And why they are so necessary to improve school climate.

In 2008, my CEO came into my office and gave me a copy of the July7, 2008, Sports Illustrated article, Jocks Against Bullies, written by Selena Roberts. You can read the article here. It highlights the power and positive influence high school athletes can have on an entire school by standing up against bullying. He challenged me to blend my athletic past with my passion for working with young people to create a youth empowerment movement addressing the issues of bullying and harassment. I readily accepted the challenge and set to work.
So often, it is the student athlete who bullies. Years later, many people are still affected by a student athlete who bullied or harassed them. I recently spoke with a teacher who shared his high school experience regarding student athletes.

He stated, “They made my life a living hell and I hated my high school experience.”

I shared with him my task to help student athletes understand the enormous amount of power they have to lead, to change, to heal or to destroy. As former student athlete, I understand the power, fear and the responsibility that comes with being on a pedestal, along with being afraid of being knocked off and the shame of being ordinary.
Personally, I believe student athletes have a greater responsibility to do the “right thing” than they could ever imagine. Why? Because they walk a higher path; someone is always watching and looking up to them because they wear a jersey. Some elementary, middle, high school student or adult is looking up to them because they represent a symbol of power and respect. For that reason, student athletes have an enormous influence on school culture. I hear it all the time from non-athletes:

“I want to be just like them; to be popular; to be in; to be accepted.”

When student athletes see and understand the power they possess, they can become the game changer to create a positive change in people and their school. It has been a mission of mine to make the student athlete aware of the awesome responsibilities that come along with wearing that jersey—being a positive role model. It’s important to target as many student athletes as possible, to challenge them to physically and emotionally get involved in their school initiatives, to lead the movement of change.

But first, we must understand the student athlete.

Just like the traditional students, many athletes are afraid; I believe the fear to fit in is so great that even the student athlete hides behind a mask, too afraid to show his or her true authentic self to peers. It takes a different kind of courage to compete athletically. But I believe courage isn’t found on the football field, baseball field or a basketball court, but in the hallways, in the classrooms, on the buses, and in the lunch area.
Understanding the mindset of many student athletes, their need for a challenge, to be competitive and to win, our team challenges them to stop being afraid and to win in the hallways of their schools by embracing those who aren’t on a pedestal; by giving value to other students, by passing out compliments, assisting in hallway high-fives, providing classroom pats on the backs, school-wide smiles, lunch room invitations, and most of all to take a risk and be willing to fail. As athletes, we are taught to get back up when we are knocked down, to keep going when others stop, to sacrifice for the team– for others. So when the student athlete realizes that being a team player isn’t just limited to a gym or stadium but to their schools, they begin to understand and see the true power and meaning of leadership.
These student athletes see how their attitudes and actions have an effect on their school, and for those who embrace this opportunity, by taking the risk of becoming their true authentic selves, they see, in the words of Marianne Williamson, that their greatest fear is not that they are inadequate but they are powerful beyond measure. It’s their light, not their darkness, that most frightens them. We are all meant to shine and the light is not just in some of us but in all of us. When student athletes allow their lights to shine, they unconsciously give others permission to do the same. When they are liberated from their own fear, their positive presence automatically liberates others. When this happens, when we stand up for others, we change the culture and improve the climate.

MOVE2STAND

Today, I work with an amazing team of caring adults committed to the social and emotional well-being of all children. Our MOVE2STAND team is invited into schools and communities to empower young people to be the change they want to see. The work is one of love and humility. I am a grateful witness to the magic that takes place when kids and adults remove their masks and treat one another with compassion and respect.

Diversity:

Webster:  the quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc.

the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a       group or organization

Student:   how inside our differences, we are all the same

I knew when the students started arriving this was going to be a different kind of day. After being on the road the past two years, meeting thousands of students and educators through our Youth Engagement Summits and MOVE2STAND trainings, I could tell there was a different energy in the room, a special kind of excitement and anticipation.  I was right. On an ordinary Friday, at a school in East Nashville, I saw hope, compassion, and unity in a group of extraordinary high school students.

My colleague, Eric Johnson, has been doing amazing work with “Diversity Day.” I’ve listened to him passionately talk about how he has been inspired by the kids who have attended these event, but due to scheduling, I hadn’t had the opportunity to participate before this one. “Diversity Day” is a sort of cultural exchange program where a rural school and a city school send a group of students to spend the day together to “walk in each others’ shoes.” At the beginning of the day, the two schools lined up in the middle of the gym. Then the students, one by one, walked toward the middle to meet their partner for the day. The pairs then stuck together for the entire day. The two schools involved were Jackson County High School and Maplewood Comprehensive High School. Maplewood had already spent the day in Jackson County, and now it was Jackson County’s turn to spend the day at Maplewood. In addition to Eric and I leading them through activities, the students ate lunch together, toured the building, walked the halls during class changes, and attended a class with their partner.

I wish I could describe every poignant moment, but there just isn’t enough space. So, I’ll highlight a few. The first thing that struck me was seeing them hanging out together. In the beginning of the day, they were encouraged to talk and get to know their partners. I didn’t see any tension, anger, or much fear at all. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, poor, rich, rural, and urban, just talking, being with each other. Without the outside influences and noise they hear every day from the world around them, they were just kids. They were connecting.Another moment came after lunch. We purposely divided them by the color of their eyes and treated brown eyes as if they were better than the others. They went to lunch first. We praised them. On the other hand, we made the others wait, and we talked to them as though they were second best. We then said that they were not allowed to eat with the brown-eyed students. However, these amazing students rose to the occasion.  During our time of processing the activity after lunch, the students spoke with determination, purpose, and clarity. Several had defied our instructions, a kind of civil disobedience if you will. We asked them why they went against the rules.  The answers filled me with hope. They said they would not bend to the will of those who seek to divide. They stated that their friendship and loyalty to those they cared for, their new partners, outweighed any “societal” pressure to shun, demean, or divide. In other words, they stood up for an ideal in the face of pressure to do the wrong thing. I was reminded of the Robert Kennedy quote:

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Finally, I was most moved during the “Perception Line” activity. Students stood in a line across the gym, each student holding the hand of their partner, then connecting to the rest of the group. Eric read a series of statements filled with perceptions, privileges, and biases.  Rooted in culture, economics, social standing, family makeup, opportunities (lack thereof), ethnicity, and many other factors, the statements hold a mirror up to many of our societal perceptions. Each statement, based on its positive or negative impact on an individual’s status in our society, caused some students to step forward or backward, while others stood still.  Students watched as some of their friends continued to step backwards. I watched as they desperately tried to hold on to their partners’ hands as they stood farther and farther apart. Even though it was just a game, a simple activity, they inherently didn’t want to let go.  They refused to let even one of their new friends breakaway. They didn’t let anyone fall, no matter how uncomfortable it became.  By this time of the day, they were bonded. They refused to let differences, struggles, or even space divide them. At the end of the previous Diversity Day, when Maplewood visited Jackson, one of the students said, “the only thing that separates us is a hundred miles.” Today, they found a way to close even that divide.

I may have gone there to inspire the students, but I was the one who left inspired.

Still, as if on cue, the “real world” invaded almost immediately. That evening, I began receiving messages from my friends and family in my hometown. See, I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore riots had just begun over the death of an African American man, Freddie Gray, who had just been arrested. Even as I write this, I’m receiving messages from family. I made the mistake of reading some of the comments that follow news stories online. They are filled with hatred, violence, and desperation. Yet, in the middle of it all, I hear the voices of the young people from Jackson County and Maplewood High Schools. I hear their hope. I see their fresh perspective. I feel their truth-filled defiance.  I know, yes I know, they will do it better. They will continue to usher in change.  They are ready and willing, if we provide the space, to bridge the deep waters that are between us, to bring peace in the midst of chaos, and hold up hope in a sometimes hopeless world.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yes, I think I prefer the student’s definition of diversity over the Webster’s definition.

Diversity: “How inside our differences, we are all the same”