Popping the Bubble
"We work so hard to protect and shield our children from the real world that just maybe... we need to expose them more to the realities of life."
I loved Biz Town! How could you not? Biz Town is an outstanding 5th grade elementary school field trip. Thanks to the Poway School District and Junior Achievement of San Diego, (click here). It exposes elementary kids to a glimpse of the, "real world". Even if it is just for a few short hours. The kids actually run a small town where they handle bills, customers, budgets, responsibility, and even employees! It briefly, "pops the bubble", and allows the kids the opportunity to experience a glimpse of real life.
Our middle son Raymond was so exhausted when the day was over. He said, "Dad, now I know why you and mom are so tired after work". Pretty cool when you see your children learning a life lesson. Being there with Raymond made me think. Which sometimes is not such a great idea.
Raymond and I at Biztown.
As I looked around Biz Town at all those beautiful children, I thought it was awesome. In the next breath, I thought of our older son Troy who attends Oak Valley Middle School. What about him? How do we develop life lessons for Troy and help to, "pop the bubble" for other Junior High and High School students? Then my imagination began to kick in. What if we started a Real Town? Same concept as Biz Town, but directed at kids who will soon find themselves being held accountable as adults.
In my minds eye I could see Real Town. The content would be more mature and tailored to issues young adults experience. To be effective, a student would have to look directly in the face of bad decisions.
As the students entered my Real Town they would approach a duplex, (No 3000 sq. ft. homes here). The kids would see a "Meth Freak", (Methamphetamine user) dismantling a stolen motorcycle that is dripping black oil on his living room carpet at four in the morning. The narrator would explain that Methamphetamine was the drug he got hooked on when he inadvertently smoked some marijuana laced with it in high school. The "Freak" never learned to give up that high.
The students would be able to stare at his dirty clothes, pockmarked, rutty complexion, and the layers of grease under his untrimmed, yellow, brittle, and slightly burned fingernails. He also smokes meth or crack cocaine and those darn fingers get in the way sometimes. If the students are attentive, they may also even notice the bulge by his left ankle that conceals the monitoring bracelet issued by the State of California, Board of Prisons. Another lost sole on the criminal treadmill of life, striving to feed his unrelenting drug addiction.
The next stop the students would see is a sixteen year old girl trying desperately to learn, (way too quickly) what it means to be a woman and a mother as she tries valiantly to calm her crying newborn infant, (also at 4AM). Determined to take responsibility for an outcome she never expected or planned for. The students at my Real Town would then walk past a vehicle accident where a blood stained sheet is being pulled over the star high school athlete who was only a passenger in the vehicle. The driver had only had, "a few beers". The students would then look into the simulated, "holding tank" of the San Diego Sheriffs Department. The driver of the vehicle is being patted down for weapons or contraband for about the fifth time. The SDPD Officer hands the Deputy the, "fish slip". The young man's eyes are as big as saucers as he looks into the, "holding tank". A narrator explains that the holding tank is where arrestees can make a phone call among about forty other criminals, before transitioning to another room for a humiliating strip search. The odors of urine, sweat, and fear permeates the room.
If this all sounds too dirty, or graphic that's probably good. It is real. I can not emphasize enough how many times a law enforcement officer in every city of this country has seen a young person trembling as they put their youthful arm through the bars of a jail intake area to have an ID ban attached. Standard procedure prior to stepping through the metal doorway where their life is changed forever. Our common thought was, "I wish that kid would have thought, for just a moment, before he or she made that decision.' Maybe some of them really did not know jail is very real. Drugs can really be more powerful then them. And yes, sometimes, very bad things happen to good people. That bubble we tend to try and keep our children in can be pretty darn tough to pop. Sometimes if we can't, it may end up being too late when it finally does.
Editor's Note....I know I pushed some limits this week. Real Town does not yet exist. We are actually working on developing a Real Town Bus that will tour a few social service agencies in downtown San Diego and then hopefully County Jail. It is a start. If you are interested in learning more about the Real Town Bus, or helping out please email hannah@trustshay.com
Have a safe week,
