School-to-Prison Pipeline

The School-to-Prison Pipeline is that inner-city kids (predominately) are more likely to drop out of school and end up in prison. The atmosphere of inner city schools is one of "no tolerance" so the students are basically treated like adults. The students attending school feel oppressed by the authority in their school. This atmosphere resembles that of a prison. These students are more  prone to drop out of school, and with the lack of education and skills they have, they are led to a path that is more likely to lead them to prison.

 

I thought this article was very thought provoking. It gets you thinking about how the current school system of the country is so unequal. It is unfair that one school provides its students with an education that adequately prepared them for college, while another can barely get them to read at their current grade level. It is unfair how the students of these schools are not receiving the education that should be standard of all schools in the country.
The article also got me thinking about how amazingly blessed I am to had the opportunity to go to a school that offered me the opportunity to advance my skills as a student in every way possible. My school was truly amazing and had I gone to a different school I would definitely not have the skills and academic work ethic that I do now.

 

​As a STARS Leader, I can address the inequalities that take place in the school system of Chicago by helping the students that I can, reach the level that they should academically be achieving. Every student can make a difference and if I do my best to help a small number of students, they will be able to influence a high level of academic achievement among their peers.
Our service project at Family Matters will allow me to develop my leadership because being a leader doesn't mean leading a group of people, but it means inspiring people to achieve more, be more, and dream more. If I can inspire my mentee to dream above what he had ever dreamed before and achieve more than he had though possible, then I will have successfully developed my leadership skills.

 

 

Meeting my Mentee!

My First Visit at Family Matters
Our first site visit to Family Matters was definitely an adventure. I was excited to meet my mentee and when I first met him he seemed shy and he did not really know what to do. I started asking him questions about himself and I would try to guess what his answer would be. He seemed to enjoy it and was having a nice time. I think that throughout the hour or so that we spent together, we got to know each other and developed a friendly relationship. He is very active but when it comes down to it, he is willing to focus and get his work done. He is extremely smart and funny, I enjoyed the time we spent together. I am excited to see my mentee next week, I hope that we will be able to develop our relationship further and that he can come to trust me. I think that the only thing I might see him struggling with in relation to his school work, is reading assignments that involve critical thinking or pulling out a theme. I perceive that he has some problems taking meaning out of the things he reads.

My Mentoring Style
At first my approach was one of Active Listening. I asked him follow up questions with his answers and tried to engage in a conversation with him. As he gave me a tour of Family Matters, I asked him about the things that he likes to do and how he spends his time. This is an effective style because he can actively feel that I am interested in what he has to say and in his life. When other kids began to play he became impatient and didn't want to study but I joked around with him and ultimately convinced him that if he finished his homework we could do whatever we wanted afterwards. My approach is to try to be his friend and equal, to joke around with him and get him to feel comfortable in my presence. I would be able to contribute to larger group settings because I can listen what each individual wants as well as the goals of the group. I would be able to know what every person wants and feels by listening to them and engaging in their troubles.

LUROP and Article

LUROP Presentation:       
The LUROP presentation was very interesting because it got me thinking about the fact that I need to start working on my career and my future goals as of now. I realized that there are many research opportunities at Loyola and I would be very wise to take advantage of them during my undergraduate career. As a business student I think it would definitely give me an edge because there aren't many business students who go through research as undergraduates. I am also a Theology minor and I was very interested in helping a grad student who is doing their dissertation in theology. I think it would be a great experience to know what they are going through, what their experience was at Loyola, what they have learned, and furthermore what I can learn from them. I think that this research experience would set me aside from the dozens of other business graduates in the field that I am entering.

Article:
My initial thoughts included some of embarrassment to be considered in the same generation or approximate education level as the student from UIC because it reflects badly on all of us although I do not attend school there. I was astonished that people would resort to sexism and racism to show their frustration. I would think that college level students would know better and would shoe their education not just on their exams but on their way of living. I think that certain people have not matured to the level of college students and those people are the people that embarrassed all the students and faculty of the University. I think that the use of social media to insult the chancellor was anything but necessary. I think that those people do not realize that everyone on the planet will be able to see their posts and that the offensive things they say have an impact on them personally and on the community oft her school. The individuals gave the university an image that no student should ever want to give anyone. It looks as though they would rather sleep in their beds away from the cold than get an education. We are not in high school anymore and we need to start acting like it. Other schools like Loyola did have class and although there was a lot of unhappy sentiment I am proud that we did not resort to this horrible kind of behavior.