Dr. Kwame Brown explains why violent crime is significantly less likely when we give children proper care, resources, food and guidance.
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There is much talk about being “tough on crime”. Education, especially in early childhood, has been shown as a major factor in crime prevention. But I don’t even like the term “education” that much anymore. I gravitate toward “how we interact with kids to facilitate growth and learning”. But that is too damn long. So, I will ask you to remember through out this article that every time I say “education” – “how we interact with kids to facilitate growth and learning” is what I mean.
If you want to solve this issue, the first thing to know is that where we invest in childhood, violent crime is significantly less likely amongst the children that are cared for and receive proper resources, food and guidance. Crime comes from lack of opportunity, self-hatred, prejudice and disconnection from others. Proper “education” – especially in early childhood, and especially where it involves connecting humans to one another – assists in mitigating these kinds of factors. In other words education can help develop kids feel better about themselves, develop skills, and connect to others.
Education policy is too often made out of fear, and our harshness toward children can have some ugly consequences. Our harshness toward each other and each other’s children is something we must consider in that equation as well. We need nurturance (nurturance does not mean “let kids do whatever they want and run over you and eat candy”). Kids are in the middle of a war between all sides. But see, wars can’t prevent violence. I see this pervading theme of being “hard” on kids, so that they will turn out “right”, but all it does it contribute to a school to prison pipeline:
“Victimization of students by teachers, administrators, and other school staff, most often in the name of discipline, is seldom recognized for its potential to contribute to student misbehavior, alienation, and aggression” – Hyman and Perone, Journal of School Psychology,1998
I know that children need some limits, and quite frankly there are things that children need to know and learn to function in a society. But when folks begin to fear children, and start saying things like “we have to do something” – children are screwed. Zero tolerance, strip searches, handcuffing and arresting kids on the Autism Spectrum. All of these things are signs of something that is going off the rails fast.
Then, when they aren’t learning because of the whole host of issues interfering with their desire to learn, we like to just test them more. Yeah, that should work, putting constant pressure to perform on young forming nervous systems. More tests equals more learning, right? That is the most asinine logic I have ever seen. And it has been an abject failure. But autonomy coupled with interaction DOES equal better learning. Standardized testing, in my opinion, should be strictly used for research.
The data is pretty strong on the effects of education in crime prevention. But I have a hypothesis that were we better at forming a more functional education system, the effects would be even greater. Could you imagine a world in which exploring learning, while interacting with nurturing village elders, is a bad thing?
I think that we need a sharper focus toward the elements of the interactions between adulthood, our “system” and childhood. Here are some thoughts.
1. Recognize that before we ask kids to perform, they need to understand and gain interest in a subject. And this is not about “being entertaining”, but allowing them to make suggestions about what they are interested in. If we are good, and we listen, we can make choices that align better with their interests. After all, this is exactly what we do in early childhood. That need does not go away when they turn 7. Constantly asking kids to just spit out rote answers is not effective in the long term.
2. Marry autonomy in exploring a subject with guidance from the elder. This is how learning has occurred in and outside of the home for centuries. They need more connection to each other. Students need to learn with and from their peers in addition to learning from their elders. Their elders need to also learn what students are thinking and feeling, instead of always trying to dictate to and “shape” them as some replica of the elder.
3. Love them first, especially when it is difficult. If you can’t love them, you cannot nurture them. If you cannot nurture them, you truly cannot properly “educate” them.
I think we need to be honest about the effect of nurturance, connection, and autonomy. What do you think?
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Originally published at Dr. Kwame Brown. Reprinted with permission.Photo: USAGHumphreys/Flickr