Citizenship & Civic Engagement

Service Project: Lifting Teen Spirits @ Angel’s Flight

Description: Angel's Flight offers refuge to runaway teens, most of whom are fleeing abusive families. The program includes a drop-in center and an outreach component, reaching at least 3,000 adolescents each year.

When I was first looking into service projects I could do I was most intrigued by working mostly with teens in high school because that age is probably one of the most testing times in our lives. Especially in today’s society high school teens are dealing with pressures much worse than when I was in high school four years ago. They are trying substances like alcohol and marijuana in middle school and then begin trying newer and harder substances once entering the high school atmosphere. They are pressured into engaging in activities with their peers in order to feel welcomed or a part of the group. Angel’s Flight I believe was the perfect fit for me. These teens and their parents decided that this was the best situation for them. These teens are rehabilitated while going to high school and learning how to handle their problems. In order to find this project I went onto the L.A. Works website and searched for Adolescent / Youth / Teen volunteer opportunities. This one came up and I went with a friend, also a Criminal Justice major looking to specialize in juvenile delinquency, to Angel’s Flight. We were emailed by the project leader Melissa who told us we would be having a little ice cream social with them making banana splits and sundaes. As we were getting closer to where the place was located it was dark and a little scary, so that was one thing I had to get over very quickly. We arrived and met other volunteers and Melissa, then we went to meet the teens. We sat down and played an ice breaker introducing ourselves and vice versa. After that we played a couple of games with them until it was time for ice cream. This was the time where we got to speak with them one on one about their life, and what they were doing in high school and their plans after. What was great about these teens was that they all had plans of some sort about life after high school. I was actually really amazed by the goals they had and the types of jobs thy wanted. One girl in particular actually wants to be a police officer. She had been working in a program with the LAPD as a cadet. Another boy was already accepted to a fashion design school where he deferred until the next year, as he plans to work and make money to afford the move out to Florida. Talking with the teens and learning about their lives and the goals they have for themselves was probably the most important part of the service I did. I think it showed me that while some at risk teens need direction, there are some that are self drive and directed as well, these are the ones that realize even given their situation they have the ability to succeed too. That was probably the most empowering part during my service visit to them.

Campus Activism: Life as an At Risk Teen: Thirteen Movie Screening

Description: “At the edge of adolescence, Tracy is a smart straight-A student--if not a little naive (it seems...she smokes and she cuts to alleviate the emotional pain she suffers from having a broken home and hating her mom's boyfriend, Brady.) When she befriends Evie, the most popular and beautiful girl in school, Evie leads Tracy down a path of sex, drugs and petty crime (like stealing money from purses and from stores). As Tracy transforms herself and her identity, her world becomes a boiling, emotional cauldron fueled by new tensions between her and her mother--as well as, teachers and old friends.”

I wasn’t really sure at first about how to do my campus activism project as I didn’t really know whether or not it was something that require policy activism or raising awareness. I finally decided that raising awareness is the first step in changing to facilitate policy …if I believed that was the route to go by the end of it. So showing this movie I thought would be a great insight into the lifestyle that teens can go down. I worked with the Criminal Justice Student Association to put on the event. They sponsored the event with pizza and advertising and reaching out to the right demographic, criminal justice majors. I also reached out to the psychology department as they too fit the demographic for those studying youth and law/criminal behavior emphases. Prior to starting the movie I spoke a little bit about why I was working with this isse, my service experience and why it meant so much to me. The movie played and a lot of people who weren’t going to stay ended up staying for the whole thing because they were intrigued by the movie. I think it was a great choice as it “kept the people wanting more”. I also made hand outs discussing how they could get involved which I will post here:

Ways YOU Can Get Involved!

Big Brothers & Big Sisters

www.bbbs.org

L.A Works

www.laworks.com
(search Youth volunteer opportunities)
- Help mentor and engage in conversation with youth and teens in the L.A area

Casa Pacifica (Camrillo, CA)
http://www.casapacifica.org/volunteers.html

Outward Bound
www.outwardbound.org
- positions through out the United States
- Volunteer or Intern working outdoors in both at risk and non at risk programs

Remember:

- This isn’t just a minority issue

- Youth and Teens all over face these issues

- Parents who struggle to make ends meet have less time to influence their kids in a positive way

- This brings a need for mentors, and other volunteers who are willing to influence

- Today’s youth are facing issues we faced a much younger age

- They are experimenting with drugs and alcohol at a much younger age starting in early middle school.

Internet Activism: Sponsoring Movie & E-Mail Forwarding, Promoting Websites

For my internet activism I struggled with the concept of utilizing my facebook to reach out. I found that facebook wasn’t really the demographic I was going for completely. I’ve always viewed it as more of a social networking site more than a political forum. Mostly because of the criticisms you face. Once a criticism is made, that becomes the entire focus of the conversation and the point is lost. I utilized facebook in my activism solely to engage people in wanting to learn about my issue. Much like the rest of the class I created a facebook event in order to promote my event and promote information prior to the event, in hopes I’d gain an interested audience, so that was part one of my internet activism.

I also promoted websites of the organizations I believed to be doing the best work or areas where students could get involved, like the one’s listed in my campus activism section. I thought it was important that people also where to go on the internet to find information if they wanted to get involved, different approach on internet activism, promoting websites to promote activism online.

Last two things I did which I believe are going to continue once I finish school and continue working with organizations like Outward Bound (who I am working with this summer) is create an e-mail forwarding message and website. The website is focused mostly on issues and policies I’m personally interested in, but it’s also set up in a way to be a non – profit type deal. I wasn’t planning on doing this solely for the class but I had been thinking of it and then the internet activism just kind of started the whole thing. The e-mail message forwarding came to me when I wrote my last two blogs/reflections. We all are annoyed by e-mail forwards but we all open them and read them anyway, while it’s annoying people still read them. I thought utilizing that would be most beneficial. The key to it being successful is to have a catchy subject line and then keep it short or if it’s long the like the one I am using make sure it’s split up well.

Subject: The At Risk Factor

Message:

“Many social critics argue that today’s youth face more serious and critical risks than any previous generation. Parents are convinced that their children face a major crisis. Most experts will agree that violence in schools, deteriorating family structure, substance abuse, alarming media images, and gang activity put teens at risk. Teenagers who have trouble coping with the stresses of life are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, engage in criminal activity, are sexually promiscuous, and attempt suicide. Many of these at-risk teens run away and eventually find themselves locked up in detention centers or living on the streets” (at-risk.org).

IF THEY HAVE MORE THAN FOUR OUT OF THESE 24 HELLLPP THEMMM!!

1. Has the teen ever been suspended, expelled, been truant, or had their grades drop?

2. Is the teen verbally abusive?

3. Does the teen struggle with basic family rules and expectations?

4. Does the parent have difficulty getting the teen to do basic household chores and
homework

5. Has the teen had problems with the law?

6. Does the parent have to pick their words carefully when speaking to the teen, so as not to elicit a verbal attack or even rage from them?

7. Is the teen in danger of dropping out of high school?

8. Does the teen associate with a suspect peer group?

9. Has the teen lost interest in former productive activities, sports, hobbies, or
childhood friends?

10. Has the teen ever displayed any evidence of suicide?

11. Does the teen seem depressed / withdrawn?

12. Does the teen ever display violent behavior?

13. Is the teen sexually promiscuous?

14. Has the teen’s appearance or personal hygiene changed?

15. Is the teen deceitful and manipulative?

16. Has the teen been caught stealing money or personal items from their family?

17. Is the teen severely lacking in motivation?

18. Does the teen sometimes lie regarding their activities?

19. Does the teen display outbursts of temper?

20. Does the teen lack self-worth and self-esteem?

21. Does the teen defy established rules regardless of the consequences?

22. When trying to deal with the teen, do the parents feel powerless?

23. Does the teen have a problem with authority?

24. Do the parents suspect the teen is experimenting with drugs or alcohol?

How to get involved and help those at risk:

- Big Brothers Big Sisters

- Local YMCAs

- Local teen and youth programs

Learn More at At-Rsk.org

I think my view of citizenship changed only in that it made me want to become more engaged in society in any simple way possible given my ability and amount of time. I think all of this proved to me that there are some things out there we are able to raise awareness about and beyond. I think we can learn a lot by being more civically engaged and we can make the world a better place at the same time, as cliche as that sounds. At the same time I think it does leave room for a lot of questions as we discussed in class. Is what we can do or doing really effective? Is there someone out there more qualified and better for the job? Experience or Passion? I think it's a long battle to make more of society interested in their citizenship and civic engagement, but it's possible. It's hard because we are so dependent on our government to take care of us all the time, but I think my issue is a prime example of where that doesn't happen and we have taken it upon our selves to change that and do something about it. When other issues are at this point I think we will see a lot more engagement. I'm not saying the government shouldn't handle everything but there are definitely some things we can handle on our own instead of relying on our government to figure it all out.