ISU Media Message Episode #13

hello and welcome to another issue of the ISU media message I'm Bob Linda my associate director of the media resources center here at Iowa State and our program as hopefully you're now realizing is an opportunity for the television audience to see some of the films and videos that have been produced for instructional purposes here at Iowa State or for special purposes around the state programs not normally seen by the larger television audience and that's the case with the program tonight my guest is dr. ray Morley from the Iowa Department of Education ray the program reaches out to students at risk homeless students and I had no idea before we started the program the number of homeless kids there are in the state we have plenty in fact our latest statistics in 1992 give us numbers greater than any other year that we've measured the numbers that are in Iowa we now have over 16,000 homeless people in Iowa and over 50% of those are children preschool through high school age and so it's not these people sleeping on the grates in New York that we're worried about it's we've really got these kind of problems in Iowa they aren't concentrated in the cities we have a good deal of them in rural areas of Iowa and it's bothersome time because people are pretty proud of who we are out here and we take care of their own but we have plenty of children on the streets and the plenty of them that don't have homes to go to every night to be secure so well let's look at the tape that dr. Morley has brought us I want to caution you as you look at the first episode in this because yours truly gets to play the part of a elementary school principal let's look now at reach for the child we are all confident that Iowa's okay in fact like Lake Wobegon where all the kids are above average we're sure that with the nation's highest literacy rate our schools are free from the problems that plagued educational systems nationwide but that in fact is not the case from 1979 to 1987 the poverty rate in Iowa increased at an alarming 85 percent and in contrast to the highest literacy rate in the nation Iowa also has the highest percentage of children among its homeless population 53 percent according to a 1989 survey by Drake University and importantly that statistic cuts across all groups black/white Asian and Hispanic Iowa has established rules for schools to meet the needs of homeless students but the rules aren't flexible enough to encircle all children for whatever reason these children walk by our doors every day and we rarely see them their condition is invisible to most on lookers this video is a plea to educators to take a long look at the problems facing homeless children and the problems facing the schools many these children want to be in school and because of regulations and policies they cannot others tragically and for a variety of reasons so including this information and distrust don't even want to be in school we need to begin to find ways to adapt our policies and rules to encompass the myriad of children falling through the cracks of our system every day during the next few minutes you'll see a number of scenarios unfold some will make you laugh some will make you cry some will make you angry but whatever you're feeling turn those feelings into solutions and work together to find ways to reach for the child the homeless child at wants to go to school is likely to find barriers in the way barrier is designed to keep the undesirable element out of our schools laws are changing every day and new policies are being made but still old rules are enforced and invisible barriers are thrown up sometimes just trying to get into the school can be a barrier in itself what happens if you don't live anywhere what happens when you don't have a legal guardian what happens when you can't meet the requirements yeah oh that's right yeah I've got to be at the admin building at 10 o'clock yeah what's that no paperwork whoa what did his mother say you mean he walked in the door alone to go to school well I'd like to at least say hello done but you I tell you what you keep calling and see if you can get through to them and find out where his records are I mean I'm sending in I'll talk with him a minute yeah my doors open just send him down okay no record oh I know that's all right come on in hi I'm mr. Jones hi I'm David that's all right come on let's go and sit down over here to talk a little bit yeah come on have a seat right here so David I understand you came into school all by yourself today yeah where's mom today she's out looking for it looking for work oh oh where is it you lived in out in West winners okay well where did you go to school last year I didn't how about the year before I didn't I've never been to school before you've never been to school at all well how old are you oh just a minute yeah Mary look David just told me he's never been to school and maybe that's why we're not finding any records but look in the meantime call miss Keith down in guidance and tell her that we're gonna be down there in a minute but first step right across and get nurse Chapel to come in here I got to find out you know what this means about health records in the health department business right so David you've never even been to school all right now David you heard me I've just made a couple of calls and we were gonna try and figure out how we can get a set of school records set up for you here talk to the guidance counselor a little bit and I'm gonna ask our school nurse to come in Jeff oh here she is now mrs. Chappell come in and meet David this is our school nurse David that's nice to meet you David the reason I called you in is that David has just told me that he's never been to school before so I don't know what this means about our Health Department requirements things like what do we do about his shot shots ain't gonna have those shots no we're not gonna give you any shot I just need to know if you remember having had any know what I'm not gonna well have you been to a doctor you know what I'm not going they cuss too much well that's okay for now but I want you to take this to your mom and ask her to just answer the questions and send it back will you do that for me okay okay okay it's nice to have you at school David all right David let's go down and see miss Keith she's the guidance counselor maybe we get some tests for you and find out what grade we're even gonna have you in hi my teacher said you wanted to see me that's right come on in sit down right over here I hear you're doing very well in school all the teachers are telling me how smart you are yeah I like it here it's fun well that's good but David do you have those papers for me my mom told me tell you that she lost them lost it she says that every time now David I've sent those papers home several times in the last month you keep telling me that you're losing them now I need for your mother to answer some questions for me and it's very important that you bring those papers back do you understand yes okay and I'm going to send these home with you one last time and I want you to bring them back to school tomorrow will you do that for me I'll try okay you can go to your class the way I read this if we don't have his signature he can't stay in school I've tried everything I've sent the forms home at least a dozen times this last month and she keeps saying she's losing them I don't understand it yes but have you actually gone out there and met with her I've tried phoning her but there's no answer I sent letters I've even gone out to where he says they live there's nothing there nothing there either he's making up stories or they live on the street this sounds like the old vacant lot syndrome look I I'm just running out of time here there's nothing more we're gonna be able to do about this can't we just leave him in school while I try to work this thing out I know I'll eventually find it mom and then she'll clear everything no I can't do that now it's been six weeks and the Health Department is on my back I know but can't we work with the Health Department if they only realized how much potential this child I feel just as bad as you do about this this is obviously a bright kid and it's a shame that he can't stay in school but I've asked for him to come down to the office and you're gonna have to tell him that he's out of here me yes look Chapel this is your department and it's your responsibility I'm sorry you know what you got to do David I have something to tell you are we about the business of making our schools a safe and trusting place or are we about the business of forms and files imagine if you will that you were lost and you were small and that even though there were people everywhere they couldn't find you you say you're having trouble imagining that I don't see why it happens under our noses every day we lose children in that large machine called the filing system do you have your records from the last school you attended no okay name my key Mikey what Mikey dainty hear me the first time your last name Mikey wound homes oh and your birthday when is your birthday in that summer what month is your birthday I don't know do you have a social security number what never mind never mind and what school did you last attend that's easy the one with the red doors what was the name of the school it was a president's mean George George Washington and and where was the school do you know what town it was in my all right you can go back to your classroom and I'll call you if I have any more questions hello central I'd like to request a transfer of Records for Mikey Jones is that Mike I'm not sure was that Jones Jones my brother Mikey he's been telling me some of the questions you've been asking them and well I thought that maybe you'd like to know that Mike is his nickname his real name is Walter yeah the last guy my mom married adopted us and so I guess that's our last name too who will see these invisible children with the misspelled names and the evasive addresses who will stop looking in the miles of files and take time to look over the counter all children even the homeless have a right to be in school we need to find all the unwritten barriers that keep children out and change things to eliminate the barriers no child should be humiliated or made to feel singled out because they're homeless our system provides a free education to all children regardless of financial situation but sometimes the barrier of rules and regulations can keep that education from being truly freeing but it wasn't my fault somebody ripped it off I just laid it down in the bathroom for a minute and when I came back it was gone I can't give you another Brook until you pay for the one that you lost pay for it how much is it twenty four ninety five twenty five bucks I don't have that kind of money just tell your mom and dad that you need money for the stolen book yeah like I have folks who will just fork it over get real I'm sorry I can't give you another book until you pay for the one that you lost that is the regulation regulations great just great first they say you can get a free book if you don't have the money to pay for it then if you lose the free book you have to pay for it some free book well I guess now that everybody's here we can get started open your books to page 94 please Lisa where's your book well I suggest you go to where you lost it and find it no I really lost it well then go to the office and get another book see if they told me I have to pay for it and that's 25 bucks I don't have that much money on me right now I'll bring it tomorrow fine then I'll see you tomorrow what are you talking about you're not allowed in the classroom without a textbook I'll see you tomorrow with your book on page 94 we're gonna see examples of metaphor simile illusion and Oxmoor on Matt you tell us the basic difference between metaphor and simile when our regulations get in the way of Education and cause humiliation and distrust can we afford not to change them for the better often the jungle of red tape seems impenetrable when our hands are bound by rules and regulations how can we reach through to reach even one child the answer is not in the system but in our hearts we need to look beyond the written word and into the great realm of possibility that exists in our daily lives we need to be able to touch each child not with cold hard regulations but with the caring touch of another human being tomorrow King Priam is gonna go to Achilles and discuss the ransom of his son tomorrow make sure that we read the ransom section all the way to the end are you coming to lunch no I'm not really hungry okay see you later hey Billy come here a minute will ya you dropped this in the hall but you know what you really ought to put your name on it people drop those in the hall and you don't know who's gonna pick him up you're lucky I came around Thanks when we learn to use our hearts and our minds to supplement the rules then we can begin to help them realize that they're worthwhile and important a new rule cannot put trust back into a teenage dropout a policy cannot mend the child's broken heart but those things coupled with a human being can it needs to be that teacher that school nurse that principal that secretary who sees through the invisible walls and is willing to reach for the child only then can our policies work and our rules be kept only when they are flexible enough to bend to reach the child each child to reach for the child well you've just seen reached for the child my guest today is dr. ray Morley from the Iowa Department of Education ray tell us how the tape is being used what's the real application well the purpose of the tape to begin with was to get people to talk about the homelessness in Iowa and the issues that are involved with that and to come up with solutions to the problems I represented so we've been utilizing the tape with teachers and administrators within Iowa and present the problems to the to the folks and then see if we can get them to apply themselves to what the solutions are because the solutions aren't the same in every community and therefore we need to have the creativity of the local folks to come up with the solutions what it does create is a good deal of emotion because some folks still don't want to accept the fact that there are that much of a homeless problem within their own communities but more troublesome to them is the fact that they really have to deal with that and coming up with solutions to some of the problems isn't that easy sometimes and it takes a good deal of creativity so the idea of the film and how it's being applied is good because it really demands local solutions and the way it's being carried out is exactly in that fashion it does generate the discussion I know when during the course of the time when we were finishing and putting it together literally every time we showed it to a test group it it sometimes generated some really pretty lively discussion some denial as you called it what real responsibility do do we have in the state to to these kids I that if they're if they don't receive an education they almost inevitably end up being a drain on the state on its resources we're going to take care of these people other ways right we don't have much of a choice Bob they're going to be a burden to us if they aren't taken care of but there'll be a much more productive people if we do care for them and reach out and try to help them and a lot of our studies and follow-up to those who have been helped would indicate that they do become productive and they make contributions to the state and contributions to other people as well so it's a lot better story when we help them yes from when we don't well I really appreciate your coming up tonight and talking with us about the tape my guest has been ray Morley and we've seen the tape reach for the child I hope you'll plan to be with us here on ISU media message again next time you