[nfb-talk] Youth Empowerment

Judy Jones nfbwatac at earthlink.net
Fri Oct 20 17:42:57 CDT 2006 

Hi, Mike,

Much of what you say is true in the school sector with sighted kids, sighted 
parents, etc.  As our girls went through school, I noticed it became 
increasingly hard to involve parents in any kind of a PTA, no matter what 
school.  The one thing that does still really push the hot-button is sports. 
Last year there was some controversy of football practice schedules versus 
basketball practice schedules.  One of the good coaches got caught in the 
middle, ended up quitting to be hired elsewhere.  But the parents came out 
in droves for that one.  Would that they would be involved in other areas, 
too.

Judy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing List" 
<nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 3:05 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Youth Empowerment


> Joe:
>
> I have two more thoughts.
>
> First (and I *will* show my age here), I think it a defendable
> proposition that many young people are so dialed in to technology now
> that they think technology will be their savior whereas people in my
> generation, while we mostly adopt and enjoy new technology, have few
> illusions that it will bring "breakthroughs for the blind" or "bring
> independence to the blind" or the other advertising hype adaptive tech
> companies throw at us. WE even see some of this on our lists as, for
> example, when folks advance the notion that if we don't use accessible
> electronic voting technology, we're not exercising our independent right
> to vote. If we were to apply that logic, soon we'd not have the
> privilege to use readers because we have technology. You get the drift.
> At any rate, I think there's a gulf there that's hard to bridge -- at
> least until the first time one's electronic note-taker craps out as Josh
> mentioned. (grin)
>
> Second, for chapters to have social events for children, they must know
> about them and the children must be available, especially on the
> weekends. As Cindy has already indicated, it isn't always easy to find
> such kids or their parents. Even our local school for the blind has
> never been able to set up a really successful PTA. People are just too
> much into their own lives.
>
> But twenty years ago, our chapter used to combine with the Portland
> (Oregon) chapter to hold Christmas parties for kids and their parents
> with pinyatas and games and stuff. But people seem so busy and scattered
> these days that one doesn't see much of this sort of thing. And in our
> state, we're kind of dying of our own success. Almost all of our
> leadership has good, nine-to-five jobs and families and it's harder to
> break away then it was when we were younger.
>
> None of this should be taken as an excuse; it's merely an attempt to
> understand.
>
> Mike
>
> On Fri, 20 Oct 2006, Joe Orozco wrote:
>
>> Hello list,
>>
>>    I think Mike makes a good point about us no longer living in the 
>> 1960's
>> when the fight may have been a little more adamant.  Yet there must 
>> surely
>> be something we could do to be more inclusive of the younger generation.
>> The youth programs in Baltimore are certainly a step in the right 
>> direction,
>> but just as with our training centers, not everyone will attend.  And we 
>> are
>> still neglecting the post-adolescent and middle-age gap that is not 
>> eligible
>> to attend events like the science camps.
>>
>>    Julie asked about the vitality of partnerships between student and
>> parent divisions.  Having finished such a combined conference in Texas 
>> last
>> month, I can testify to the profitability of such an endeavor.  The 
>> parents
>> brought us students we would otherwise have missed, and the students'
>> enthusiasm will hopefully fuel their parents' desire to want to come 
>> back.
>> Does anyone know the exact strength of the parent division at the state
>> level?  I know our state student divisions as a whole need organizing, 
>> and I
>> am wondering if our approach should then be to target those states where 
>> a
>> parent's division's presence could help spark the growth of the student
>> component?
>>
>>    To a certain extent I believe everyone is correct in concluding that
>> students just aren't interested in fighting the good fight for 
>> legislative
>> efforts.  To play devil's advocate, could this be because our legislative
>> efforts are not capturing the wave of what is needed in these 
>> contemporary
>> times?  I've seen the higher education item on our legislative agendas 
>> the
>> past three years, and I've also seen the item take a back seat to other
>> items that are later deemed more important.  I would not argue the 
>> priority
>> of one item over the other, but could one argue that we could generate 
>> more
>> interest if we took up an issue that hit directly at the heart of what 
>> the
>> younger generation finds essential?
>>
>>    Finally, what practices in your local chapters do you think could
>> improve to more easily embrace the talents and vitality of younger 
>> members?
>> Meeting month to month seems practical to accomplish our business, but 
>> would
>> your chapters benefit from hosting social gatherings geared at children?
>> One of the problems TABS temporarily faced in Texas was the lack of
>> connection between the student division and the larger movement of the 
>> NFB.
>>
>>    I think the discussion is wonderful.  Naturally, I don't have all the
>> answers, but hearing your responses makes my membership task for the
>> National Association of Blind Students a little easier.  You all have 
>> been
>> around longer and know what worked to get you involved.  I look forward 
>> to
>> more feedback.
>>
>>          Joe Orozco
>>
>> "Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like
>> you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not
>> forget you."--William Arthur Ward
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
>> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 11:49 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Youth Empowerment
>>
>>
>>> On the other hand, it has been my experience that the young often don't
>>> realize that there are battles left still to fight and if they do
>>> realize it, The Bit They (meaning us grizzled veterans) will take care
>>> of it for them. Let's face it: society is in a different place now than
>>> it was in the 1970's. and if we're truly honest, part of the problem is
>>> that there aren't *enough* young people to party hardy whereas in tye
>>> 1960's and 1970's, the blindness world was overwhelmed with young
>>> people!
>>>
>>> Mike Freeman
>>>
>>> On Wed, 18 Oct 2006, Alan Wheeler wrote:
>>>
>>>> Here here!  I've seen that happen too.  Nothing against what I very
>>>> lovingly
>>>> call the "grizzled veterans" of the Federation, but they need to work 
>>>> to
>>>> bring the youth into the fold and not just sustain themselves on the
>>>> memories of their glory days.  I'm not actually saying that is what
>>>> happens,
>>>> but I would suspect this is how the youth tend to feel.  Just some 
>>>> random
>>>> thoughts.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Wm. Ritchhart" <william.ritchhart at sbcglobal.net>
>>>> To: "'Joe Orozco'" <jsorozco at gmail.com>; "'NFB Talk Mailing List'"
>>>> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 5:55 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Youth Empowerment
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Give them something meaningful to do.  Give them the power to make an
>>>>> impact.  If they show leadership traits, give them the opportunity to
>>>>> use and develop those skills.
>>>>>
>>>>> Most of the students I know who have lost interest and moved on, have
>>>>> done so, because they did not feel valued.  They wanted to make a
>>>>> contribution and they were cast aside, often gently because they were
>>>>> young.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> William
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>>> On Behalf Of Joe Orozco
>>>>> Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 9:51 PM
>>>>> To: nfb-talk at nfbnet.org; nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>>> Subject: [nfb-talk] Youth Empowerment
>>>>>
>>>>> Dear list:
>>>>>
>>>>>    Earlier today I was talking to one of our TABS members about
>>>>> membership
>>>>> recruitment and youth involvement.  Like any other division of the
>>>>> greater
>>>>> movement we're always on a continuous quest to refresh our approach to
>>>>> delivering the philosophy, and one of the items mentioned in the
>>>>> conversation was the gap that exists between the founding generation 
>>>>> and
>>>>> the
>>>>> generation on the rise.  It seems that even at the local chapter 
>>>>> level,
>>>>> students are simply not finding their place in the infrastructure and
>>>>> end up
>>>>> doing something else other than joining and sticking around.  I know 
>>>>> the
>>>>>
>>>>> concept is not unique.  People are aware of the problem, but I also 
>>>>> know
>>>>>
>>>>> that the problem does not exist in every corner of the organization.
>>>>> And so
>>>>> I'm curious to see what your thoughts are on the subject, what you 
>>>>> think
>>>>> are
>>>>> some solutions and perhaps things you have tried in your chapters and
>>>>> divisions to capture and maintain the attention of the younger
>>>>> generation.
>>>>> As the chair of the NABS membership committee, I understand the need 
>>>>> to
>>>>> strengthen the student arm of our movement, but I also understand that
>>>>> the
>>>>> arm is not independent and that we need to find ways to better
>>>>> incorporate
>>>>> ourselves into the strength of the local chapters and the spirit of 
>>>>> the
>>>>> affiliates.  Your opinions, on or off list, would be much appreciated.
>>>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>>>
>>>>>          Joe Orozco
>>>>>
>>>>> "Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not 
>>>>> like
>>>>>
>>>>> you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will 
>>>>> not
>>>>> forget you."--William Arthur Ward
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> nfb-talk mailing list
>>>>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>
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