Community Experience

I went to a meeting of Narcotics Anonymous.  One of the things that stuck out the most to me from the moment I walked in was the feeling of community.  The people overseeing the meeting made it abundantly clear that this was safe place where they could share anything and everything.  Everyone was so friendly with each other.  They were all hugging and saying hi.  They applauded for every newcomer.  They celebrated those who had been clean for years.  They took turns sharing personal stories of success, and talking about their hopes, fears, reservations, and worries.  I bring this up because this is the kind of environment that I want my future students to be in when they enter my classroom.  I want them to feel safe enough to share without being afraid of being judged.  I want my students to feel like they can come to me for understanding.  That's part of the point of these experiences is to gain an understanding of other groups.

One young man at the meeting shared with the group that one of the reasons staying clean was so hard for him was that he was the only one in his family who was clean.  But one of the reasons he wanted to stay clean was that he didn't want to pass his sickness onto his son.  This ties into our discussion in class about social capital.  The social capital this young man carried was that his family were users.  He was under a lot of pressure, because of how people saw his family, they expected him to be the same way, and treated him as such.  The way you treat someone has a big impact on how they act.  I feel that this is something that can and will affect my students.  If their family is known for something negative, or if their race, religion, or socioeconomic status carries with it a negative stereotype, then that is how people will view them.  This oftentimes will pressure a student to behave that way, since that is what everyone already expects of them.

Going to this Narcotics Anonymous meeting was a good thing for me.  Drugs and alcohol are something that students have faced for years, and it is something that they will continue to face.  They're a quick and easy way of dealing with the stresses of school and home.  My goal is to make my classroom a place where they don't need to.  I want them to feel like they can share with me and find the same understanding that I saw at the NA meeting.