SUPPORTING THE CONNECTION TO SCHOOL MADE BY BOYS FROM AT-RISK POPULATIONS

Given the prevalence of violence in the news and in popular culture, it is not surprising to see incidents of violence at school. Through the hard work of staff and parents, I believe that O’Keeffe Middle School transmits the message, “It’s not okay here. ” For the most part students buy into that message, so O’Keeffe seems to be a safe place for most students. But we do see confrontational interactions that can lead to violence and we do have occasional fights and abusive, bullying behavior. Who fights? During the fall semester of the current school year (2001-2002), twenty-six O’Keeffe students were suspended for aggressive behavior. This represents 6 % of the student population. Eighteen boys (9 % of all boys) and eight girls (3.5 % of all girls) were suspended. Five White boys (4 % of all White boys), twelve Black boys (27 % of all Black boys), and one Latino boy (7 % of all Latino boys) were suspended. One White girl (0.7 % of all White girls) and seven Black girls (10.5 % of all Black girls) were suspended. If we operate from the assumption that suspensions for fighting are doled out without bias, we can surmise that Black students are getting into a disproportionate number of aggressive incidents, in particular Black male students. Rather than make suppositions, I want to propose that we study the effects of bringing up the achievement of Black male students. The project that I will be describing is a building block in a long-term effort to raise the academic performance of this group. The project is not exclusive to this racial group – it is inclusive of boys who show a profile of high risk for academic failure, a group within which Blacks are over-represented. My primary concern is that students from all backgrounds find at O’Keeffe the mechanism to reach for and to achieve academic success. My belief is that with success come validation, opportunity, and hopefulness, all of which contribute to the diminishing of aggressive behavior