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.
Showing posts with label Toronto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toronto. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
There Can Be No Winners
The family of the two brothers charged in the stabbing incident on June 17th at St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga is delighted that the boys were granted bail today. Violence in our schools hurts not just the perpetrators and victims but the entire school body, the community, families and friends. In these situations there can be no winners. As a society we must categorically denounced violence in schools across the Greater Toronto Area.
Since the incident at the school I have had the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time with the parents of the two brothers. During this time I have seen their emotional turmoil. I have seen their tears as they struggle internally, both individually and collectively, searching for answers, understanding and compassion.
The boys' parents are people whom I admire and respect. I think they are best neighbours in the world. Both are hard working. Both want nothing but the best for thier children. Both gentle and kind. They are quick to shovel the snow from my driveway in the winter. In 2007, I was honoured when the mother of two brothers lend a helping hand to care for my ailing mother.
Today in court I had the opportunity of meeting the parents of two of the boys hurt during the incident at the school. I also observed their emotional turmoil. Unequivocally, violence in our schools rips us apart individually and collectively as community. The pshyscological, emotional and physical scars are deep and enormously painful. Today when I held the parents of two of the boys injured in the incident I felt every ounce of their pain.
I am absolutely confident that this not an experience I would want for myself or my wife. No parent, family, friend or community should have to endure pain caused by violence in our schools. It is abundantly clear in my mind that there can be no winners when violence enters the schools in our communities. It is for this reason that we have to be resolute in our campaign to stem the tide of teen violence that has entered schools across the Greater Toronto Area.
Since the incident at the school I have had the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time with the parents of the two brothers. During this time I have seen their emotional turmoil. I have seen their tears as they struggle internally, both individually and collectively, searching for answers, understanding and compassion.
The boys' parents are people whom I admire and respect. I think they are best neighbours in the world. Both are hard working. Both want nothing but the best for thier children. Both gentle and kind. They are quick to shovel the snow from my driveway in the winter. In 2007, I was honoured when the mother of two brothers lend a helping hand to care for my ailing mother.
Today in court I had the opportunity of meeting the parents of two of the boys hurt during the incident at the school. I also observed their emotional turmoil. Unequivocally, violence in our schools rips us apart individually and collectively as community. The pshyscological, emotional and physical scars are deep and enormously painful. Today when I held the parents of two of the boys injured in the incident I felt every ounce of their pain.
I am absolutely confident that this not an experience I would want for myself or my wife. No parent, family, friend or community should have to endure pain caused by violence in our schools. It is abundantly clear in my mind that there can be no winners when violence enters the schools in our communities. It is for this reason that we have to be resolute in our campaign to stem the tide of teen violence that has entered schools across the Greater Toronto Area.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
To Win You Have To Start
By Mark McKenzie
May 27, 2009
To win you have to start. In the 1970s I spent some of my formative years growing up in Franklyn Town, an inner city community in east Kingston, Jamaica. In those days, I lived in a tenement yard at number 16 Lincoln Crescent with my aunt, her common law husband, my cousin and about ten other families. It was not unusual for rival gang members in the community to engage in bloody feuds sometimes trading bullets through the tenement yard where I lived. Life was tough but I never knew it then. It was not uncommon to see sewage water running outside the kitchen window. Most times my aunt had to shout through the kitchen or bathroom window to beg our neighbours to turn off their pipes so that I could get enough water to have a bath before going to school at Franklyn Town Primary.
Despite the shanty conditions that existed during my boyhood days, I had big dreams and a fierce determination to climb from poverty. A journey which at times insurmountable or impossible in reality. However, journey over which endurance has triumph. Since mid-2006 I have travelled the entire world for my own consulting business, Mark McKenzie Consulting, working for governments, international agencies and regulatory agencies in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. The experience I have had is beyond my wildest dreams as boy growing up in one of Jamaica’s most notorious inner city. Looking back one of the fundamental lessons I have learnt is that to win you have to start with your dreams. As Eleanor Rosevelt once said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Let us take American sprinter Tyson Gay for example at the Beijing 2008 Olympics his dream was to win medals in the men’s 100M and 200M. However, due to injury he came away with a single medal. Tyson Gay is an outstanding and very talented athlete but for all his achievement in track and field he never started in the either men’s 100M or 200M and therefore had absolutely no chance of winning. Let us take Rocco Mediate who prior to 2008 U.S. Open most avid golfer knew very little about him. He was defeated by Tiger Woods in a one-hole, sudden-death playoff after the two ended an 18-hole playoff at par 71, before making a killing bogey. Rocco Mediate was not daunted by his ranking when started the U.S. Open. His remarkable performance including going the distance against golf's heavyweight champion allowed him to jump 111 spots on the Official World Golf Ranking from No. 158 before the U.S. Open to No. 47 in June 2008.
A few years ago I built up the courage put to together a team of international consultants in a consortium and tendered a bid for contract in Africa worth approximately a half of million United States Dollars. The thought of bidding on a contract that valued more than my parents earned throughout their entire lives was not even a dream for me. We knew that if we were going to be successful in winning the contract we had to defeat the main competitor, a leading consulting firm in Toronto, Canada. In the end my consortium lost the bid on the technical proposal by three (3) points to the firm in Toronto. However, in the process I gained the respect of our main competitor and I was invited by the firm to be a partner on the project in Africa. As Walt Disney said “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
My dream changes overtime. I set my goals and each time I achieve my goals I have new dreams and set new goals. I guess I am like my fourteen year old son. In 2006, he sold four used mobile phones on Ebay and made $400. I was proud of him. He was very excited. One day he told me that he never realised it was so easy to make $400 and the next time he would like to try making a $1000. This is a good example of small dreams turning into big dreams!
Life for me in Franklyn Town was tough but I had big dreams and a fierce determination that I could walk on water or climb to the moon to succeed. A dream so big it has taken me from a shanty inner city community in Jamaica across the entire Caribbean, parts of Africa, parts of Asia and parts of North America. Along the journey I have developed the courage to start and the wisdom to learn that if I want to win or succeed or accomplish my goals I had to start by turning my dreams into reality. To win you have to start. You must have big dreams. You must have the courage to turn your dreams into reality. Start today!
May 27, 2009
To win you have to start. In the 1970s I spent some of my formative years growing up in Franklyn Town, an inner city community in east Kingston, Jamaica. In those days, I lived in a tenement yard at number 16 Lincoln Crescent with my aunt, her common law husband, my cousin and about ten other families. It was not unusual for rival gang members in the community to engage in bloody feuds sometimes trading bullets through the tenement yard where I lived. Life was tough but I never knew it then. It was not uncommon to see sewage water running outside the kitchen window. Most times my aunt had to shout through the kitchen or bathroom window to beg our neighbours to turn off their pipes so that I could get enough water to have a bath before going to school at Franklyn Town Primary.
Despite the shanty conditions that existed during my boyhood days, I had big dreams and a fierce determination to climb from poverty. A journey which at times insurmountable or impossible in reality. However, journey over which endurance has triumph. Since mid-2006 I have travelled the entire world for my own consulting business, Mark McKenzie Consulting, working for governments, international agencies and regulatory agencies in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. The experience I have had is beyond my wildest dreams as boy growing up in one of Jamaica’s most notorious inner city. Looking back one of the fundamental lessons I have learnt is that to win you have to start with your dreams. As Eleanor Rosevelt once said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Let us take American sprinter Tyson Gay for example at the Beijing 2008 Olympics his dream was to win medals in the men’s 100M and 200M. However, due to injury he came away with a single medal. Tyson Gay is an outstanding and very talented athlete but for all his achievement in track and field he never started in the either men’s 100M or 200M and therefore had absolutely no chance of winning. Let us take Rocco Mediate who prior to 2008 U.S. Open most avid golfer knew very little about him. He was defeated by Tiger Woods in a one-hole, sudden-death playoff after the two ended an 18-hole playoff at par 71, before making a killing bogey. Rocco Mediate was not daunted by his ranking when started the U.S. Open. His remarkable performance including going the distance against golf's heavyweight champion allowed him to jump 111 spots on the Official World Golf Ranking from No. 158 before the U.S. Open to No. 47 in June 2008.
A few years ago I built up the courage put to together a team of international consultants in a consortium and tendered a bid for contract in Africa worth approximately a half of million United States Dollars. The thought of bidding on a contract that valued more than my parents earned throughout their entire lives was not even a dream for me. We knew that if we were going to be successful in winning the contract we had to defeat the main competitor, a leading consulting firm in Toronto, Canada. In the end my consortium lost the bid on the technical proposal by three (3) points to the firm in Toronto. However, in the process I gained the respect of our main competitor and I was invited by the firm to be a partner on the project in Africa. As Walt Disney said “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
My dream changes overtime. I set my goals and each time I achieve my goals I have new dreams and set new goals. I guess I am like my fourteen year old son. In 2006, he sold four used mobile phones on Ebay and made $400. I was proud of him. He was very excited. One day he told me that he never realised it was so easy to make $400 and the next time he would like to try making a $1000. This is a good example of small dreams turning into big dreams!
Life for me in Franklyn Town was tough but I had big dreams and a fierce determination that I could walk on water or climb to the moon to succeed. A dream so big it has taken me from a shanty inner city community in Jamaica across the entire Caribbean, parts of Africa, parts of Asia and parts of North America. Along the journey I have developed the courage to start and the wisdom to learn that if I want to win or succeed or accomplish my goals I had to start by turning my dreams into reality. To win you have to start. You must have big dreams. You must have the courage to turn your dreams into reality. Start today!
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