School behind bars: Meeting the needs of traumatized kids

April 27, 2022 00:28:00
School behind bars: Meeting the needs of traumatized kids
Ethical Schools
School behind bars: Meeting the needs of traumatized kids

Apr 27 2022 | 00:28:00

/

Show Notes

We speak with Melissa Svigelj-Smith, graduate fellow at University of California at Santa Cruz, about her experience teaching high school students awaiting case outcomes at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center. Meaningful communication with students’ schools about records and students’ social emotional needs was often very difficult. Ms. Svigelj-Smith talks about the ethical dilemma of wanting to advocate for improved resources for students without wanting more money to go into a system that kids should not be in in the first place.  And in many cases, in Cleveland and throughout the country, prosecutors charge children as adults depriving them of any access whatsoever to educational resources.

Overview

00:00-00:45 Intros

00:45-04:01 Young people at the juvenile detention center

04:01-05:30 Structure of the educational program

05:30-07:51 School of One

07:51-11:51 Communication with high schools about student needs

11:51-13:40 Offering social emotional support within the detention center

13:40-14:37 Cultural responsiveness; effects of Ohio’s high-stakes testing

14:37-16:24 Interactions with students’ families

16:24-17:02 Transitions back to high schools

17:02-17:47 Mentorship

17:47-22:00 Ethical issues

22:00-25:13 Ending adjudication of young people to adult jails

25:13- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

Other Episodes

Episode 0

October 14, 2020 00:37:00
Episode Cover

Teaching economics as political and ethical choices

We welcome back Lev Moscow of the Beacon School to discuss his approach to teaching political economy, which actually applies to any social science. ...

Listen

Episode 0

August 08, 2025 00:40:31
Episode Cover

Teachers as Interpreters: Listening to Every Student

We speak with Dr. Cynthia Ballenger about her recent book, “Teaching is Inquiry: Observation and Reflection as the Heart of Practice,” in which she...

Listen

Episode 0

October 30, 2021 00:43:40
Episode Cover

The People’s Education: Freire, dialogue, and democracy

We continue our conversation with Dr. Carlos Alberto Torres, Distinguished Professor at UCLA and Founding Director of the Paulo Freire Institute. Dr. Torres speaks...

Listen