Where do you begin and who is responsible for teaching children about human relationships? Everyone. Every person a child comes into contact with, whether they are young or old, male or female, loving or cruel, is a relationship teacher. Children learn about relationships from us (yes, you and me). Blytheville's children watch the patterns of our relationships and internalize them and form the blueprints of their own lives from what they see. If it is our goal to reduce the violence in our city, we are going to have to hold each other responsible for not allowing negative relationships to slide. Even if we had a police officer for each citizen, but we did not teach loving relationships, we would fail to eliminate the violence in Blytheville. So, where do we begin? We can't directly address the violence inside the homes, but we can continue addressing it in the schools with greater intensity.
Every day after school, many of our county's children go home to violent homes or the street. To make things bearable, they accept the violence as their understanding of reality. Suffering violence and carrying it out are acceptable parts of life for some children. If they don't have good examples of non-violent relationships, then they will cope with things in any fashion they can discover for themselves. Many times, whenever a child is hurt in their spirit, they bring that anguish with them to the classroom, often times undetected by their friends and teachers.
Domestic violence open discussion is rare. It often only shows up when something conscience- shocking occurs on our streets and hits the press, but even then everybody goes on about their business. Children who live in that mess never get to escape from the horror of it all. It is a reality each day that costs them their academic, social and emotional development. It nearly makes it impossible for them to trust and robs them of the idea that adulthood is a desirable condition.
So, to combat the downhill slide of violence, Blytheville Public Schools are going to continue taking the lead. With caring adults in the school house, we will continue to equip children with the language and encouragement to name the violence and get the support they need to deal with it. We will continue to speak in ways that promote self-worth, respect for others and give them the knowledge they need about violence so they won't become a victim or an abuser.
We all have to acknowledge the need and then be proactive in addressing the problem. Believe it or not, our children can handle the hard conversations about violence. Having these discussions in the school house lets them know that these discussions aren't something that has to happen somewhere else. These discussions need to occur in a place where they can be examined in a climate that is supportive and trusting.
In Blytheville Public Schools (BPS), we will make sure that our children can voice and understand how behaviors create relationships, all the while fostering real discussions about positive relationships throughout their journey in school. We teach everything in school, including the art of healthy relationships. In our schools, we are intentional and strategic about how we deliver what (like patience, persistence and a growth mindset) we want the children to learn. We will model those healthy relationships for the children of BPS.
I believe we live in one of the most exciting times in the history of education. We must provide our students with the highest quality education possible in order to prepare them for challenges we cannot predict. We must speak and model ethical values, adaptive and creative thinking, collaborative problem solving, effective communication skills and positive relationships. We must pray over our schools and children.
Our core business is learning. Therefore we, at BPS, are committed to:
the relationships, based on trust, between the teacher and the student
extremely high quality and rigorous learning environments
providing an emotionally and physically safe culture
student wellness and health
high quality parental/stakeholder communication and input
providing clean and well maintained buildings where the school environment enhances teaching and learning
Literacy and math levels, data driven decision making, graduation rates and aligned curriculum are also all a part of achieving student success. I expect in the next three years:
Blytheville Public Schools (BPS) (specifically BHS and BMS) will be out of academic distress. We are all in this together.
ALL students in grades K-5 will be on grade level in literacy and math, as we will provide intensive support towards this end.
All adults will be modeling a growth mindset; we must have it for our students to have it.
I have come full circle from the beginning of this expression of commitment. From violence to safety and success, it is all about relationships.