CLINTON, Md. — Middle school is filled with challenges: and many of them don’t have anything to do with academics.
Stephen Decatur Middle School principal William Blake recognizes that when he talks about the “middle school mind.” That’s the term he uses to describe when students are beginning to learn about themselves and the world around them. They’re exploring their futures, and they’re making choices — some of which can land them in trouble.
That’s one of the reasons why Blake’s school is taking part in “Men Making a Difference Day,” a daylong event where volunteer mentors visit with students to hash over their concerns.
“We invite male role models — dads, granddads, uncles, brothers — to come into the school to show a strong presence,” Blake said.
By 10:30 a.m. Monday, the gym was packed with middle school boys who were hearing from men — and a few women — on everything from navigating career choices, dealing with bullies and peer pressure and interacting with police.
Sgt. Shannon Earl, a veteran police officer who now works as part of the Prince George’s County school system’s security department, talked to students about interacting with police. He told them — just like in any field — there are police who don’t perform well, but out on the street is not the time to challenge an officer.
Earl, who is African-American, said the tensions between the black community and police can’t be dismissed.
“But you take one step at a time,” he said. “It won’t be a quick fix. I wish it was, but it isn’t.”
Earl’s other topic for the gymnasium full of boys spilling over the bleachers: the dangers of sexting.
He didn’t mince words: passing along images of naked or partially naked underage girls on the internet — even those images that a girlfriend may have given them — is a criminal act.
His speech generated questions from students: What if a friend shares an image and you just receive it? Can police really track where an image came from?
After his presentation, Earl said some of the cases he’s worked on involve kids as young as 12 and 13. And they often start with a boyfriend asking a girlfriend for a revealing photo. “And like any young man, unfortunately, ” Earl said, “he’ll send it to his friends. And from that case, it goes viral.”
Antonio Sitton, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Stephen Decatur Middle School, said the sessions were moving and powerful.
One of the most interesting topics had to do with career planning, he said. Sitton, a fan of Nickelodeon, and an avid art student, says he’d like to go into cartooning someday. He knows he can’t just expect a job to drop into his lap.
“You’ve got to persevere, because there will be a lot of ‘No’s’. But you’ve gotta keep going until you hear a lot of yeses” he said with a smile.
Sitton demonstrated why he could be asked back to take part as a mentor in the Men Making A Difference day when he shared his insight on why some kids make bad choices.
“The only reason why kids’ll be bad is because they’re going through a rough time or they can’t do something, and they get mad and try to bully to get the power that they think they want,” he said.
Men Making A Difference held sessions at other Prince George’s County public schools, including Capital Heights and William Beanes Elementary Schools.
