Adolescence: Change and Continuity

High Risk Schools

• High Risk Schools
• Help for High Risk Schools

What is a 'high risk' school?

A school that is considered 'high risk' is one that has many disadvantages. These disadvantages, usually resulting from poverty, include:

• lack of resources (books, supplies, computers, etc.)
• unhealthy conditions (run down buildings with inadequate facilities and/or infested with rodents)
• violence
• insufficient staff (high student/teacher ratio)
• lack of special programs

Who attends 'high risk' schools?

Adolescents who attend these schools are from a low socio-economic status and usually have the characteristics of those who live in poverty. Most children are of a minority group, either African-American or Hispanic. These are children who come from families who may be on welfare or other forms of government assistance. Single parent and/or large families are also common themes seen in the children enrolled in disadvantaged schools. Like the school they attend, the area in which they live is that of poverty and crime. Also, as a result of some of the disadvantages these children receive in school, they usually do not break away from living poorly.

What is the effect of violence, a major factor, in 'high risk' schools?

When violence is present in schools it has a negative effect on the adolescent. Today, a large number of children are bringing weapons, as well as drugs, into schools. In addition, these institutions usually do not have adequate security or number of faculty to aid in decreasing the amount of violence. Therefore, many children fear school as well as their peers. Because they are afraid to go to school, this is one reason why adolescents in this situation have low attendance and high drop out rates. Furthermore, some children in these settings may experience high anxiety and low levels of trust (Andres, 1990). This may result in psychological problems later in life.

What is being done to improve the situations in 'high risk' schools?

Much research is being done to improve the problems in today's impoverished schools. As more is being discovered, programs are developing to reform education in these institutions. The main goal is to have equality, or the goal of sameness of treatment for all, regardless of their condition (Margolis, 1992). What is known at the present time is that there is still much to accomplish.

To Read Further . . .

• Fantini, Mario D. (1968). The Disadvantaged: Challenge to Education. New York: Harper and Row.
• Gowen, John Curtis, ed. (1966). The Disadvantaged and Potential Dropout: Compository Educational Programs, a Book of Readings. Springfield, Ill.: C.C. Thomas.
• Hellmuth, Jerome, ed. (1970). Disadvantaged Child. New York: Brunner/ Mazel.
• Storen, Helen Frances. (1968). The Disadvantaged Early Adolescent, More Effective Teaching. New York: Mcgraw-Hill.

Introduction

Many high risk schools exist within today's education system. They face "insufficient resources, high pupil-staff ratios and substandard facilities"(Knapp, 1995). A large number of these

schools are located in the inner city, where large amounts of violent crime, drugs and poverty occur. These factors can negatively affect a student's life, including their educational achievement, self-esteem and involvement in delinquent activity. This paper addresses what programs and methods middle schools and high schools have used to intervene. These interventions are done in hope of influencing the students and counter-acting the effects of the community.

What should an individual teacher do?

These approaches focus on both positive and negative aspects that may occur within a class. The following are some recommended ideas:

• create a safe and orderly environment
• set up rules which are strictly and fairly enforced
• anticipate and prepare for certain problems and behaviors
• do not accept misconduct as part of acceptable behavior
• instill sense of worth through recognition and praise of good behavior and success
• teach character and responsibility through subject lessons, discussion of instant gratification and negative behavior within neighborhood and the consequences
• address self reflection of their own individual actions(as cited in Education Digest, 1987).

What can schools do ?

One example of schools intervening is the North Brunswick School District. To help their students, they created a program called Operation Transition. It focused on helping high risk students as they moved from middle school to high school. This program has approaches that can be applied to other schools as well(Nevetsky 1991), for example:

• monitor high risk students as they move from junior high to high school, through tracking and counseling
• incorporate parental involvement into its structure through meetings
• hold meetings with a staff member, the student and parent(s), where there is discussion of previous behaviors, academics and future changes through close supervision and changing the present behavior
• close and individual counseling of every student involved
• constant availability of a staff member to listen and help with everyday problems.

Hope for the future

These programs show that students and schools can be helped. Many groups are working toward change, but programs often get cut due to few resources and "funds running out"(Atkinson, 1994). There is a great need for these types of programs, and a lot of hard work is required for their success. If people were more aware of those factors, perhaps the importance of giving resources and support to programs would be realized. Although any program's tasks are not easy to accomplish, success and improvement can be achieved.

To Read More . . .

• Barona, Andres and Eugene E. Garcia, ed. (1990). Children at Risk: Poverty, Minority Status, and Other Issues in Educational Equity. Washington D.C.: National Association of School Psychologists.
• Margolis, Edwin and Stanley Moses. (1992). The Elusive Quest: The Struggle for Equality of Educational Opportunities. New York: Apex Press.
• Steinburg, Lawrence. (1996). Adolescence, Fourth Edition. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc.
• Haskvitz. (1988). A Middle School Program that can Help Change society. Phi Delta Kappan, 70 Bloomington, Indiana: Phi Delta Kappa, Inc.

This site was produced by students taking HDFS 433: The Transition to Adulthood and HDFS 239: Adolescent Development at the Pennsylvania State University. Feedback can be sent to the individual authors or to Nancy Darling (darling@bard.edu).

Last updated 4/16/01.