How will the stories of the men in this book speak to both teachers and parents? The stories in the book take the reader on a journey of the turbulent childhoods of nine men who have been through very abusive circumstances some of them were incarcerated as children but in the end they have gone onto happy, healthy lives often giving back considerably to society. It’s really important to understand the perspective of young people involved in these situations. What influences were in their life that led them to being incarcerated? What role did adults have in their life leading up to the time of their offending? What could the adults in their lives have done more or less of to help these young people and lead them on a more constructive journey? It also speaks to the potential within each individual – every person has the possibility of a positive future regardless of their current circumstances. What advice would you give to educators to help identify vulnerable children at risk and how should they respond? It’s important that educators notice behavior changes in students to help identify early warning signs of vulnerability in children and young people. Some early warning sign indicators could include:
- Changes in behaviour or mood
- Staring episodes / withdrawing from others
- Eating and sleep disturbances
- Difficulty concentrating
- Exaggerated startle response
- Irritability and outbursts of anger
- Hypervigilance – jumpy or fidgety
- Restricted or excessive display of emotions
Doin’ Time by Rachel Porter.[/caption]
Young people are also likely to take risks in response to life difficulties or stressful events so special care and attention should be given at these times.
Are there programs or organisations that teachers and parents can offer support to?
Whitelion and its range of programs to support young people is the obvious choice that I would mention in this context. Volunteering opportunities exist for mentoring, mobile outreach, employment, youth programs and back of house support and we appreciate any offer of assistance.
Also, the importance of prevention programs in schools can’t be underestimated. Whitelion has a range of preventative wellbeing programs for young people through Stride. These programs build the physical, social, emotional skills of young people to equip them with skills for life. Stride run workshops for young people in schools and community settings as well as providing teachers with training to help support their students.
What can the average person do to help change the culture of detention that has been highlighted as an increasing problem in Australia?
We should be challenging our own assumptions first and then think collectively about how we respond as a society.
Some questions we could ask ourselves could be:
- What do we think about young people in detention?
- Do we understand the circumstances that may have led them there?
- What do these young people need to help redirect their lives positively so that they can become helpful and contributing members of society?
