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March 23, 2015 By Denise D. Bentley Leave a Comment

The only time I saw white people…

I’m a native of Nashville.

In fact, there aren’t many folks as Nashville as I am.  And, I live in the house near Tennessee State University in which I was raised.

When I was a little girl, the only place I saw white people was down town, except for the insurance man who came to the house to collect the payments.

Going downtown to shop for Easter was one of the highlights of the year.  My mother and I would go to Cain Sloan, at 5th and Church near what we now know as the Main Public Library or Castner Knott at the corner of 6th and Church. We would go to Levy’s or Petway Revis to choose a tie for my dad.

But one year, we didn’t go downtown.  It was near Easter in 1960. The black community boycotted downtown.  No Easter outfit for boys or girls, men or women.  No new patent leather shoes.  No new Easter bonnets or gloves.  No snappy Fedoras for the fellows.  We let Easter pass without one nod to fashion.  If we couldn’t sit at a lunch counter at Kress’s or Cain Sloan, we wouldn’t purchase anything in that store or any other store downtown, for that matter.  By May the lunch counters provided service to everyone.

September 1971 was the first time I ever went to school with a white person.  It was my freshman year in college – in the north, of course.  I didn’t realize that racism had many faces and the some of those faces were Northern.

In the years since college, I lived many places, in the U.S. and abroad. And I always come home – to Nashville.  And, the most rapid changes happened over the last 15-20 years.

Nashville was always a black and white city.  However, in the past few years, Nashville has become a city of brown and yellow and beige with languages from the Near East, the Far East, south of the boarder and the east coast of Africa.  There’s an Ethiopian restaurant in the Arcade right down from the Mr. Peanut store.  My mom and I would buy peanuts and candy at the store where a giant Mr. Peanut greeted us after a day of shopping.

You can hear eighty different languages are spoken at one high school in Nashville.  My office is located downtown.  When the weather is fine and everyone is out and about, you can hear French, German and Australian accents.  You can hear people speaking the languages of India, China, and Saudi Arabia along with accents from Boston and New York City.

If I’m near Hume Fogg High School as dismisses, I see rainbows of kids flowing through the doors. One is my cousin, Miles.  And, I wonder what changes he will see during his lifetime as he leaves and returns to Nashville.

So many changes.  Our charge to fight against racism is changing.  Although a young black man with good grades can be admitted to Vanderbilt, there are teachers who fear black boys.  Although I can live anywhere I want to in Nashville, I am penalized by low property values because I choose to live in the neighborhood I love.  My neighbor’s daughter is gorgeous. She is tall, but young enough to still have a boyish frame.  She makes sure her hoodie is down and her hands are clearly visible when she walks across the Wal-Mart parking lot to meet her dad at Lowes.

It’s good that we acknowledge our past while building a welcoming, thriving and progressive Nashville.  Meanwhile, we still duty to continue to end racism, even and especially when it may disguise itself as something else.

Denise D. Bentley

Fisk University, BA

Vanderbilt University School of Law, JD

Director, Tennessee Youth Court Programs, an initiative of the Tennessee Bar Association


About the Author

Denise Bentley, a native of Nashville, holds a bachelor’s degree from Fisk University and a Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Ms. Bentley is the Director of the Tennessee Youth Court Program, an initiative of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA).  Prior to taking her position with the TBA, she was the violence prevention coordinator for the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), 2003-2010.  While at MNPS, Bentley became a certified Olweus Bullying Prevention trainer. Preceding her tenure at MNPS, Ms. Bentley was the project director for the Mills Corporation’s Nashville Jobs Partnership.

After law school, Ms. Bentley served in a judicial clerkship with the Hon. Matthew J. Sweeney, III, and later became a member of the faculty of the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Business Administration.

 

Filed Under: Awareness, What's Happening Now

March 23, 2015 By STARS Leave a Comment

Tips to Help Kids Respect and Accept Diversity

Tips To Help Kids Respect and Accept Diversity

Teaching kids to respect and accept diversity can be a challenge. Our Kids on the Block program has made it one of our top priorities and we have become experts at it! Through the art of puppetry, our educational specialists are able to connect with audiences about important, and sometimes difficult, topics. We understand that not everyone will have the opportunity to benefit from our program, which is why Salimah is here with some helpful tips.

(1) SalmaRHi there! My name is Salimah Rahman, I’m 11 years old and I am so proud to be a Muslim and an American. One of my favorite things to do is share about my rich culture and help my friends understand the importance of avoiding prejudiced thinking. It can be tough sometimes to explain, so I’m here to help with some tips!

 

 

 

  1. Differences Are Not A Bad Thing – One of the most important lessons in regards to respecting and accepting diversity is we all may appear to be different on the outside, but we are all made up of the same things in the inside. It doesn’t matter if we are an adult or a kid, we all have feelings that can get hurt when we are teased, insulted, or hurt. Helping your child understand that we all have feelings and we all have differences is the cornerstone in guiding our kids to respect and accept diversity.

“What makes you different, makes you beautiful.”

  1. Embrace Your Differences – Our differences are what make us unique. Let your child know that what sets them apart is something to be proud of and embrace! If your child is being made fun for any reason (their name, beliefs, family arrangement, or physical differences) talk to them about it. Reassure them they are loved and beautiful.

“You can’t control what people think or what they say, what you can control is the way you react to them.”

  1. Use It As A Learning Opportunity –When your child comes home with a question about someone or something they saw but you don’t know the answer don’t be afraid to tell them. Use it as a learning opportunity for both of you. For example, if your child asks about someone who says they have cerebral palsy (CP), you might not know that in some cases their speech is slowed due to a stiffness in their muscles. So, take this opportunity to learn together!
  • I don’t know, but we’ll both find out together!
  • Research the topic together – go online, visit your local library, do your research!
  • Discuss what you’ve learned.
  • Important note: Answering tough questions like, “What’s wrong with them?” can be difficult. A great way to respond to questions like this is, “I don’t think you mean to say what’s wrong with them, you just want to know why they are different from you. Well, he has CP, which stands for cerebral palsy. I don’t know very much about CP but let’s find out together!”
  1. Set A Good Example – Be mindful of jokes, slurs, implications, and your attitude towards others. Often, children repeat what they hear from their friends and family members even if they don’t understand or know what it means. It is important to confront discriminatory behavior when it happens. Avoiding or ignoring the incident will not make it go away. In fact, it can be interpreted as unspoken approval.
  2. Reframe – If your child is making prejudicial comments, sometimes the best way to handle the situation is to rephrase it. Take this situation for example:

Billy is at the mall with his mom and sees a man walk by wearing a turban.

Billy: Mom, that man looks funny!

Mom: Why do you think he looks funny?

Billy: He’s wearing a sheet on his head. That’s silly!

Mom: I think you mean you don’t know what it is. That doesn’t mean it’s silly. It’s just different from what you’ve seen. It’s called a turban.

Billy: A tur—ban? What?

Mom: That’s what it is called. A lot of people wear turbans. Turbans are typically worn as a customary headwear (just like you wear caps!). Sometimes it is used for religious reasons, nobility, and sometimes people wear them when they are sick. There are lots of reasons!

Billy: Hmm. That’s neat. Why don’t I have one?

  1. Know How To Identify Stereotypes, Prejudices, and Discrimination and How to Eliminate the Cycle – It’s okay to notice differences. All of us, in some shape or form, have differences that set us apart. There isn’t anything wrong with noticing differences, what we want to be wary of is forming stereotypes that can lead to hurtful prejudices and discrimination. As we explained earlier, we all have differences in one way or another, our differences are what make us special. Here is a great graphic that demonstrates the powerful cycle. Bullying Cycle_STARS“Think about the word prejudice- it comes from pre and judge. Pre meaning before and judge meaning to make up your mind. It’s making up your mind about someone before you get to know them.”
  1. Do Not Use The Words “Gay” Or “Retarded”
    • Here are few phrases you should teach your child not to say – “That’s so gay,” “Wow, how retarded.” Instead, teach your child to use words that describe how they are feeling such as absurd, foolish, ridiculous, and ludicrous. Use these opportunities to help teach your child new words they can use to expand their vocabulary. Using insensitive words and phrases hurt not only individuals but their family and friends.
    • Remember some people have intellectual disabilities. While retardation is not a bad word, when used to describe someone or something you think is bad or stupid it becomes another thoughtless hurtful word. So, please stop using the word “retarded.” It hurts individuals and families of those with intellectual disabilities.

Sometimes we forget we live in a world made up differences; whether language, religion, appearance, beliefs, or our general likes and dislikes, differences are what set us apart. Let’s teach our kids to be respectful and accepting of the people around us!

Want To Know More About the Puppets?

Visit our Meet the Puppets page to learn more.

If you would like the puppets to visit your school, contact us here.

Filed Under: Awareness, Bullying Prevention, Kids on the Block, What's Happening Now

March 18, 2015 By Betsy Moon Leave a Comment

Importance of Art for our Youth

Importance of Art for Our Youth

Let’s face it. Three hours of talk therapy is a long haul for anybody. And teens…well, you get the picture. If it had one, the motto for YODA Intensive Outpatient counselors would be, “Meet them where they’re at.” Therefor if a youth doesn’t particularly respond to a certain treatment modality, we find one he or she does respond to. Like art therapy.

YODA_STARSThrough a partnership with OASIS, led by the talented and patient Abby Whisenhunt, the YODA clients have the opportunity to participate in art therapy once a week.  At times they appear to be irritated and less than enthusiastic about going to art therapy, because they perceive art is for those younger than themselves.  However, what we observe on a weekly basis is that the YODA clients begin to let down their resistance as they explore their relationship with drugs and the world through the art. Each YODA patient comes to us with his or her own talent. Their talents are many and varied.  However, they have demonstrated the ability to come together and work side by side on art projects, despite their differences.  They are learning to find common ground and common goals in a group setting.  This is an important dynamic of solidifying the group and making it a whole unit.  Many times they are given individual projects and their creativity is absolutely astounding.  Through their art projects, they are YODA_STARSgiven the opportunity to showcase their own talents and listen to others interpret the meaning behind their artistic creations.  As counselors, we see that as they participate on a regular basis and become more comfortable in the group setting, they listen to each other and are not judgmental of their classmate’s work. They do not ridicule or make fun of other’s projects, instead, the door is opened for discussion about what is similar and what is different for each individual.  The clients are able to experience feelings of acceptance building both trust and confidence in the group. Each individual can experience feelings of success and understanding.  They can also see some similarities in the messages of their individual projects, even though the delivery of the message is different from their own.  As part of art class, counselors participate and use the time for individual discussions with the patients.  Patients are often surprised by the similarities they have in common with one or both counselors.  This important part of the art class builds a bridge of commonality between counselor and patient. They listen to other group members, they begin to understand that they are not alone in their struggles with drugs and/or alcohol.  Sharing their experiences and successes with drugs, alcohol and life is essential as they travel on their journey, navigating the difficult waters of both addiction and adolescence.  Through art, they are learning a new way to communicate, to find their voices and be heard.

Filed Under: What's Happening Now, Youth Overcoming Drug Abuse (YODA)

March 11, 2015 By Rodger Dinwiddie Leave a Comment

Distinguishing Between Bullying and Discriminatory Harassment

In 1999, there were exactly 0 (zero) state laws in the United States dealing with bullying. Post Columbine, state legislatures began to develop laws and school districts began to implement polices to address the issue of bullying that was now on the public’s radar screen. Now, 16 years later, there are 49 states with laws; all but Montana have anti-bullying laws. More than half of these laws also address cyberbullying.

Bullying_STARSFor the last 7 years the Tennessee Department of Education through the Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, has provided training for school leaders on Tennessee’s laws and best practices to deal with bullying and harassment. I’ve always been interested in the legal complexities schools face in dealing with these tough issues. As a part of my work, I’ve had the privilege of working with some tremendous attorney’s with the Department of Education in joining them as a co-presenter in these sessions entitled From Policy to Practice. The attorneys have covered the law and I have attempted to help school personnel understand and implement best practices to improve school climate and prevent bullying. Under the leadership of General Counsel, Christy Ballard, they have helped schools understand the legal complexities of these challenging issues.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to participate in additional training designed to help schools address issues to determine appropriate responses to bullying. To start, defining bullying is complex in and of itself. When the issue of legal harassment is added to the conversation the complexity increases.

The Bullying and Harassment Solutions for Schools: A Comprehensive System to Educate, Investigate and Remediate, developed by legal expert, Mary Jo McGrath, is a powerful system for investigating bullying incidences. The system is designed to help schools drill down to the key issues of whether the issue at hand is conflict, bullying and/or harassment.

Throughout the training, Mary Jo reiterated that the same behavior(s) in question may actually violate one or more areas of law:

  1. School administrative law prohibiting bullying or harassment and justifying action under the student code of conduct and board of policy and regulations;
  2. Criminal law (e.g., hate crimes); and
  3. State civil statutes relating to anti-bullying provisions or even negligence; or under civil rights action if protected classification is involved and discrimination is found.

In short, a bullying complaint may come under any or all of these areas of law.

The McGrath system also helps schools understand when they are responsible for addressing bullying situations. Simply, a school is responsible for addressing bullying and harassment incidents about which it knows or reasonably should have known.

Mary Jo quotes Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, “Every adult in the school from principals to custodians, cafeteria workers to teachers must intervene and act when they see bullying for whatever reason.” This is something that the Tennessee Department of Education has been stressing through the Policy to Practice workshops for many years. Everyone in the school must address bullying and harassment.

Schools face some formidable challenges when an act of bullying is reported. Not only does the school need to determine the context in which the act may have occurred, they also must determine if the act is more serious and is a potential civil rights violation, or discriminatory harassment.

Perhaps one of the most important distinctions discussed during the McGrath training is the primary distinguishing factor between bullying and bullying that is discriminatory harassment. If the behavior was targeted toward a member of a protected classification, other issues must be considered. Federally protected classifications include:

  • Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin as well as including English Language Learners.
  • Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex, which covers sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, pregnant and parenting students, and athletics. Finally,
  • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination based on disability.

STARS is now able to offer training for individual school(s) and school districts that would like to go deeper in this challenging conversation. We will be able to offer the McGrath Systems approach to help schools be certain that they are doing all that they can to address the issue of bullying and harassment, implement clear investigative protocols resulting in a more positive school climate for both students, parents and school personnel. For more information about how your school/district can take advantage of this opportunity, contact STARS at 615-279-0058 or email Teresa Whitaker to discuss the possibility.

Filed Under: Awareness, Bullying Prevention, Kids on the Block, MOVE2STAND, Services for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Student Assistance Program, What's Happening Now, Youth Overcoming Drug Abuse (YODA)

March 4, 2015 By Andee Rudloff Leave a Comment

Why Do I Think Art Is Important

Why do I think art is important in the lives of our youth?

PeaceJam_STARSI truly believe art creates points of connection. I’m talking about creative choices leading to experiences and relationships. As a kid, you have the ability to absorb so much in the right environment. As you grow, your mind wanders to so many other things but if you have developed your creative side, that part of your brain will always comfort you. Colors, textures, mark-making and molding shapes help to communicate your senses in a way nothing else can do and can bring you focus even in the toughest times.

When I see a young person create something, whether is has beauty or seems to show a collective series of risks, the work almost always inspires me and gives me an understanding of their senses. Receptions and people viewing youth art is a very important part of the creative process for any young artist. Young artists and their work say so much about their lives. I always ask young artists, “what is it about?” The stories, their reasons for colors and stylistic ideas transcend what you may initially experience visually until you know what it all means.STARSI remember my first day of school.  I proudly wore a painting smock. I didn’t know any famous artists, but I knew I was an artist. I kept my big red pencil in my hand all day taking moments to draw, doodle and sketch what I experienced at school. At the end of the day, I showed my mom all of the drawings I did at school and she smiled and let me know how exciting my view of the world was to her. I remember thinking art was my chance to participate in a conversation about what it means to be alive, to be interacting with people outside of my family and in my community. It was amazing. I felt really lucky. I still do.

STARS

“The idea is to give the children opportunities, a vaster sense of life.” –Jeff Koons

I realize we all have a history to share and for young people, art gives them the freedom to interpret, experience and reflect. Art is not just about imagination, expression and creativity but it also develops self-confidence and self-discipline. Youth who have access to the arts as a communication tool think critically, appreciate other points of view and are open to new approaches for learning all subjects. If you consider young people learn through doing, the act of making something new and combining things in a new way reinforces their memories; reminds them their thoughts are valuable, and will serve as a personal resource for them to use every day of their lives.

Andee Rudloff_STARSAndee Rudloff is a professional artist, consultant and educator living and working in Tennessee and Kentucky.  You can find some of her work at: chicNhair.com Andee is honored to serve as a guest blogger for STARS Nashville in March for Youth Art Month. Youth Art Month is an annual observance each March to emphasize the value of art and art education for all youth and to encourage support for quality school art programs.

 

Filed Under: Awareness, What's Happening Now

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STARS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, culture, religion or creed, socioeconomic status, language, age, sexual orientation, or national origin. No one shall be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any of STARS’ programs or activities. STARS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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STARS is committed to the HOPE, HEALTH, and CONNECTION of the youth, families, and communities we serve. Our counselors are able to provide tele-support during these unprecedented times.

If you would like to learn more about these services, even if your school is not currently served by STARS, please contact us directly for an initial assessment.

For further resources, please contact any of the following support providers:

• Youth Villages Mobile Crisis: 1-866-791-9222
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