Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook

Section Four

Turning Obstacles Into Opportunities

by Deborah L. Johnson

Finding Common Ground
I teach life skills classes for Adult Basic Education, pre-GED, and GED students. The class I write about here was made up of immigrants and native-born Americans from many backgrounds. Their ages ranged from 16 to 78.

Establishing common ground was a project in itself. Our first step was to discuss and write about what is a community. We talked about the issues that affect the students’ communities. At first, the students focused on their differences, but as they talked they started to realize that they all faced many of the same issues. Most students felt that they couldn’t change their communities. They blamed other people, the “system,” and their lack of power.

After much discussion, the students decided they did want to try to make a difference in their communities. We took turns stating problems we thought were affecting the communities, and why they were happening. The list of issues included teen pregnancy, drugs, gang violence, poor education, homelessness, lack of respect for one another, racism, child abuse, domestic violence, and police brutality. We narrowed down the list to teen pregnancy, drugs and gang violence, lack of respect for one another, and homelessness. Later I came to realize that these issues were a painful reality for some of the folks in the room.

The Survey
The class decided to put together a survey to get input from the community on these topics. They broke into groups by topic. We appointed one facilitator per group. The groups came up with five questions for their topic. Some of the questions were: What is an ideal community? Why do you think people are homeless? What ways is respect demonstrated in the community? What ways is it not? How is your community affected by drugs?

The students went into different neighborhoods to conduct the survey. They interviewed people at schools, churches, businesses, talking to a total of about 85 people. Once we had the responses, we began to discuss some of the concerns and comments that were made by folks in the community. The class compared the answers from neighborhood to neighborhood. We worked on separating facts from opinions and developing recommendations for solving problems in the community.

We had planned originally to do only class presentations and educate each other, but as we talked we came to the conclusion that we needed to give the information out to others in the community. The students decided that they would like to put together a forum for the junior high school students. They chose junior high because they felt that this is when peer pressure kicks in. They believed that the younger students needed to know that there were better opportunities in life.

Working On Ourselves
I thought the forum was an excellent idea, but, thinking of some of the heated discussions we had had, I also felt the need to help my students reflect on their own experiences before taking the project any further. I decided to do an exercise called “memory lane” with the students. I asked the students to visualize way back to being in the womb, and then think through their lives up to the present. I asked them to think of the people in their lives, both those who had been supportive and those who had not. The students were really emotional. We identified a common bond: we all have struggles and our pain is not unique. I even tapped into some things that were not resolved for me.

After the memory lane activity, the project seemed to be heading in the right direction. The group dynamics improved. The students demanded that they respect each other’s right to a difference of opinion. They insisted that nobody use inappropriate language. They asked each other to be on time; those who were absent or late had to make sure to get the information they needed so the project would not be affected.

Unfortunately, just as the project started to get off the ground, the students started to enjoy the spring weather more than the classes. Even the most motivated students’ interest began to drop off. We were becoming discouraged because we felt that we could not accomplish what we had set out to do. I decided that the important thing was for me to keep those students who were still involved working on the forum. Those who were not going to participate became the audience, so that those who were going to present could get a feel for what it would be like.

The Forum
One afternoon the students and I had a class discussion on the issues we had chosen to work on. We were still deciding how we would present them to the junior high school students. One student said she would like to develop a panel. Panel members would speak on a personal note about the topics teen pregnancy, drugs and gang violence, respect, and homelessness. Four students were selected to sit on the panel.

Finally, the day arrived for the forum which was held at Lewis Fox Middle School in Hartford, Connecticut. The panelists were both nervous and excited. We chose to hold the forum in the suspension room where children are detained for violation of school rules or disrespectful behavior. We wanted to reach the children who were making poor choices for themselves and help them turn their obstacles into opportunities. A total of 17 students attended the forum, mainly young men.

After I introduced the panel, Taliea spoke about the disadvantages of becoming pregnant at a young age. Seven months pregnant with her first child, she spoke about making wrong decisions in her life and her misconceptions about how much fun it would be having a baby. She also told the students about sexually transmitted diseases, and the risks she took with her life by having sex without using a condom. The junior high school students seemed to be really interested in what this former student of Lewis Fox had to say. In the discussion that followed, the students talked about peer pressure and about moving too fast into commitments for which they were not ready.

The next speaker began by discussing the community he lives in and the advantages and disadvantages to growing up in the “hood.” I admired the way he conducted his conversation with the students. In the beginning, he spoke in slang, and as he talked about how he grew and changed, so did his language. Students caught on to this change without him pointing it out to them.

John (not his real name) discussed how he had started out as a productive member of society and then became the stereotypical homeless bum and drug addict. He lost everything and ended up bouncing from shelter to shelter, living anywhere he could lay his head. He urged the students to stay in school, to believe in themselves, and to never let anyone tell them that they cannot accomplish their goals in life. The students commended him on how he had turned his life around.

Reflections
The junior high students seemed to enjoy the forum. They had lots of questions and comments. They shared their feelings about peer pressure. They expressed their gratitude to the panelists. Their teachers asked if we would do it again.

Working on this project was a rewarding experience for us as a class. Although it was time consuming, the more we worked on the forum, the more we learned. The students practiced writing, research, planning, public speaking, and advocacy skills. They learned about organizing forums. Through that process, they bonded and developed leadership skills. They felt like they can and did make a difference in the lives of the young people, as well as their own. And they learned the vital role they play in their communities.

Deborah L. Johnson has been at the Urban League of Greater Hartford in Hartford, Connecticut, for 3 years as a life skills teacher and an Adult Center for Education (ACE) counselor. Adapted with permission from Focus on Basics, December 1998, Vol. 2, Issue D, a quarterly publication of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL), funded by the Educational Research and Development Centers Program, Award Number R309B60002. For more information on Focus on Basics contact Barbara Garner, World Education/NCSALL, 44 Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA 02210-1211; email FOB@WorldEd.org.

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