At-Risk Youth

Today's blog is an amazing essay written by a 13 year-old.  Because she's a minor, we've left off her last name and location. 

AT-RISK YOUTH

Last year, I was asked to go to a meeting for “At-Risk Youth.”  They invited us because we were youth council members and they wanted our input on how to help the kids who were acting up, failing and about to drop out of school. During the meeting everyone talked about the “At-Risk” youth and ways to help them do better.  But nobody ever really said what an “At-Risk” youth was.  I think they invited us to the meeting because they thought that we were not “At-Risk” since we were not failing or acting out in school.  I decided to write about at-risk youth.

After doing some research I found that there are a number of things that make a young person “At-Risk”.  One study showed that kids who come from poor communities, underperforming schools and broken homes are more “At-Risk” than others.  It also showed that Black and Hispanic kids are more “At-Risk” then White and Asian kids, males were more “At-Risk” then females and poor kids are more “At-Risk” than rich kids.  So, I guess being an “At-Risk” youth means that if you live in bad family and community conditions there’s a greater chance that you will participate in negativebehaviors.

While thinking about that definition, I realized that I too am an “At-Risk” youth. Even though I come from a two parent home, with two incomes, have two sisters, a nice little house pet, and enjoy learning, because of the school that I go to, my race, and the zip code where my parents happened to buy our home, I’m classified as “At-Risk”.

However, I  personally think that all youth are “At-Risk”,  in one way or another. Whether by poverty,  race, community, school, an unstable home, violence, drugs, bullying, or anything else. A reason why I think that all youth are at risk is because youth are so dependent on everyone else. They are dependent on their parents to provide a stable, loving home for them. They are dependent on the community to provide a safe environment and they are dependent on the schools to educate them so that they can succeed.   

As a young person, I know that kids can sometimes do bad stuff, but if you ask me, the reason we have so many “At-Risk” youth is not only because of the kids but because of the conditions that have been created for them to live in. 

Submitted by Shanae, age 13