From School to Penitentiary

Everyone starts out the same way.

Every child that is born matters because life is precious.

It’s called the sanctity of all life.

So, why do educators and parents hear phrases like “from School to penitentiary?”

Who is responsible for a child that ends up in prison?

Shouldn’t all kids have the opportunity to thrive?

I’ve heard the phrase from school to penitentiary several times since I started working in high school.

That phrase tells me that we failed.

As humans. We have failed.

We have failed to safeguard our future generations by locking them away before they’ve even begun to live.

How can we let that happen to our young people?

There must be something we can do to intervene before a child goes off course and chooses to break the law. Kids break the law because they see no other way for us old people to notice them.

I was headed for that life once, but I chose to break away at age eighteen.

I left everything to start again.

I wanted to live free.

Not everyone can make that choice.

Some of them don’t make it at all. Others end up in prison. Locked up before they’ve even tried to give life a fair shot.

Humans are programmed to thrive

We are born out of love, ready to be human beings. Everything we need to survive and thrive is inside of us, in our DNA. Our personal program to stay alive.

Like the mustard seed.

A mustard seed is a symbol of something tiny and insignificant that has the power to grow into a huge life force.

All humans should be given the opportunity to grow and succeed, like the mustard seed. It will grow into a giant tree when given the right conditions.

Mustard Trees

For humans, our success is dependent on the environment. We need certain basic conditions to grow up, just like plants do in the natural world.

None of us starts out to be bad. In fact, we all start out well because we are programmed to thrive and grow.

Humans are born with a conscience to understand right from wrong, so that we follow the rules that being a human comes with. I’m talking about common sense here.

Most kids grow up in a loving home and in supportive communities. We learn about what it’s like to be human by watching role models like our parents and teachers.

Sure, we have our fair share of ups and downs but overall, we do okay.

A seed needs three things to grow: water, soil, and sunshine.

That’s it.

Humans need more than that to thrive, but most of all we need love.

Love ticks everything over. It’s the glue that holds us together. Without love, we become disengaged from society and lost in ourselves.

From School to Prison

School becomes a vital part for kids who are from loveless homes due to abuse and trauma. The daily routine of class and friends is a safe haven, even though these kids will never show their gratitude.

They don’t know how.

Their acting out behavior is what they know and what they see each day at home. 

I see traces of these kids everywhere. The graffiti on the walls. Vandalized property. The attitude and tantrums.

It’s all a cry for help. Be curious and look at the root cause.

Why are these kids acting out in the first place? 

What’s going on in their home life? Who are their parents or caregivers? Where do they live? Who are their friends? 

I make it my business to get to know them by noticing them. Talking to them and giving them reassurance.

Anyone can do that.

Find out what they are really like. 

What makes them tick? What are their interests and hobbies? What do they do when they get home from school each day? Where do they hang out and with whom?

Give these kids tiny “sprinkles of water” aka love, which makes them feel seen and heard. Give them hope to start believing in themselves.

It can make all the difference to a young student.

I was once that kid and it made a difference to me.

I was that mustard seed and so were my friends. We were born out of love but forced to grow up in the wrong families. We lived on the wrong side of the river in the rough neighborhoods.

What chance did we have to succeed with so much adversity within our own families? Trauma and abuse were normal.

Life was stacked up against us.

Some of my friends were beaten every day.

Some were forced to do unspeakable things with adult men. (Yeah, I was one of them) “Sh, don’t tell or I’ll kill you,” the adults said.

Some were starving and forced to deal drugs out of dark corners to make money for food. It was the only way to survive because kids aren’t old enough to earn a pay check.

Society doesn’t want to see this world. It turns its back on these kids and the families with problems. Social services are overcrowded and understaffed due to funding.

Where does the money go? It’s never there for those who need it the most and the problem quadruples. 

There’s always a choice

There’s always a choice, and kids aren’t old enough to make them. Their prefrontal cortex brains that are responsible for decision making haven’t developed fully yet.

All it takes is an adult who cares. Somebody who believes in these kids and doesn’t walk away from the problems. Someone who has the time to listen and hear them out. 

Will you be that adult?

Change starts with you. Be the standard that you expect from other people. 

Start listening to these young people and get them what they need to thrive in our world.

Without your help, we are enabling the next problem kid to head straight out of school into prison. 

I can’t live with that reality, knowing that I could make a difference before it is too late.

These kids aren’t inherently bad. They haven’t been given the opportunity to shine yet. 

What kind of society are we building if we don’t safeguard our future generations?

My name is Lizzy. I’m a trauma survivor, a wife, a mom, a teacher, and an author.

If you like reading my posts, then please follow me.

For more about me: www.elizabethwoodsauthor.com

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