EMPOWERMENT INTERVENTIONS: GUIDELINES FOR ACTION
The academic and social challenges which confront Black male youth in the school setting suggest a pressing need for programmed intervention on the part of educators. Counselors committed to the cause of Black male empowerment can play an active role in promoting developmental initiatives at both the elementary and secondary level. Such initiatives must focus on helping Black male youth develop attitudes, behaviors, and values necessary to function at optimal levels at school and in the world. Young Black males need specific guidance to master educational challenges.
Such guidance might be provided through culture-specific developmental group counseling experiences in the elementary or secondary school setting. These empowerment experiences should develop the attitudes and skills necessary for academic achievement, foster positive and responsible behavior, provide opportunities to critically analyze the image of Black men, expose participants to Black male role models, and develop a sense of cultural and historical pride in the accomplishments of Black men.
Four general guidelines are suggested for the development of any school-based empowerment strategies:
Empowerment strategies should be developmental in nature. Far too often, the only guidance young Black males receive comes after they have committed an offense against the social order. Generally the goal of such guidance is not development, but rather punishment. Concerned counselors should act in a proactive manner to help empower Black male youth to meet challenges that often lead to problems in school and beyond.
Empowerment strategies should provide for competent adult Black male leaders. This is important for two reasons. First, only a Black man can teach a Black boy how to be a man. By virtue of attaining adult status as Black and male, he alone has the gender and cultural perspective to accurately address the developmental challenges facing Black boys. While Black women and individuals of both s*xes from other ethnic backgrounds can play a significant role in helping to empower young Black males, it is only a Black man who can model the attitudes and behaviors of successful Black manhood. Second, there is a paucity of Black male educators in American schools. It is not unusual for a Black boy to go through an entire school career and have little or no interaction with a Black male teacher, counselor, or administrator. When necessary, therefore, efforts should be made to actively recruit, train, and support competent Black men who can serve as leaders or role models in empowerment interventions.
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Thursday, December 2nd 2010 at 9:39PM
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