I am an Instructional Aide with my County School System. I work in Community Schools, these are schools for kids on parole or probation. I also work in County Court schools, such as Juvenile Hall. The kids I have contact with are ones that seem to make the same bad choices over and over again. When I use the term my kids on this site I am referring to the kids I work with. These poems were written for them and about them with the hope I will reach teens that have not yet made that final mistake that will ruin their lives forever. If we make a bad choice one time then it is a mistake, but if we continue to make the same bad choices over and over then we are not learning anything from the experience and the conquences. I tell my kids, "Life is like fast food. If you have enough money for lunch and you purchase something that is so terrible you can't eat it and you throw it away and go hungry today, I feel sorry for you. But if tomorrow you go and make that same purchase, knowing how bad it was yesterday and that you couldn't eat it, then I don't feel sorry for you. You knew the conquences and did it anyway. So why should I feel sorry that you are hungry because you made a repeat choice knowing the conquences."
Some kids tell me they can never succeed because of the neighborhood or family they are growing up in. Some choices we do not make for ourselves, such as what family we are born into and what neighborhood we must live in. How bad do you want that situation to change? Do you want it enough to succeed above all odds? There comes a time in your life when you must stop blaming the family or the situation and take responsibility for your own actions. In our teens we think we are adults, and don't have to answer to anyone, then we must make good choices, knowing that those things we choose are shaping our lives. If the adults in our lives cannot make good choices then we must choose to change that in our own lives.
I may be an adult, but I was once a teen and so these poems also reflect my thoughts of being a teen. The kids think that if you have grown to be a responsible adult then things must have been better for you than what they have to deal with. Not so. I have been there done that. I have gotten the T-Shirt, the CD, and the Cup from adults bad choices for my life. Still I knew that the choices that I saw before me were not making the adults in my life successful so I needed to change that in my life and I did.
THIS IS YOUR LIFE!
LIFE IS ALL ABOUT CHOICES!
CHOOSE CAREFULLY!
EVERYONE HAS RIGHTS BUT MAKE SURE WE DO NOT CONFUSE HAVING RIGHTS WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITIES!
This site has been created with the hope of reaching those that have not yet made too many bad choices and also to reach those who have, to let them know it can be different, it's all up to them.
