Gang Banger in the Classroom – The Principal of Humility

The Mistake of “Fronting Off” 

The mistake of “fronting off” is one of the most common mistakes Teachers make with Latino students, and/or gang members. “Fronting off”, means to belittle, embarrass, command or challenge a student in front of their friends. It usually is prompted by some kind of disobedience, disruption, or defiance by the student, that is “fronting off” the teacher. There are usually plenty of daily opportunities, before and during class, for a student to “front off” a teacher, and for a teacher to “front off” a student, but the wise teacher refrains from using this as a technique for gaining control over a situation. Most teachers probably don’t purposely front off, or realize what they have done, while others simply don’t care. Others care, but lack the self-control to avoid making this mistake, once they have been fronted off, and embarrassed themselves. The lessons to be learned to avoid the “fronting off” battle are:

1. Correction without relationship leads to rebellion

2. Meet the students’ demand for public respect first, then privately earn yours.

Some simple examples of how the above two lessons present themselves as opportunities are:

1.)   When a student comes in the classroom late, talking loud, and disrupts the teacher.

2.)   When a student is talking to friends, etc., and the teacher is trying to give instruction.

3.)   Or it can be a student who is doing nothing, and the teacher decides to point them out in front of the whole class and commands them to do something.  

These three examples provide the teacher with an opportunity for a relationship that could very well cause this student to become very productive in their classroom if the teacher is willing to exercise or acquire some basic skills in tactical maneuvering of building relationships. When the student fronts off the teacher, it is very important for the teacher to assess the situation and quickly think about the proper response, since the whole class is usually watching. This takes practice, but can be a learned response in time.  In too many cases, the teacher gives in to the easy, reactive behavior, of saying something loud, negative and embarrassing to the student. This technique may work sometimes, with some kids. But for the most part, the teacher has now contributed to a problem that could go on and on, which inevitably ends up in the teachers’ favor, by a win/lose solution of getting rid of the problem/student, rather than, working to find a win/win solution. Even if the kid submits at that moment, the problem will most likely continue. The student will usually retaliate at some point during the remainder of the class or the next day. Why, because they have to “save face” to maintain their status and respect with their friends. They know their friends will “cap” (Latino slang for make fun of) on them after class, after school, and in the neighborhood. The more “capping” one receives, the more they are under pressure to retaliate to prove that they are not going to let the teacher “front them off”, or “punk them” (slang for making somebody look weak; sissy, etc.) like that again! Otherwise, they become someone considered “weak” that can be picked on by others with no “pay-back”. This is especially true among gang members.  

As one 22-year-old L.A. gang member put it,  “The schools weren’t teaching me anything. The teachers just saw me as a trouble maker, and their prejudices kept them from seeing if I had any potential at all.” 

“Humility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.” – John J. McCloy 

In most cases, like the ones described above, the best thing to do is nothing, at that moment, if at all possible. The wise thing is to wait until you can deal with the student one-on-one, in private, and begin to try to build a relationship. I realize this may, or may not be possible, as each of these kinds of incidents are judgment calls by the teacher, based on a variety of factors. These include: the history of the individual(s) involved, the history of your interaction with the individual(s), an understanding of the bigger picture and long-term impacts of your decision. It also depends on who is witnessing your response, what time during the class the incident is taking place, and how many are involved. It may be that you have no background or experience with the student, and it is the first time you are dealing with him or her, in which case, a different response would be called for as opposed to one from a teacher who is familiar with the student. I am not suggesting that the teacher can, or is expected to, always have the correct response, or that the right response will necessarily “fix” the problem at the moment. However, I do suggest that if the teacher makes the choice to exercise the principle of humility, it would solve many more problems, rather than the usual negative reaction that perpetuates them. It would also serve as a positive model for the other students in how to professionally handle a difficult situation. Your ego will be bruised a little, but I have found that a humble response, in the long run, has gained me much more favor with the problem student, as well as, the rest of the class.   One key in this kind of strategy is that the student knows they have done wrong, and using this approach, in most cases, will drive that conviction even deeper. They also know that your courteous and respectful way of handling them was right, and allowed them to “save face”, which goes a long way, with gang members in particular. Your non-action wins respect because you chose to give it, instead of demand it, in front of the other students. Deciding not to front them off has now put them in your debt, which is something they understand and will want to pay off. They will usually pay back the favor with classroom cooperation, after you deal with them privately, and may get others to follow, as often times, the one doing the “clowning” is the leader amongst their peers.  I have personally witnessed the power of this principle over and over again throughout my twenty five plus years of working with Latino youth, whose potential is often buried in shame, pride, anger and a street culture that does not value American education. If teachers, who get fronted off, can look past the outward behavior, and focus on trying to build a respectful relationship, they could help turn around many problem students.  

Gang Banger in the Classroom

The final two secrets for Mainstream Leadership will be coming out with my new book sometime this fall.  Keep your eye out for the announcement of the book so you can order early from the first printed copies.  I trust the excerpts I shared were helpful to you.  As always I welcome your comments and feedback.

Now, I want to turn our attention back to gangs, with an emphsis on the classroom as schools gear up to get back into session during the months of August and September.  My goal in particular is to provide helpful information for today’s unsung hero’s – the classroom teacher.

The principles I share for teachers is my attempt to provide a piece of the training, that will equip visionary teachers, who believe in the power of even one transformed life to affect many others in a positive way. The seven principals I suggest are meant to be a practical, daily guide for the common classroom teacher, intended to give the teacher a perspective of the classroom from a Latino paradigm, with the hope of bridging a cultural gap that seems to cause too many unnecessary classroom student-teacher conflicts. 

The material of these seven principles is based on my own personal experience as a Chicano/American-Mexican student in the sixties and seventies.  They are also based on what I have witnessed working as a correctional officer at a State and Federal prison, as well as being a teachers-aide in the Santa Barbara County Juvenile Hall for four years. I also worked as an “at-risk” counselor for four years at a local Junior High and High School (1990-94), where I worked directly with the school administration, teachers, counselors, probation, law enforcement and parents of “at-risk” youth.   Although these insights may seem challenging to teachers, they are offered respectfully and in a spirit of cooperation.  

These principles are certainly not exhaustive or scientific. I am sure there will be other Latino professionals, teachers, principals and parents with different views and opinions.  Be that as it may, the point is to offer one more piece in an effort to help resolve the horrendous record of Latino gang members/students who are truant, unmotivated, put on probation, placed in alternative schools, and ultimately, are not graduating from High School or enrolling in higher education.  Consider the statistics below from the eye opening trends produced in a RAND Corporation study done on behalf of the Hispanic Scholarship Foundation:  

Ø      Hispanic youth make up the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population

Ø      High school completion for Hispanics aged 22-24 was only 64%, compared to 91 and 84% for whites and blacks

Ø      By 2010, Hispanics will make up one out of every five young people of high school age, compared with one in ten in 1990.

Ø      Hispanics lag behind all other racial/ethnic groups in the rate at which they earn a bachelor’s degree.

Ø      In 2000, one of every five new entrants into the workforce was Hispanic-and that number is growing.

Ø      Foreign-born Hispanics are the only immigrants who have a lower level of education than their native-born counterparts.

Ø      The dropout rate among Hispanic high school students is expected to reach 32% by 2010, and is the only racial/ethnic group that is projected to experience an increase.

Ø      By 2010, approximately 20% more Hispanic children will be living in families in which both parents have less than a high school education.

Ø      By 2010, the number of Hispanic children living in poor families will increase by 25%.

Ø      More than one third of all Hispanic young people (age 24 or younger) live in California.

Ø      California high schools, colleges and Universities will educate nearly 40% of the nation’s Hispanic youth. 

I believe there are many teachers who sincerely want to reach out to difficult students, such as gang members, but simply don’t know how, or where to begin. As problems persist, they are forced to remove the student and lose them to a system they know is not to their benefit. I am convinced that these teachers wonder to themselves how they can make a difference in these kids and help turn them from becoming another negative Latino student statistic.  

Thus, over the next few weeks I am going to pull excerpts from my book, “Got Gangs?” , that outline the seven principals I have used to work with these students.  Finally, I must point out that my suggestions are not a guarantee for fixing every situation described, nor am I emphasizing my particular practices, but rather the principle, of handling difficult people problems.  Having said that, I offer these insights that have helped my work in successfully transforming many Latino gang members into productive students and citizens of their community. 

Get your copy of “Got Gangs?” by visiting: www.RichardRRamos.com

Mainstream Leadership Principle # 3 – “Dream Big”

 Secret # 3: Dare to dream BIG 

Richard was a dreamer.  Ever since he was a child, his creative mind was at work; dreaming and believing he could do and have more than what others were limiting him to.  He tells the “cookie story” of how in grammar school, back in the day, there used to be two lines, one for the white kids and another for the brown kids.  The difference was that the white kids line went into a bungalow where they got cookies and milk for a snack.  While in the other line there were no cookies or milk but only homework to do before going home.  One day Richard got “hungry” and wondered if he could get away with standing in the white line and not be noticed.  “Hunger will cause you to dream big”, as he likes to say.  The other kids told him he was crazy, but somehow he still hoped that the teachers wouldn’t notice him, even though his skin was dark brown and he had jet black hair.  Closer and closer he got to the door.  He began to sweat and get nervous, but his hunger was stronger than his nervousness.  When he finally got to the front of the line the teacher looked at him and asked him what he was doing.  In his shaky, but hungry voice, he asked if he could go in and get some cookies, to which the teacher replied, “Yes you can”!   

What a difference Richard made that day, not only for himself, but for the entire school and all the other Latino kids watching this “hungry dreamer”.  But the story does not end there.  As he grew older, Richard got a job one day as a janitor for the big corporation, Frito-Lay, the maker of the Fritos and Cheetos you and I have enjoyed eating so much (If you’re like me, probably too much!).  One day he noticed that his co-workers were taking the left over Cheetos and putting salsa on them and eating them as snacks during break times.  Being the dreamer that he was, all of a sudden he had a great idea and approached his boss to ask if he could share the idea with him.  “Richard”, his boss said, “what idea do you have that you want to meet with all the executives?” Richard replied, “I think I have an idea that could make a lot of money and would like a chance to present it.”  His boss gave him a funny look but agreed and told him to let him know when he as ready to make his presentation.  Excited about the opportunity he went all out.  He bought a suit and tie, which he had never done before.  He bought a book on marketing and making presentations, and read and studied the best he could, but really did not know what he was doing, he later admitted.  All he had was an idea, a dream, and knew if he could get it across it would be big.  The day finally came and there he was up on the executive floor of the corporate building in the executive meeting room with all the executives sitting around the table listening to him struggle to explain himself.  “I made a complete fool of myself” he said.  Then during the presentation, one of the Vice Presidents, whose job it was to come up with creative ideas, asked him; “OK Richard, so how much of the market are we going to get if we do this idea of yours”?  Richard said; “I don’t know.  I haven’t read that chapter yet.”  As they all sat there and looked at him, all of a sudden a picture of the chip racks in the store came into his mind and he quickly added; “but, I think if we do this we will get this much of the market” – stretching out his arms from side to side.  At that they all began to laugh at him, except the CEO and President of the Corporation.  Who proceeded to stand up and said; “Gentlemen, this man has just told us that if we go with his idea, we are going to make millions of dollars”, and the rest, as they say, is history.  You see, Richard Montanez is the creator of what you and I today know as the “Hot Cheetos” that has become one of the biggest selling products for Frito-Lay, making them literally millions of dollars each year and took Richard from the corporate janitor to one of the Regional Corporate Vice Presidents making big-time money-all because he dared to dream BIG!!   

This former gang banger from East Los Angeles tells how he knows what it is like to bang in the barrio, ride in the back of the lawn mower truck and he also knows what it’s like to ride on the corporate jet!  Richard says; “the corporate jet is much better”.  Richard is a prime example of a Latino leader who applied his creative abilities and moved from the margins to the mainstream of the corporate world and today he shares his story every chance he gets to inspire young Latino leaders that YOU too can make it big if you dare to follow his example and dream BIG! How to be a BIG Dreamer: 

1. Get over what others will think about you
2. Follow your heart felt passion – Large hearts have large dreams
3. Read “wide and deep” – Don’t limit your mind to the familiar.  Expose your mind to the thoughts and work of other people of other times, places, ethnicity and cultures.
4. If possible, travel to other cities, states and countries.
5. Find a way to get around people of vision that have accomplished big things – Invest in yourself and pay to attend their conferences and seminars.
6. Set aside time to sit and think – Close your eyes and use your imagination and you will receive the big thoughts and ideas to guide you to your purpose in life.
7. Believe in yourself – Trust your instincts and have confidence in your God given talent.

Mainstream Leadership Principle # 2: – “Develop the real you “

“Babo” was a gang member growing up in North East Los Angeles in the 1960’s and 70’s.  However, while he was running around with all his homeboys and homegirls from Lincoln Heights, he also discovered something special about himself that just came naturally, and that was his ability to throw a baseball.  But he didn’t just stop there with this discovery.  He also had the good fortune of supportive parents who encouraged his talent and a great High School coach who helped him develop his natural talents.  His discovered and developed talent took him to playing at the college level, which lead to being drafted to play professional baseball that sent him on a journey from the Kansas City Royals, to the Mexican league, which lead to a wonderful career pitching for his childhood dream team.  Of course I am leaving out a lot in a long story of success, but there are several lessons we can learn from the journey of Robert “Bobby” Castillo (I know him as “Babo” but we won’t go there), the great relief pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1977 to 1986.  

1. Don’t let others side track you – Bobby Castillo stuck to who he really was.  First, he realized he could not be a professional ball player and still continue on as a dedicated gang member.  He had to decide which script he was going to live out; Who he really was, or who he thought he was.  Obviously he made the right choice, but not everyone does.  Secondly, when he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals, they drafted him as a third baseman, and not as a pitcher.  Now Bobby was a great all-around player, but his primary, most natural position, was that of a pitcher, not as third baseman.  Once he discovered that the Kansas City organization was not going to let him “be who he really was”, he resigned and went to the Mexican league because there they would let him prove he could pitch at the professional and major league level (where, by the way, he met Fernando Valenzuela and taught him how to throw his famous screw-ball, for those of you baseball fans).  Bobby had discovered who he really was and stuck to it.  He then worked hard to develop it to the point where he was selected and signed by one of the most prestigious professional sports franchises in America, the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

 2. Developing yourself takes courage – This is a great example of the kind of courage I am talking about for leaders who want to move from the margins to the mainstream and stand out amongst your peers.  It took a lot of faith and courage for Bobby to let go of his gang homeboys to pursue his baseball career.  It took courage to let go of an American professional contract for a contract for less money and prestige in the Mexican league.  But both of those decision were based on the success secrets of discovering the real you and the courage to believe in yourself and let go of whatever obstacles one might encounter on the journey to personal growth and development. 

“To dream anything you want to dream – that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything you want to do – that is the beauty of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits- that is the courage to succeed.”-Bernard Edmonds 

3. The twin “D’s” of all development; Dedication and Discipline – Oftentimes when we are looking at the success of someone, our tendency is to only focus on the end result and forget about the process one has to go through to achieve their dream.  This is why listening to a successful person tell their story is so important because that’s how we can learn all the things it takes for us to develop ourselves into our peak potential as an individual performer or professional.  As I have listened to and read the stories of the best of the best athletes that set the world records and won the championships over and again, there is one theme that runs through all their stories and that is hard work, extra work, and doing more work than everyone else on the team.  Fans only see the game performance, but what they don’t see is the discipline and dedication great performers practice and practice and practice to complete exhaustion that makes for the great performances in the “clutch” – pressure situations.  Another example is that of great speeches.  The audience hears and is moved by the sermon or hour long speech, but what they don’t know is the many long hours of research and writing and re-writing that speech it took to find just the right words, the fitting stories and clarifying illustrations that cause that speech to move people to action.  We can say that we already “know all this”, but the difference is, who is willing to take what they know and pay the price in development that separates you from the crowd as a one of a kind leader that even leaders follow?  One thing I learned long ago and have remained true to is; while others are “playing” you must be “paying” if you want to be a cut above.  Natural talent will get us into the mainstream, dedication and discipline will keep us there year after year. 

Mainstream Leadership Principle: – “Know thyself to Grow thyself”

So how do you discover the real you?  Its not that complicated really – here are some “common sense” suggestions to get you started on your personal treasure hunt: 

1. Pay attention to what comes natural to you – In school it was very obvious to me that I was not made to be a carpenter.  In my junior high school wood class I just could never quite measure, cut, sand and nail like so many of my friends.  My finished product never looked like theirs and yet we had the same instruction and tools. Yet, when it came to throwing, catching, running and competing on the ball field, it was as natural to me as hammering nails was to them.
2. Pay attention to your passion – You know how some things just seem to click with you?  They just grab your attention like other things don’t.  Others may not get excited about “it”, but you do and you don’t really know why or understand “it”.  It’s not something you are forced to like or made to follow, but nevertheless, whenever you get around “it” you know “it”, feel “it”, and love “it”!  You are passionate about “it” – music, art, mechanics, movies, sports, politics, singing, dancing, writing, poetry, or whatever that thing is that has that specific, heartfelt “it” factor that just touches your heart, soul and spirit in ways nothing else does.  It is that thing that you would do everyday for free and would not consider a real job, yet you are so good at it, people pay you to do IT!
3. Use your imagination – Albert Einstein said, “It is more powerful to live in your imagination than in your memory”.  Now, like most Latinos, I love the “oldies but goodies” as much as anybody.  How many of us grew up listening to Art Laboe, (And still do once in awhile – come on cop to it!) the famous “oldies but goodies” radio disc jockey from Los Angeles, giving those shout outs and playing all the oldies we could handle?  But I am afraid that too many of us are taking it too seriously and still living in the past with the memories of the oldies but goodies.  Your imagination is powerful and is that creative part in you that when combined with your talent and passion can attract ideas to you that are not only worth millions of dollars but provide concrete solutions to complex problems to the benefit of your company, the community or even the whole country. 

 One of the oldest principles of personal growth and leadership is to “know thyself”.  I add the second part, which is to “grow thyself”, and once you discover the real you, you can begin working on yourself accurately and productively as you continually increase your mainstream influence.