classroom or school is for the individual that is considering the topic to deem why the implementation is important. There are three main reasons teachers have found the implementation to be important. The first reason is that students are more likely to come in contact with drugs by hearing about them, or using them. By having a program implemented into a classroom or school, it can assist individuals to gain knowledge about the topic. The purpose of this is to help individuals make healthy, responsible decisions about drugs now and in the future that will reflect the individual’s identity and morals. The second reason is to help promote a healthy lifestyle for students. Teachers believe that by engaging students in drug education programs, it can help to benefit well-being of the students so that healthy lifestyles are reached to the fullest potentials. Lastly, teachers have found it to be important because teachers can act as a partner with parents, guardians, and other members of the community, in order to ensure that students are being provided with accurate and developmentally appropriate drug education. The school can provide knowledge to students in an area that is sometimes difficult for parents, guardians, and the community to talk about.