Reference no: EM133476153

Assignment:

Read the following case, and then respond to the prompts that follow it:

You are the counselor at an alternative high school serving at-risk youth. The school's mission is to 1) give students who were off-track in their mainstream schools a second chance at completing their general educations and 2) lower rates of substance use, teen pregnancy, and criminal behaviors among youth in the community. It's a small school with only around a couple hundred people, so most of the students and staff know each other. The student body and surrounding neighborhood are primarily lower class and people of color.

One day, a student named Abram is sent to your office in the middle of 4th period, noticeably agitated. He gives you a slip from his 4th period teacher writing him up for missing too much class and being a disruption. When you ask what happened, Abram tells you he asked to go to the bathroom and the teacher said it was his choice. "So obviously I went. Then I come back and she writin' me up for it, sayin' I was 'gone too long' and that my 'actions have consequences' or some shit. It's f**ckin' stupid, man!" You know Abram to be a smart kid, and have seen him do really well when he applies himself, but this isn't the first time he's been sent to your office for attendance and behavioral issues in his few months being here.

1. What feelings come up for you when you read Abram's story? Pay attention to your emotional state, physical reactions, and worries.
2. How can you relate the concepts from our modules so far to this situation? What does applying this lens to Abram's story reveal or suggest to you? (Think about what we see here in terms of critical consciousness, creation of affirming youth spaces, or allyship).
3. What's one or two concrete actions you might take in response to Dante, linked to this week's readings?