I was hit this morning with the tragic news of yet another incident of teen violence in one of our schools in the Greater Toronto Area. According to the news report a 17-year-old Thomas L. Kennedy Secondary School student is facing charges after another student was stabbed on Monday in the hallway of the school. I heard the news while I was returning home from dropping my teenage son at school.
As the parent of two teens in high school, I am always shocked each time I hear news reports about violence in schools across the Greater Toronto Area. Teen violence in schools has a devastating impact on our entire community. We must continue to work assiduously to stop teen violence. I do not profess to have the answers for addressing all the issues relating to teen violence in our schools. However, I can share some my experiences that I have with my teens.
Our teens need to be encouraged to be the best they can be. This morning as I was driving my son to school I asked him, “What is the absolutely one thing he loved the most about me as his dad?” My son responded by saying he absolutely love how I am always encouraging him and his sister to be the best they can be. Offering our teens positive words of encouragement does not cost us anything other than spoken words. If we are going to truly address teen violence across the Greater Toronto Area we will need to encourage teens to be the best they can be.
Encouraging teens to be the best they can be also involves encouraging dialogue and conversations. My follow up question to my son this morning was “What is the absolutely one thing he really dislike about me as his dad?” Brace yourself for this one. He told me that he absolutely hate some my food because sometimes I make really bad food. He gave me the example of this morning when I made Quaker Natural Wheat Bran Muffins for breakfast. He was very confident that I would take his comments about my food in a light-hearted his way. However, the key point is that teens need to be comfortable and confident in order to engage their parents and peers in dialogue and conversations.
In closing, I firmly believe two key ingredients for addressing teen violence in schools across the Greater Toronto Area are (1) encourage teens to be the best they can be and (2) encourage them to be comfortable and confident to engage their parents and peers in conversations.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Become Our Brother’s Keeper
On Monday, September 14, 2009 two 17-year-old boys were stabbed in the parking lot of Bloor Collegiate Institute. This is the second stabbing incident since the start of the 2009/10 school. As the parent of two teens in high school, I am always shocked each time I hear new reports about violence in schools across the Greater Toronto Area. Teen violence in schools has a devastating impact on our entire community and we must work assiduously to stop teen violence. Since the stabbing incident at St. Joseph Catholic School in Mississauga in June, I have taken a much deeper interest in the campaign to address teen violence in our schools. It is for this reason I started the Facebook Group called “Stop Teen Violence in Schools Across the GTA.” The group was created to attract parents, policymakers, and others who have an interest to ending teen violence in our schools. The membership to the group is open. There are currently 120 people in the group most of whom are from around the GTA and other parts of Canada.
The incident at St. Joseph Catholic School hit very close to home for me. It is an experience that I am still trying to understanding what went wrong. One of the key lessons that I have learnt from the incident at St. Joseph is that each of us have a role to play if we are going to seriously curb violence in schools across the Greater Toronto Area. It takes a village to grow a child. We need to become our brother’s keeper. We need to be attentive to the teens around us. We should encourage teens especially those who appear to be struggling with their personalities and identities to get involved in character building programs at schools, church or community centres. It's not enough to notice; we have to intervene by providing support, warning the necessary people, and providing a healthy and supportive environment. Young people need opportunities to talk and connect with adults who care about them.
The incident at St. Joseph Catholic School hit very close to home for me. It is an experience that I am still trying to understanding what went wrong. One of the key lessons that I have learnt from the incident at St. Joseph is that each of us have a role to play if we are going to seriously curb violence in schools across the Greater Toronto Area. It takes a village to grow a child. We need to become our brother’s keeper. We need to be attentive to the teens around us. We should encourage teens especially those who appear to be struggling with their personalities and identities to get involved in character building programs at schools, church or community centres. It's not enough to notice; we have to intervene by providing support, warning the necessary people, and providing a healthy and supportive environment. Young people need opportunities to talk and connect with adults who care about them.
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