Help for kids the education system ignores | Victor Rios

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

For over a decade,

Duže od decenije

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

sam izučavao mlade ljude koji su isterani iz škola,

so called "dropouts."

takozvane "ispisane".

As they end up failed by the education system,

Kako ih je obrazovni sistem izneverio,

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

završavaju na ulicama gde su podložni nasilju,

police harassment,

policijskom maltretiranju,

police brutality

policijskoj brutalnosti

and incarceration.

i zatvoru.

I follow these young people for years at a time,

Pratim ove mlade ljude ponekad godinama,

across institutional settings,

u institucionalnim okruženjima,

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

kako bih pokušao da shvatim ono što neki zovu "put od škole do zatvora".

When you look at a picture like this,

Kad pogledate ovakvu sliku,

of young people who are in my study ...

maldih ljudi koje izučavam...

you might see trouble.

možda vidite nevolje.

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

Mislim, jedan od dečaka drži flašu pića u ruci,

he's 14 years old

ima 14 godina

and it's a school day.

i školski je dan.

Other people, when they see this picture,

Drugi ljudi kad vide ovu sliku

might see gangs,

možda vide bande,

thugs, delinquents --

nasilnike, delinkvente -

criminals.

kriminalce.

But I see it different.

Međutim, ja to vidim drugačije.

I see these young people through a perspective

Vidim ove mlade ljude kroz perspektivu

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

koja traga za doprinosima koje donose obrazovnom sistemu.

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

Pa, hoćete li da mi se pridružite u menjanju toga kako označavamo mlade

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

od "rizičnih" do "obećavajućih"?

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

How do I know that these young people

Kako da znam da ovi mladi ljudi

have the potential and the promise to change?

imaju potencijal i obećavaju promene?

I know this because I am one of them.

Znam jer sam jedan od njih.

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

Vidite, odrastao sam u strašnom siromaštvu u gradu u unutrašnjosti,

without a father --

bez oca -

he abandoned me before I was even born.

napustio me je pre mog rođenja.

We were on welfare,

Primali smo socijalnu pomoć,

sometimes homeless,

ponekad smo bili beskućnici,

many times hungry.

mnogo puta gladni.

By the time I was 15 years old,

Do svoje 15. godine,

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

bio sam u popravnom tri puta zbog tri prekršaja.

My best friend had already been killed.

Najbolji prijatelj mi je već bio ubijen.

And soon after,

I uskoro potom,

while I'm standing next to my uncle,

dok sam stajao pored ujaka,

he gets shot.

on je upucan.

And as I'm waiting for the ambulance to arrive

I dok sam čekao hitnu da stigne

for over an hour ...

duže od jednog sata...

he bleeds to death on the street.

on je iskrvario na ulici.

I had lost faith and hope in the world,

Izgubio sam veru i nadu u svet,

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

i digao sam ruke od sistema jer me je sistem izneverio.

I had nothing to offer

Nisam imao šta da ponudim

and no one had anything to offer me.

i niko nije imao šta da meni ponudi.

I was fatalistic.

Bio sam fatalista.

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

Nisam čak ni smatrao da ću doživeti 18. rođendan.

The reason I'm here today

Razlog zašto sam danas ovde

is because a teacher that cared reached out

je jer je nastavnica, koju je bilo briga, posegnula za mnom

and managed to tap into my soul.

i uspela je da dosegne moju dušu.

This teacher,

Ova nastavnica,

Ms. Russ ...

Gđa Ras...

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

bila je onaj tip nastavnika koji se uvek meša u vaš posao.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

She was the kind of teacher that was like,

Bila je tip nastavnika u fazonu:

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

"Viktore, tu sam za tebe kad god budeš spreman."

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I wasn't ready.

Nisam bio spreman.

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

Ali je razumela osnovni princip kod mladih poput mene.

We're like oysters.

Mi smo poput ostriga.

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

Jedino ćemo se otvoriti kad budemo spremni,

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

a ako niste tu kad smo spremni,

we're going to clam back up.

opet ćemo se sklopiti.

Ms. Russ was there for me.

Gđa Ras je bila tu za mene.

She was culturally relevant,

Imala je razumevanja za kulturu,

she respected my community, my people, my family.

poštovala je moju zajednicu, moje ljude, moju porodicu.

I told her a story about my Uncle Ruben.

Ispričao sam joj za mog ujaka Rubena.

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

Vodio bi me da radim s njim jer sam bio švorc,

and he knew I needed some money.

a on je znao da mi je potreban novac.

He collected glass bottles for a living.

Sakupljao je staklene flaše za novac.

Four in the morning on a school day,

U četiri sata ujutru na radni dan,

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

ubacivali smo staklene flaše u njegov kombi,

and the bottles would break.

a flaše su se lomile.

And my hands and arms would start to bleed

I moje šake i ruke bi krvarile,

and my tennis shoes and pants would get all bloody.

i moje patike i pantalone bi bile natopljene krvlju.

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

Bio sam preplašen i u bolovima, te bih prestao da radim.

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

A moj ujak bi me pogledao u oči i rekao bi mi:

"Mijo,

"Mijo,

estamos buscando vida."

estamos buscando vida."

"We're searching for a better life,

"Tragamo za boljim životom,

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

pokušavamo da iz ničega stvorimo nešto."

Ms. Russ listened to my story,

Gđa Ras je poslušala moju priču,

welcomed it into the classroom and said,

napravila mesta za nju u učionici i rekla:

"Victor, this is your power.

"Viktore, ovo je tvoja snaga.

This is your potential.

Ovo je tvoj potencijal.

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

Tvoja porodica, kultura, zajednica su te naučili etici vrednog rada

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

i ti ćeš je koristiti da osnažiš sebe u akademskom svetu,

so you can come back and empower your community."

kako bi mogao da se vratiš i osnažiš svoju zajednicu."

With Ms. Russ's help,

Uz pomoć gđe Ras,

I ended up returning to school.

na kraju sam se vratio u školu.

I even finished my credits on time

Čak sam i dobio sve ocene na vreme

and graduated with my class.

i maturirao sam sa odeljenjem.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

But Ms. Russ said to me right before graduation,

No gđa Ras mi je rekla neposredno pred maturu:

"Victor, I'm so proud of you.

"Viktore, tako sam ponosna na tebe.

I knew you could do it.

Znala sam da to možeš.

Now it's time to go to college."

Sad je vreme da ideš na fakultet."

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

College, me?

Na fakultet, ja?

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

Čoveče, na čemu je ova nastavnica kad misli da ću ići na fakultet?

I applied with the mentors and support she provided,

Aplicirao sam kod mentora, uz njenu pomoć,

got a letter of acceptance,

dobio pismo da sam primljen,

and one of the paragraphs read,

a u jednom od paragrafa je stajalo:

"You've been admitted under probationary status."

"Primljeni ste sa uslovnim statusom."

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

Rekao sam: "Uslovno? Ja sam već na uslovnoj,

that don't matter?"

to nije važno?"

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

It was academic probation, not criminal probation.

Bila je to akademska uslovna, ne kriminalna uslovna.

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

Ali šta nastavnici, poput gđe Ras, rade da imaju uspeha kod mladih

like the ones I study?

poput onih koje proučavam?

I propose three strategies.

Predlažem tri strategije.

The first:

Prva:

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

otarasimo se deficitne perspektive u obrazovanju.

"These people come from a culture of violence,

"Ovi ljudi potiču iz kulture nasilja.

a culture of poverty.

kulture siromaštva.

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

Ovi ljudi su rizični, ovi ljudi ne dolaze u školu.

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

Ovi ljudi su prazne posude koje mi treba da ispunimo znanjem.

They have the problems,

Oni imaju probleme,

we have the solutions."

mi imamo rešenja."

Number two.

Druga strategija.

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

Cenimo priče koje mladi ljudi donose u škole.

Their stories of overcoming insurmountable odds are so powerful.

Njihove priče o prevazilaženju nepremostivih prepreka su snažne.

And I know you know some of these stories.

I znam da znate neke od tih priča.

These very same stories and experiences

Same ove priče i iskustva

already have grit, character and resilience in them.

u sebi već sadrže odlučnost, karakter i otpornost.

So let's help young people refine those stories.

Zato pomozimo mladim ljudima da rafinišu 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 sistem prihvata njihove porodice, kulturu,

their communities

njihove zajednice

and the skill set they've learned to survive.

i skup veština koje su stekli da bi preživeli.

And of course the third strategy being the most important:

A treća strategija je najvažnija:

resources.

resursi.

We have to provide adequate resources to young people.

Moramo da obezbedimo odgovarajuće resurse za mlade.

Grit alone isn't going to cut it.

Sama odlučnost neće biti dovoljna.

You can sit there and tell me all you want,

Možete da sedite tu i da mi iznova ponavljate:

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

"Slušaj, čoveče, uspravi se uz pomoć petlji na čizmama."

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

Ali ja sam rođen bez petlji na čizmama -

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

How am I supposed to pick myself up?

Kako da se uspravim?

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Job training,

Obuka za posao,

mentoring,

mentorstvo,

counseling ...

savetovanja...

Teaching young people to learn from their mistakes

Podučavanje mladih da uče na sopstvenim greškama,

instead of criminalizing them,

umesto što ih kriminalizujemo

and dragging them out of their classrooms like animals.

i izvlačimo iz učionica kao da su životinje.

How about this?

Šta mislite o ovome?

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

Predlažem da uvedemo restorativnu pravdu u svaku srednju školu u Americi.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

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

Pa smo krenuli da testiramo ove ideje u zajednici Vots u Los Anđelesu

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

na 40 mladih ljudi koji su bili primorani da napuste školu.

William was one of them.

Vilijam je bio jedan od njih.

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

Vilijam je bio jedno od dece koje je etiketirano na sve načine.

He had dropped out, he was a gang member,

Ispisao se iz škole, bio je član bande,

a criminal.

kriminalac.

And when we met him he was very resistant.

A kad smo ga upoznali, uporno se opirao.

But I remember what Ms. Russ used to say.

Ali sam se sećao šta je gđa Ras govorila:

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

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

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

So over time --

Te je vremenom -

over time he began to open up.

vremenom je počeo da se otvara.

And I remember the day that he made the switch.

I sećam se dana kad je došlo do preokreta.

We were in a large group

Bili smo u velikoj grupi,

and a young lady in our program was crying

a mlada dama iz našeg programa je plakala

because she told us her powerful story

jer nam je ispričala svoju snažnu priču

of her dad being killed

o tome kako joj je otac ubijen

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

i telo mu je prikazano narednog dana u novinama.

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

I dok je ona plakala, nisam znao šta da radim,

so I give her her space,

pa sam je pustio na miru,

and William had enough.

a Vilijamu je bilo dosta.

He slammed his hands on the desk and he said,

Lupio je rukama o klupu i rekao:

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

"Hej, svi! Grupni zagrljaj! Grupni zagrljaj!"

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

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

Suze i bol ove mlade dame su se pretvorile u radost i smeh

knowing that her community had her back,

zbog saznanja da ima podršku zajednice,

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

a Vilijam je tako naučio da njegov život ima svrhu:

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

da pomogne u lečenju duša ljudi iz njegove zajednice.

He told us his story.

Ispričao nam je svoju priču.

We refined his story

Rafinisali smo njegovu priču,

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

kako bi se preobličila iz priče o žrtvi u priču o opstajanju

that has overcome adversity.

kojim su prevaziđene nedaće.

We placed high value on it.

Dali smo toj priči veliki značaj.

William went on to finish high school,

Vilijam je potom završio srednju školu,

get his security guard certificate to become a security guard,

dobio je dozvolu za radnika obezbeđenja kako bi se zaposlio u obezbeđenju

and is now working at a local school district.

i trenutno radi u lokalnom školskom okrugu.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Ms. Russ's mantra --

Mantra gđe Ras -

her mantra was always,

njena mantra je uvek bila:

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

"Kada podučavate srcu, um će uvek da sledi."

The great writer Khalil Gibran says,

Veliki pisac Halil Džubran kaže:

"Out of suffering have emerged the greatest souls.

"Naznačajnije duše su izrasle iz patnje.

The massive characters are seared with scars."

Krupni karakteri su izbrazdani ožiljcima."

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

Verujem da u ovoj obrazovnoj revoluciji o kojoj govorimo

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

moramo da pozovemo duše mladih s kojima radimo,

and once they're able to refine --

a čim uspeju da rafinišu -

identify their grit, resilience and character

da prepoznaju odlučnost, otpornost i karakter

that they've already developed --

koji su već razvili -

their academic performance will improve.

njihova akademska dostignuća će biti unapređena.

Let's believe in young people.

Verujmo u mlade ljude.

Let's provide them the right kinds of resources.

Pružimo im odgovarajuće resurse.

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

Reći ću vam šta je moja nastavnica uradila za mene.

She believed in me so much

Toliko je verovala u mene

that she tricked me into believing in myself.

da me je obmanula da poverujem u sebe.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)