The Kids Are Alright - Part 1

As someone who has worked with teens extensively the past two summers, I can honestly say that I have never met a dumb teenager. Teenagers are usually very intelligent, often much more so than society gives them credit for. Such was my experience when Aspen and I visited North High School this past Wednesday to interview the students during Freshman/Sophomore and Junior/Senior lunch.

I went in without too many expectations, and found two images of the school once I was there. The first came from my own impressions. All of the kids we talked to seemed like fairly typical high school students. In fact, they were all fairly calm and approachable. Chill is the perfect word to describe these teens.

However, another image I received was the ones the students painted of their school. It seems that both the school and the neighborhood has a reputation for being "ghetto" or "hood" - a reputation that the students were not too fond of. I won't make a statement for or against that reputation, but simply want to point out that the language surrounding the school's identity seemed very different from the reality of it.

Aspen talked to a woman who works for the district as a hall monitor of sorts. She goes to different schools throughout the year and acts as a roamer, making sure students get where they need to be going. When asked about her experience at North, she said that the students there were better behaved and easier to work for than any other school she had been to.

Something else we noticed is that what appeared to be at least half of the students were wearing purple North High School apparel on what was just an average day of school - not a pep rally or football day. We asked about the dress code and found out that there really wasn't much of one. It's simply popular to wear North High apparel.

This says a lot about North.

Regardless of what people think about it - and I will admit to only having a limited view - it appears that North does a great job of fostering school spirit, has a well-behaved, active student body, and has students that are proud to be North Vikings.

To the students who described their neighborhood or school as "ghetto" or "hood," I would simply say, "don't." A reputation won't change unless you can change the way you view yourselves. You come from a neighborhood and school that is rich in culture and diversity...

... and you have a lot to be proud of.

- John Putnam, The 32^nd Avenue Jubilee Center Episcopal Service Corps Intern


In part 2 I will discuss our findings from our conversations with the students about the neighborhood and gentrification.