Review of Introduction of the Book "Reclaiming Youth at Risk"

Key "Learnings" from the Introduction: The Century of the Child.

• While the Swedish sociologist Ellen Key predicted, in the early 1900s, the twenitieth century as the "Century of the Child" because of confidence in the progress of science.
• Instead, Fritz Redl used the phrase "Love of Kids, Neglect of Children, Hatred of Youth" to describe the twentieth century.
• It is lamentable that the behavioral sciences have not experienced any "step jump in technology." A step jump can refer to an original invention but, more commonly, refers to a recombination of previously existing knowlege. The book is an attempt to look at the experience of youth workers (versus just theory) and Native American philosophies of child rearing.
• Personally, I enjoy the contrast of courage versus discouragement. While I understand the definitions of both words, I frequently do not consider them the antithesis of each other. In fact, when I think of discouragement, I do not consider it the state of being without courage.
• The concept of "Reclaiming" originated with Martin Woolins of the University of California, Berkeley.
• A reclaiming environment is one that creates changes the meet the needs of both the young person and the society. To reclaim means to recover, redeem, restore to value (of something that was devalued).
• Features of a powerful reclaiming environment include:

1. Experiencing the BELONGING in a supportive community, rather than being lost in a depersonalized bureaucracy.
2. Meeting one's needs for MASTERY, rather than enduring inflexible systems designed for the convenience of adults.
3. Involving youth in determining their own future while recognizing society's need to control harmful behavior.
4. Expecting youth to be caregivers rather than just helps recipients overly dependent on the care of adults.

• As a society, we can no longer afford the economic drain of disposable people. Having worked with adults who know one seemed to care about, who were placed into the criminal justice system or lived on the street where they are vulnerable. Children, even children from affluent homes, can become those disposable people if they do not fit with society.
• Of course, a woman told me, recently, that people are genetically endowed with the ability to achieve and move forward. I believe that "success" is more complex than that. However, we try to keep things simple to keep ourselves from struggling with complexities of these kind of problems.
• The goal of the book is to blend practice into theory.
• The authors quote Janusz Korczak, who wrote:

This book is designed to be as short as possible because it is addressed primarily to a young colleague, who, suddenly thrown into the whirlpool of the most difficult educational problems, the most involved conditions of life, and now stunned and resentful, has sent out a cry for help.

A fatigued (compare to "burned-out") person cannot study thick volumes on education at night. One who is unable to get enough sleep will be incapable of implementing the precious principles he has learned. This shall be brief so that your night's rest may not be spoiled.