Help for kids the education system ignores | Victor Rios

Prevoditelj: Jasna Matek Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

For over a decade,

Već više od deset godina

I have studied young people that have been pushed out of school,

proučavam mlade ljude koji su izbačeni iz škole.

so called "dropouts."

takozvane otpadnike.

As they end up failed by the education system,

Kad ih iznevjeri obrazovni sustav

they're on the streets where they're vulnerable to violence,

završe na ulici gdje su podložni nasilju,

police harassment,

policijskom zlostavljanju,

police brutality

policijskoj brutalnosti

and incarceration.

i kažnjavanju zatvorom.

I follow these young people for years at a time,

Godinama pratim te mlade ljude

across institutional settings,

u različitim institucionalnim uređenjima

to try to understand what some of us call the "school-to-prison pipeline."

kako bih razumio ono što neki od nas zovu "kanalom od škole do zatvora."

When you look at a picture like this,

Kada pogledate sliku poput ove,

of young people who are in my study ...

mlade ljude iz moje studije...

you might see trouble.

možda vidite nevolju.

I mean one of the boys has a bottle of liquor in his hand,

Ipak, jedan dečko drži bocu žestokog pića u ruci,

he's 14 years old

ima 14 godina,

and it's a school day.

a radni je dan.

Other people, when they see this picture,

Kada ostali ljudi vide ovu sliku,

might see gangs,

možda će vidjeti bandu,

thugs, delinquents --

razbojnike, delikvente --

criminals.

kriminalce.

But I see it different.

Ali ja to vidim drugačije.

I see these young people through a perspective

Gledam te mlade ljude kroz perspektivu

that looks at the assets that they bring to the education system.

koja vidi čime oni mogu doprinijeti obrazovnom sustavu.

So will you join me in changing the way we label young people

Pa, hoćete li mi se pridružiti u mijenjanju etiketa koje dajemo mladima

from "at-risk" to "at-promise?"

od "rizičnih" do "obećavajućih?"

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

How do I know that these young people

Kako znam da ovi mladi ljudi

have the potential and the promise to change?

imaju potencijal i obećavajuće izglede da će se promijeniti?

I know this because I am one of them.

Znam to jer sam ja jedan od njih.

You see, I grew up in dire poverty in the inner city,

Odrastao sam u teškom siromaštvu u unutrašnjosti grada,

without a father --

bez oca --

he abandoned me before I was even born.

napustio me prije nego što sam se i rodio.

We were on welfare,

Živjeli smo od socijalne pomoći,

sometimes homeless,

katkad beskućnici,

many times hungry.

više puta gladni.

By the time I was 15 years old,

Do svoje petnaeste godine

I had been incarcerated in juvy three times for three felonies.

bio sam u maloljetničkome pritvoru već tri puta zbog tri prekršaja.

My best friend had already been killed.

Mojeg najboljeg prijatelja već su ubili.

And soon after,

Ubrzo nakon toga,

while I'm standing next to my uncle,

dok sam stajao uz svoga ujaka,

he gets shot.

netko ga je ubio.

And as I'm waiting for the ambulance to arrive

Dok sam čekao da stigne hitna pomoć

for over an hour ...

više od sat vremena...

he bleeds to death on the street.

on je iskrvario na ulici.

I had lost faith and hope in the world,

Izgubio sam vjeru i nadu u svijet

and I had given up on the system because the system had failed me.

i odustao sam od sustava jer me je iznevjerio.

I had nothing to offer

Nisam imao što ponuditi

and no one had anything to offer me.

i nitko meni nije imao što ponuditi.

I was fatalistic.

Bio sam fatalističan.

I didn't even think I could make it to my 18th birthday.

Nisam mislio niti da bih mogao doživjeti svoj 18. rođendan.

The reason I'm here today

Razlog zašto sam danas ovdje

is because a teacher that cared reached out

je jer je jedna nastavnica marila za mene, ponudila pomoć

and managed to tap into my soul.

i uspjela mi dotaknuti dušu.

This teacher,

Ta nastavnica,

Ms. Russ ...

gospođa Russ ...

she was the kind of teacher that was always in your business.

bila je onaj tip nastavnika koji uvijek zabada nos u vaša posla.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

She was the kind of teacher that was like,

Bila je tip nastavnika koji bi rekao,

"Victor, I'm here for you whenever you're ready."

"Tu sam za tebe kad god budeš spreman."

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I wasn't ready.

Nisam bio spreman.

But she understood one basic principle about young people like me.

No, ona je razumjela osnovni princip mladih ljudi poput mene.

We're like oysters.

Mi smo kao školjke.

We're only going to open up when we're ready,

Otvorit ćemo se samo kad budemo spremni,

and if you're not there when we're ready,

a ako niste tamo kad smo spremni,

we're going to clam back up.

opet ćemo se zatvoriti.

Ms. Russ was there for me.

Gđa Russ je bila tu za mene.

She was culturally relevant,

Bila je od kulturne važnosti,

she respected my community, my people, my family.

poštivala je moju zajednicu, moje ljude, moju obitelj.

I told her a story about my Uncle Ruben.

Ispričao sam joj priču o svom ujaku Rubenu.

He would take me to work with him because I was broke,

Vodio me sa sobom na posao jer nisam imao novaca,

and he knew I needed some money.

a znao je da mi treba.

He collected glass bottles for a living.

Zarađivao je sakupljajući staklene boce.

Four in the morning on a school day,

U četiri ujutro na radni dan,

we'd throw the glass bottles in the back of his van,

bacili bismo staklene boce u njegov kamion

and the bottles would break.

i one bi se razbile.

And my hands and arms would start to bleed

Šake i ruke bi mi počele krvariti,

and my tennis shoes and pants would get all bloody.

a tenisice i hlače bi se umrljale krvlju.

And I was terrified and in pain, and I would stop working.

Bio sam užasnut, bolilo me i prestao bih raditi.

And my uncle, he would look me in the eyes and he would say to me,

Ujak bi me pogledao u oči i rekao bi mi,

"Mijo,

"Sinko,

estamos buscando vida."

tražimo život."

"We're searching for a better life,

"Tražimo bolji život,

we're trying to make something out of nothing."

pokušavamo napraviti nešto iz ničega."

Ms. Russ listened to my story,

Gđa Russ je slušala moju priču,

welcomed it into the classroom and said,

primila je u učionicu i rekla,

"Victor, this is your power.

"Victor, to je tvoja moć.

This is your potential.

To je tvoj potencijal.

Your family, your culture, your community have taught you a hard-work ethic

Tvoja obitelj, kultura i zajednica su te naučili mukotrpnom radu

and you will use it to empower yourself in the academic world

i ti ćeš to iskoristiti kako bi osnažio sebe u akademskom svijetu

so you can come back and empower your community."

kako bi se mogao vratiti i osnažiti svoju zajednicu."

With Ms. Russ's help,

Uz pomoć gđe Russ,

I ended up returning to school.

vratio sam se u školu.

I even finished my credits on time

Čak sam je završio na vrijeme

and graduated with my class.

i maturirao sa svojom generacijom.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

But Ms. Russ said to me right before graduation,

Ali, prije mature, gđa Russ mi je rekla,

"Victor, I'm so proud of you.

"Victor, tako sam ponosna na tebe.

I knew you could do it.

Znala sam da ti to možeš.

Now it's time to go to college."

Sada je vrijeme za fakultet."

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

College, me?

Fakultet? Ja?

Man, what is this teacher smoking thinking I'm going to college?

Čovječe, što ova nastavnica puši kad misli da ću ja na fakultet?

I applied with the mentors and support she provided,

Osigurala mi je mentore i podršku, pa sam se prijavio,

got a letter of acceptance,

dobio sam potvrdu da sam primljen,

and one of the paragraphs read,

a u jednome od odjeljaka je pisalo,

"You've been admitted under probationary status."

"Primljeni ste na probni rok."

I said, "Probation? I'm already on probation,

"Probacija? Već jesam na uvjetnoj,

that don't matter?"

zar to nema veze?"

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

It was academic probation, not criminal probation.

Bio je to akademski probni rok, ne uvjetna kazna.

But what do teachers like Ms. Russ do to succeed with young people

Ali, što nastavnici kao što je gđa Russ čine da uspiju s mladim ljudima

like the ones I study?

kao što su oni koje ja proučavam?

I propose three strategies.

Predlažem tri strategije.

The first:

Prva:

let's get rid of our deficit perspective in education.

Riješimo se te svoje deficitne perspektive u obrazovanju.

"These people come from a culture of violence,

"Ti ljudi dolaze iz kulture nasilja,

a culture of poverty.

kulture siromaštva.

These people are at-risk; these people are truant.

Ti ljudi su rizični; ti ljudi su ljenčine.

These people are empty containers for us to fill with knowledge.

Ti ljudi su prazni spremnici koje trebamo napuniti znanjem.

They have the problems,

Oni imaju probleme,

we have the solutions."

mi imamo rješenja."

Number two.

Broj dva.

Let's value the stories that young people bring to the schoolhouse.

Cijenimo priče koje ti mladi donose u obrazovnu ustanovu.

Their stories of overcoming insurmountable odds are so powerful.

Njihove priče o premošćivanju nepremostivih prepreka su tako moćne.

And I know you know some of these stories.

I znam da znate neke od tih priča.

These very same stories and experiences

Upravo te priče i iskustva

already have grit, character and resilience in them.

su pune borbenosti, karaktera i žilavosti.

So let's help young people refine those stories.

Pa, pomozimo mladim ljudima da oplemene te priče.

Let's help them be proud of who they are,

Pomozimo im da budu ponosni na sebe,

because our education system welcomes their families, their cultures,

jer naš obrazovni sustav pozdravlja njihove obitelji, kulture,

their communities

njihove zajednice

and the skill set they've learned to survive.

i vještine koje su naučili kako bi preživjeli.

And of course the third strategy being the most important:

I, naravno, treća strategija, ona najvažnija:

resources.

Resursi.

We have to provide adequate resources to young people.

Moramo mladima osigurati adekvatne resurse.

Grit alone isn't going to cut it.

Borbenost nije dovoljna.

You can sit there and tell me all you want,

Možete tu sjediti i do sutra mi ponavljati,

"Hey man, pick yourself up by the bootstraps."

"Hajde čovječe, skupi samopouzdanja i digni se."

But if I was born without any straps on my boots --

Ali, ako nemam samopouzdanja --

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

How am I supposed to pick myself up?

Kako da ustanem?

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Job training,

stručna izobrazba,

mentoring,

mentorstvo,

counseling ...

savjetovanje ...

Teaching young people to learn from their mistakes

Podučavanje mladih da uče iz svojih grešaka

instead of criminalizing them,

umjesto da ih tretiramo kao kriminalce

and dragging them out of their classrooms like animals.

i izvodimo iz učionice kao kakve životinje.

How about this?

Kako se to čini?

I propose that we implement restorative justice in every high school in America.

Predlažem da uvedemo restorativnu pravdu u sve srednje škole u Americi.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

So we went out to test these ideas in the community of Watts in LA

Iskušali smo ove ideje u zajednici Watts u Los Angelesu

with 40 young people that had been pushed out of school.

na 40 mladih ljudi koje su izbacili iz škole.

William was one of them.

William je bio jedan od njih.

William was the kind of kid that had been given every label.

William je bio takvo dijete koje je dobilo sve moguće etikete.

He had dropped out, he was a gang member,

Prestao se školovati, bio je član bande,

a criminal.

kriminalac.

And when we met him he was very resistant.

Kad smo ga upoznali, jako se odupirao.

But I remember what Ms. Russ used to say.

Ali, sjećam se što je gđa Russ govorila.

"Hey, I'm here for you whenever you're ready."

"Hej, tu sam za tebe kad budeš spreman."

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So over time --

Tako je s vremenom --

over time he began to open up.

s vremenom se počeo otvarati.

And I remember the day that he made the switch.

Sjećam se dana kada se promijenio.

We were in a large group

Bili smo u velikoj grupi

and a young lady in our program was crying

i jedna mlada žena u našem programu je plakala

because she told us her powerful story

jer nam je ispričala moćnu priču

of her dad being killed

o tome kako su joj ubili oca,

and then his body being shown in the newspaper the next day.

a sljedeći dan je njegovo mrtvo tijelo bilo u novinama.

And as she's crying, I don't know what to do,

Plakala je, nisam znao što da radim,

so I give her her space,

pa sam joj dao prostora,

and William had enough.

a Williamu je bilo dosta.

He slammed his hands on the desk and he said,

Udario je šakama o stol i rekao,

"Hey, everybody! Group hug! Group hug!"

"Hej, ljudi! Grupni zagrljaj! Grupni zagrljaj!"

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

This young lady's tears and pain turned into joy and laughter

Suze i bol te mlade žene pretvoriil su se u veselje i smijeh

knowing that her community had her back,

jer je znala da je zajednica uz nju,

and William had now learned that he did have a purpose in life:

a William je tako naučio da ipak ima svrhu u životu:

to help to heal the souls of people in his own community.

pomoći iscijeliti duše ljudi u svojoj vlastitoj zajednici.

He told us his story.

Ispričao nam je svoju priču.

We refined his story

Oplemenio je svoju priču tako što je

to go from being the story of a victim to being the story of a survivor

od priče jedne žrtve to postala priča onoga koji je preživio,

that has overcome adversity.

koji je premostio nedaće i teškoće.

We placed high value on it.

Iznimno smo to cijenili.

William went on to finish high school,

William je završio srednju školu,

get his security guard certificate to become a security guard,

dobio je certifikat za rad u zaštitarstvu

and is now working at a local school district.

i sada radi u mjesnom školskom okrugu.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Ms. Russ's mantra --

Mantra gđe Russ --

her mantra was always,

njezina mantra je uvijek bila

"when you teach to the heart, the mind will follow."

"kada podučavaš ka srcu, um će slijediti."

The great writer Khalil Gibran says,

Veliki pisac Khalil Gibran kaže

"Out of suffering have emerged the greatest souls.

"Iz patnje su izronile najveće duše.

The massive characters are seared with scars."

Veliki karakteri su obilježeni ožiljcima."

I believe that in this education revolution that we're talking about

Vjerujem da u ovoj obrazovnoj revoluciji o kojoj pričamo

we need to invite the souls of the young people that we work with,

trebamo pozvati duše mladih ljudi s kojima radimo,

and once they're able to refine --

a onda kad budu sposobni obogatiti --

identify their grit, resilience and character

identificirati svoju borbenost, žilavost i karakter

that they've already developed --

koje su već ranije razvili --

their academic performance will improve.

njihov akademski učinak će se poboljšati.

Let's believe in young people.

Vjerujmo u mlade ljude.

Let's provide them the right kinds of resources.

Osigurajmo im prave resurse.

I'll tell you what my teacher did for me.

Reći ću vam što je moja nastavnica učinila za mene.

She believed in me so much

Toliko je vjerovala u mene

that she tricked me into believing in myself.

da sam i sâm počeo vjerovati u sebe.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)