Who are at-risk youth? Case Studies

Who are at-risk youth? Case Studies

Who are at-risk youth, and why are they so challenging to work with? At-risk youth are individuals below the age of 21 years who:

Are drug or alcohol abusers Are economically disadvantaged Are pregnant or parenting Are the children of substance abusers Are victims of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse Have a history of chronic failure in school Have attempted suicide Have committed a violent or delinquent act Have experienced mental health problems Are at high risk of dropping out of school

Combine the above with any of the following demographic characteristics: race, ethnicity, gender identity/sexual orientation, immigration status, limited English proficiency (LEP), or disability (physical, emotional, or behavioral) Basically the more of these factors the student has, the higher the likelihood that he or she won’t make it to graduation.

For instance, let’s look at a few of my past students:

B. (Male, 17 years old): risk factors: current/prior drug or alcohol abuse, economically disadvantaged, child of substance abusers, history of chronic failure in school, have experienced mental health problems. Outcome: dropped out of school.

M. (Male, 18 years old): risk factors: current/prior drug or alcohol abuse, economically disadvantaged, history of chronic failure in school, has committed a violent or delinquent act (gang involvement), ethnicity, immigration status, limited English proficiency, Outcome: expelled from school.

J. (Female, 18 years old): risk factors: drug or alcohol abuse, economically disadvantaged, parenting, child of substance abuser, victim of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse; history of chronic failure in school, has attempted suicide, has experienced mental health problems, gender/sexual orientation, disability (learning). Outcome: still enrolled in school, but still at risk of dropping out.

Behaviors of At-risk students: These are the manifesting behaviors of at-risk students, and are the reason why they can be challenging to work with in a school setting. These behaviors are also the same behaviors that will tend to make employment elusive later in life.

1. Absenteeism/poor attendance, cutting classes (I would argue this is the #1 behavior that leads to dropping out. If you aren’t there, it’s hard to be successful.)

2. Failure to complete assignments (The student is there but hardly ever does anything in class, and never completes homework. If you have large populations of at-risk students, you should aim to do as much of the work in class as possible since home factors may sabotage the student’s ability to do school work successfully at home. Otherwise, it is beneficial to start an after-school tutoring program/homework club of some kind so that there is both an environment conducive to the completion of academic work and assistance available to students who may have neither at home.)

3. Comes to class unprepared (For a variety of reasons, these guys usually just show up, but often without any of the things they need. Don’t bother lecturing about personal responsibility—your student may come from a situation where nobody is aware of the need to procure school supplies, or financially able to do so If you have large populations of at-risk students, whenever possible, it’s better to allow students to keep most of the items needed for learning in the classroom (especially textbooks), or keep extra sets of needed items for student use (pencils, paper). The savvy teacher will take advantage of the end-of-year locker clean out when hundreds of free school supplies will suddenly appear, and keep a stash handy for students who won’t or can’t provide their own.)

4. Lack of involvement in extracurricular activities (This may seem like a minor detail but it’s telling—the student is not connected with school. Sometimes these extra-curricular activities are the things that keep these guys coming to school when all else fails, so it’s important to try to connect at-risk youth with something they will enjoy. For kids who don’t succeed at academics, extracurricular activities may be the student’s one avenue of success in a school setting. This is particularly true for ELLs or students with disabilities).

5. Acts up in class (This is where it all starts to coalesce. Early in the at-risk student’s career they’ve tried one or more of the passive forms of resistance (1-3). Those aren’t cutting it however, so the student steps the game up a bit. The reasons for acting up vary, but the student’s behavior often conveys the following themes: a general dislike of school (I hate school), or the student feels they do not belong in school (school is not for people like me). What this looks like on the ground is the student has trouble getting along with their teachers, peers, or both. The student appears to lack social skills and deliberately behaves in a way that irritates and annoys others, however, this is usually a smokescreen for the real issues: the student feels inadequate in some way (I can’t do this stuff), or feels like they are out of place (school is not for people like me). Eventually the behavior results in suspensions, or even expulsion.

Let’s look at our three students again with their behaviors in mind:

B. (Male, 17 years old): Was usually present in class, but often saw him skipping his other classes throughout the day. He did very little work in class, but liked to read. Didn’t usually act up, but had trouble staying focused and engaged in a lot of passive resistance around getting his work done. Only seemed to interact with a few other students.

M. (Male, 18 years old): Was absent a lot, and would try to make up for it while he was there by doing more work—seemed very motivated in the area of work, and usually completed work when he was present. Liked to store things in the room (notebooks, belongings) because he was concerned about having them later. Acted up a lot when I first met him, but settled down a lot later. His behavior in class was pretty good overall—events outside of class eventually caught up with him though.

J. (Female, 18 years old): Usually present, but often mentally elsewhere. Liked to get out of class by volunteering to do things to help out around school. Work completion was hit or miss, sometimes she’d do very little, sometimes a lot (has a learning disability, so the work was difficult for her). Over time, her work completion increased. Didn’t usually act up, but had off days occasionally and would distract others. She had a history of expulsion and alternative school placement when she arrived, and the first couple of months were rocky with us, but she did settle in. She had trouble getting along with her other teachers, but liked school well enough. For the most part, got along with her peers, but had some issues with appropriate boundaries with the opposite sex. Heavily involved in extracurricular activities, which were probably an outlet for her.

Things I tried in working with these students:

B. (Male, 17 years old): When B first arrived, I noticed he was fairly withdrawn, and preferred to sit alone. I had seen his file, and noted he had a lot of issues. Of course, I pretended to be completely unaware of these, and made a point of greeting him whenever he arrived, and saying hello when I saw him around the building. I noticed he liked to read, so I asked him about the things he was reading. The overall idea was to make him feel welcome, which paid off because he rarely skipped my class.

Also, B needed a lot of prompting to get started on assignments, and would often start daydreaming about halfway through, and would have to be reminded to get back to work often. It is for students like B that I reconfigured most of the curriculum to feature shorter but more frequent assignments, that way students are more likely to complete something while they are in class.

I noticed that B only interact with a few other students. Since some of them were in my other classes, I rearranged his schedule so that he would have someone in the room that he felt comfortable with. It seemed to help a little bit. Gradually, his social circle widened a little bit.

Unfortunately B had extensive prior involvement with some pretty serious drug abuse, combined with ADD and other mental health problems. With such heavy risk factors, he did not make it because he needed much more support than was available, and dropped out of school. B seemed very fragile overall, but given the scope of his issues, I’d like to think that at least his time in my classroom was mostly a positive experience for him.

M. (Male, 18 years old):

Basically M was absent a lot. Part of it was clearly by choice, but part of it may have been beyond his immediate control. He had this odd pattern where you wouldn’t see him for days, then suddenly he’d show up and work frantically while he was there (like he was trying to make up for lost time). Basically this never changed in the time that I knew him. When he was present, I encouraged him to use his time effectively, and gave him books to take with him, since he was surprisingly good at bringing them back with completed work. It’s almost as if he really wanted to be a good student, but things in the outside world were pulling him very hard in the other direction.

Basically, until we had a working relationship, I was just another person there to tell M what to do. He behaved accordingly, and acted up quite a bit. Once he learned that I would treat him respectfully (while still insisting that he get with the program), he settled down a lot. I basically had to win his trust first. I noticed that he was artistic so I encouraged that quite a bit. I gave him nice paper/pencils to use for drawing, let him borrow art supplies liberally, and encouraged him to decorate my room. He communicated best through his art, and I learned a lot about him and his troubled life through his artwork. To this day, I still have a huge collection of his drawings.

M was one of those kids who you desperately wanted to make it because he was so likeable. Unfortunately, M got caught up in the undertow of his past and as much as he tried to leave it behind, it caught up with him. Gang involvement was a deciding factor. While he was still in school, he made a ton of academic progress, and experienced as much stability/safety as was probably possible at the time.

J. (Female, 18 years old):

Much like B, J had a lot of trouble staying on task and finishing long assignments. Due to a learning disability, most academic work was probably very difficult for her. Her productivity varied, so when she was productive and motivated, I’d have her do a ton of work. When motivation was low, I’d set a minimum target, and have her do something different the rest of the time—she liked to be helpful, so often I’d have her do clerical tasks for me.

To address her emotional/behavioral issues: J really liked to be in charge of things, and was motivated by working with other people, so a lot of times we would put her in charge of supervising various tasks. These kinds of tasks were used as incentives for less-preferred activities (e.g. doing work).

J had a tendency to distract others, so I had to do some explicit social skills instruction in this area. It was a really interesting process to work on. As far as the boundary issues go, I tried to hook her up with other students who could be good role models for her, and help her work through some of her issues in this area.

J was an interesting person to work with. Of the three, academically, she was the least promising at first glance, and she had a ton of issues, but has a survival instinct that kept her in the game long after most other people would have given up. She has huge issues with consistency, but of the three has managed to stick it out longer in school, and I feel fairly confident that she will finish school successfully.

These three students help illustrate some of the issues involved in working with at-risk students. Often their problems are huge, and no matter what you do, it will not be enough to save them. As a teacher, you generally can’t improve their home lives, or change their past. My number one motto when working with at-risk youth is the Hippocratic Oath: “Do no harm”. All work with these guys begins with the understanding that before anything academic is possible, you have to make sure that during their time with you, they are safe (emotionally and physically), and to the extent possible, that their basic needs are met. Once you are able to do that, academics can move to center stage. From there, you are free to address as many of their issues as you have time and energy for. Realize that even if they ultimately don’t make it, they will appreciate whatever you are able to do for them, and that they do indeed appreciate your efforts, even if they are unable to communicate that at the time.