Raising America's Youth: UrbanFuture as a Model for Social Reform
Joseph Eble, St. Louis University
Abstract
America faces a crisis in raising its urban youth. I will address
that crisis in the following manner: First I will describe the environment
in which American youth live, using both my own personal mentoring experience
and statistics gathered from government and community agencies. I will
then present the UrbanFuture mentoring program as a paradigm to help inner-city
adolescents overcome obstacles and develop the academic and personal habits
necessary for success. The proficiency of the program in helping students
to achieve these goals will be demonstrated both objectively and subjectively.
One component contributing to the success of the UrbanFuture paradigm
is that it reflects Catholic social thought, particularly as developed
over the last century. Four fundamental principles of Catholic social
thought that are present in UrbanFuture will be examined: the belief that
human beings possess a nature; the need for developing virtue; the necessity
of family involvement; and the principle of subsidiarity. This model empowers
individuals in the community. I conclude that the holistic approach taken
by UrbanFuture toward character development, an approach consonant with
Catholic social thought, is an efficacious way of helping to alleviate
the current ills facing urban youth. Thus, I will show that the current
social crisis facing America 's youth can be partially ameliorated by
promoting healthy habits of character in voluntary associations such as
UrbanFuture, and that part of this strategy's effectiveness is due to
its practical implementation of Catholic social thought.
America faces a crisis in raising its urban youth. I will address that
crisis in the following manner: First I will briefly describe the UrbanFuture
mentoring program, which I present as a paradigm to help inner-city adolescents
overcome obstacles and develop the academic and personal habits necessary
for success. One component contributing to the success of the UrbanFuture
paradigm is that it reflects Catholic social thought, particularly as
developed over the last century. Four fundamental principles of Catholic
social thought that are present in UrbanFuture will be examined: the belief
that human beings possess a nature; the need for developing virtue; the
necessity of family involvement; and the principle of subsidiarity. This
model empowers individuals in the community. The proficiency of the program
in helping students to achieve these goals will be demonstrated both objectively
and subjectively. I conclude that the holistic approach taken by UrbanFuture
toward character development, an approach consonant with Catholic social
thought, is an efficacious way of helping to alleviate the current ills
facing urban youth. Thus, I will show that the current social crisis facing
America 's youth can be partially ameliorated by promoting healthy habits
of character in voluntary associations such as UrbanFuture, and that part
of this strategy's effectiveness is due to its practical implementation
of Catholic social thought.
UrbanFuture's Role in the American City
American youth face a crisis, demonstrable through statistics
such as 28.3% of high school students felt so sad or hopeless in the 12
months preceding a national 2001 survey that they had stopped their regular
activities.[1] UrbanFuture
provides a paradigm for counteracting such current negative social trends.
It is a Saint Louis-based, non-profit organization that relies on the
support of community businesses and individuals. Its modus operandi involves
1) a parent or relative from the family; 2) a mentor from the
community; and also 3) a teacher from the school that
the child attends.
As stated in its 2003-2004 One on One INSPIRE Mentor Handbook , UrbanFuture's four main values are individual dignity, academic achievement, character development, and family commitment. Individual dignity refers to the inherent worth of each person, and that person's right to fulfill the potential of his or her unique qualities. Academic achievement is more than receiving good grades; it also includes the development of curiosity and a zeal for learning. Character is “the sum of the habits that incline one to act responsibly in a given situation.”[2] For example, honesty inclines one to tell the truth even if lying seems more expedient. Finally, UrbanFuture recognizes that “the growth of children depends principally on the family” and that parents are the “primary educators of their children.”[3] For this reason familial involvement in the program is required.
Each week the student fills out an All-Star Goal Sheet with his or her mentor. The goal sheet highlights a character goal (such as respect), gives a brief biography of a person who embodies that virtue (such as Mother Theresa), and gives practical examples of how to live that virtue. The mentor then helps the student to make his own character goal and academic goal for the week. The goal of “character education” acknowledges that there is a best way to act in society, and that knowledge of that way must be transmitted to children.[4]
UrbanFuture: A Model of Catholic Social Thought
The UrbanFuture model is not without precedent. In fact, UrbanFuture's
model for effecting societal change is in keeping with a model that has
been developed by the Catholic Church for centuries.
There are four central tenets of Catholic social thought embodied in UrbanFuture that this paper will address. First, human beings have a nature, and therefore there is a proper way for humans to act so that they fulfill their nature. Second, human beings learn the proper way to act by developing virtue. Third, the family plays an integral role in helping youth to develop virtue. Finally, the principle of subsidiarity should influence how social programs are structured and how virtue is taught to youth.
Human Beings Have a Nature
Catholic social thought relies on the claim that human beings
have a nature. This claim is also vital to UrbanFuture because humans
must possess a nature if there is to be a “best way” to act in society,
which the program claims in its task of character education.
Many philosophers in the past and present have denied the assertion that there is a best way to act in society. They rest this claim on the basis that either humans lack an essential nature or, if they do possess one, it is unknowable.[5]
St. Thomas Aquinas rejects such reasoning. In the Summa Theologica , Aquinas claims both that humans possess a nature and that their nature is self-evident. The nature of human beings, as rational animals, requires that they act in a certain way so as to achieve goodness, the fulfillment of their proper function.[6] This includes developing their rational capacity, avoiding ignorance, and not giving offense to those around them.[7] Developing their rational capacity is done using language, which is inherently communal. Therefore humans should promote the common good in order to have a community properly conducive to developing rational activity.
In 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum Novarum to address the deplorable social condition of the working class at the end of the 19 th century. Many of the principles that Leo XIII articulated to address that issue are equally applicable to the social ills facing urban youth today. In regard to the nature of human beings, Leo XIII wrote that man “governs himself by the foresight of his counsel, under the eternal law and the power of God, whose Providence governs all things.”[8] In other words, humans are only partially self-determined. We are not free to choose our nature, which is to be drawn to ultimate Goodness — God. However, we are free to choose which goods we pursue in this world as we navigate our path toward God.
Therefore, there is a best way for human beings to live in society, because they have a nature that is not of their choosing, but is given to them by God. Goodness for human beings (the fulfillment of their proper function) requires that they affirm their nature. UrbanFuture's claim that there is a best way for youth to act in society relies on this fundamental claim: human beings do possess a nature, and it can be known.
Humans Achieve Goodness by Developing Virtue
The claim that human beings have a nature is intricately connected
to another aspect of Catholic social thought found in UrbanFuture: the
importance of developing virtue. In Rerum Novarum , Pope Leo
XIII declares that one of the chief roles of the Church in alleviating
social ills is to promote Christian virtues such as justice and charity.[9]
Leo XIII understood that the social problems of the late 19 th century
could not be solved simply by changing the laws of government or by redistributing
the wealth. There was an even deeper problem, one cultural and moral in
nature. In order to address that problem, which pervaded all aspects of
life, virtue needed to be taught.
Through virtue human beings affirm their nature and achieve goodness, the fulfillment of their nature. Virtue is a habit of character developed through the activity of life. By repeatedly choosing good actions, people shape their desires so that they desire to act in a good way. In other words, they become what they habitually do.
UrbanFuture's program is based on the development of virtue; its core value, “character,” is synonymous with “virtue.” The program acknowledges that rules cannot be set down to guide a person in making every decision in life. However, a person's character can be shaped so that he or she has the proper disposition to choose wisely in any situation.
Aristotle, who greatly influenced Aquinas, describes virtue as a state of character developed through the habit of choosing the mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency, relative to oneself with reference to the reason of the wise man.[10]
This method of forming virtue corresponds with the UrbanFuture model. Each week the mentor and student discuss the virtue on the All Star Goal Sheet and establish goals to live out that virtue during the rest of the week. UrbanFuture emphasizes that the goals on the All-Star Goal Sheet be done every day of the week. Thus UrbanFuture tries to establish a habit of action. UrbanFuture also presents the model of the “wise man” by giving an example on the All Star Goal Sheet of a person who is a paragon of that particular virtue.
By forming personal goals for the week, the student relates the virtue to his own dispositions. Whereas one student might spend too much time on his math homework, thereby neglecting his reading homework, another might do the exact opposite. Neither student is properly achieving the virtue of time management. It would be foolish in this case to tell the first student to spend more time on math, whereas it would be wise to give the second student that advice.
To be virtuous requires constantly striving for excellence. The UrbanFuture team is called an INSPIRE team because that is its goal: to inspire youth to seek excellence and not be satisfied with mediocrity. Likewise, the UrbanFuture core value “individual dignity” states that every person has a right to fulfill the potential of his or her unique qualities. Virtue is the task of actualizing the potential for excellence that every person possesses.
A virtuous person need not appeal to rules and regulations when making decisions in life. He is naturally inclined to choose that which is good in every area throughout life. It is precisely this quality that urban youth must develop in a world fraught with evils. There are simply too many temptations, from drugs to sex to truancy, to establish a set of guidelines for urban youth to follow. They must be taught to love what is good, and thereby to know and choose what is good for themselves without needing to appeal to outside authorities.
The Role of the Family
The third aspect of Catholic social thought that the UrbanFuture
program affirms is the importance of family. Leo XIII wrote in Rerum
Novarum that the family is the primary cell of society wherein people
learn to act virtuously.[11]
Gaudium et Spes echoes that sentiment when it says that “the family
is a kind of school of deeper humanity.”[12]
It is not just one school among many, though — it is the primary school.
Indeed, “The well-being of the individual person and of the human and
Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy condition of that
community produced by marriage and family.”[13]
Gaudium et Spes further proclaims that the family is “the foundation of society,” for through it “the various generations come together and help one another to grow wiser and to harmonize personal rights with the other requirements of social life.”[14] The family is a community of virtue that provides virtuous models for youth to pattern their lives upon. These models have an unparalleled influence on the habits of children growing up, because their influence is so pervasive in everyday life. If children are taught good habits, then they develop the proper desires and emotions. By repeatedly acting in a virtuous manner, under the aegis of parents grandparents or other guardians, they are formed as virtuous persons.
Because of the vital role of the family it is imperative that all people “who exercise influence over communities and social groups should work efficiently for the welfare of marriage and the family.”[15] Social groups should not replace the family, but instead support it as much as possible. Some mentoring groups, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, rely solely on the relationship between mentor and student, essentially replacing or ignoring the parent(s). UrbanFuture does the exact opposite; it emphasizes the parent as having the primary role in the child's life. When mentors call home for the weekly check-in, they speak with both the student and the parent. Family is one of UrbanFuture's core values precisely because the parents' role is irreplaceable.
Peter Berger and Richard John Neuhaus's book entitled To Empower People: The Role of Mediating Structures in Public Policy discusses the vital role of the family from a secular viewpoint. The family is designated the fundamental institution in people's private lives, in which they “make their moral commitments, invest their emotions, plan for the future, and perhaps even hope for immortality.”[16] Families are not simply incidental groups formed by individuals, but instead institutions that are essential for the proper formation of children. Possessing a sense of identity and possessing values are closely linked to a strong family life.[17] Conversely, “[w]eak families produce uprooted individuals, unsure of their direction….”[18]
Family involvement, then, is essential for societal improvement. This is affirmed in Catholic social thought and is implemented by UrbanFuture.
The Principle of Subsidiarity
The final aspect of Catholic social thought that UrbanFuture
represents is the principle of subsidiarity. The principle of subsidiarity
states that action should be taken on the “lowest” level possible in society.
It contains a notion of hierarchical groups within society, and implores
that they work together in assisting one another. The lowest group possible
should make decisions because that group is most directly affected by
those decisions, and is also most familiar with the circumstances of the
situation.
This principle is discussed in the 1931 papal encyclical Quadragesimo Anno , which was promulgated by Pope Pius XI. The document states, “Let those in power, therefore, be convinced that the more faithfully this principle of ‘subsidiarity' is followed and a hierarchical order prevails among the various organizations, the more excellent will be the authority and efficiency of society, and the happier and more prosperous the condition of the commonwealth.”[19] The degree to which the principle of subsidiarity is followed is claimed to be directly proportional to the well-being of society and its members.
The principle of subsidiarity has three main components. First, because the fundamental unit of society is the individual, individuals should be allowed space to make self-determined decisions in accord with the common good. If the individual is capable of making a decision, then the individual should do so. Second, above the individual are small social groups such as the family, which should also be allowed space to make self-determined decisions in accord with the common good. Third, the principle of subsidiarity includes the principle of intervention described in Rerum Novarum . The principle of intervention states that individuals, families and other social groups should be allowed self-determination in keeping with the common good insofar as is possible. The state, which is neither to absorb nor destroy the intermediate social groups, should provide assistance to them and interfere only when so great an evil arises that it cannot be stopped any other way.[20]
UrbanFuture's model is in keeping with the principle of subsidiarity. The program does not rely upon federal tax dollars, or even upon state or local tax dollars. Instead, it relies upon the investment of private businesses (such as Walgreen's) and individuals in the community. Nor does UrbanFuture rely upon rules and regulations “handed down from above” in order to force students to behave properly. Instead, it relies upon personal relationships between students, mentors, parents and teachers, who respectively represent the small social groups of neighborhood, family and school. Individual relationships are the modi operandi of the UrbanFuture program. According to the principle of subsidiarity, the task of developing virtue should not fall to the state. Indeed, not only are smaller social groups able to teach virtue, they are more efficacious in doing so.
Empowering People
The effect of following the principle of subsidiarity and teaching
virtue is the empowerment of people. The book To Empower People: The
Role of Mediating Structures in Public Policy makes this argument,
albeit using a different vocabulary than the papal encyclicals.
To Empower People describes the task of mediating structures in shaping society. Mediating structures are defined as “those institutions standing between the individual in his private life and the large institutions of public life.”[21] “Mediating structures” are essentially the “small social groups” of Catholic social thought, and the “large institutions of public life” are essentially the state.
The book begins by pointing out the tension between people's desire for the benefits of a welfare state and their distrust of big government.[22] The latter sentiment is not unfounded: “Complaints about impersonality, unresponsiveness, and excessive interference [of big government], as well as the perception of rising costs and deteriorating service – these are based upon empirical and widespread experience.”[23] Anonymity and inefficiency are the price of not adhering to the principle of subsidiarity. Were UrbanFuture replaced by a broad, government-implemented social program, the individual needs of the Saint Louis community would not be served as well.
To Empower People argues that whenever possible, “public policy should utilize mediating structures [such as UrbanFuture] for the realization of social purposes.”[24] In keeping with the principle of subsidiarity, mediating structures recognize that “ordinary people are the best experts on themselves”; they know which solutions will be most effective in their specific circumstances.[25] Moreover, because community members are most directly affected by how their fellow citizens are shaped, they should be the ones involved in that process.
Rerum Novarum describes two types of associations. One brings together people from different social classes so that they can recognize the common humanity in one another.[26] This not only reduces tension between the classes, but fosters mutual respect and concern. The other brings together people of the same social class, occupation, and/or belief system, so that they might work together toward achieving common goals. To Empower People takes up this idea under the title “Empowerment through Pluralism.”[27] Groups composed of similar people provide a sense of self-identity, which is necessary for answering the great existential question “Who am I?”[28] Equally important, groups composed of different classes of people promote awareness of a greater cultural whole to which each homogenous group contributes.[29]
UrbanFuture effectively incorporates these ideals. It avoids being subsumed by the government by relying on private funding rather than local or federal tax dollars. It is personal and adaptable to the needs of individuals, unlike government programs which must abide by rigid regulations. Moreover, it successfully combines both similar and dissimilar elements of society. It brings together underprivileged students, who share friendships, neighborhoods, and schooling, with mentors who come from diverse backgrounds. Mentors are white and black; wealthy and middle-class; raised in blue-collar and white-collar families. All mentors share the common goal of improving the lives of underprivileged youth, but bring diverse life experiences. This pluralism is “a source of more diversified solutions to problems that are, after all, diversely caused and diversely defined.”[30]
The citizens of Saint Louis are investing in their own city by volunteering with and giving money to UrbanFuture. Their interest in UrbanFuture is personal. As a result of this personal investment, individuals of the community are empowered.[31] Rather than being aided by impersonal programs outside their control, the citizens of Saint Louis are helping each other to solve their self-assessed problems.[32]
All people want to live in an excellent community, and if they can personally contribute to actualizing such a community then they have good reason to do so. They are empowered because they can personally change their community. In order to make their community excellent, they must promote virtue by living virtuous lives. When they have banded together to better society, a community of virtue has been formed. Mediating structures promote the development of virtue, which empowers individuals in their own lives and in the shaping of their community.
The Success of UrbanFuture
The efficacy of this model has been demonstrated even though
UrbanFuture has existed only since the fall of 2001. As measured by the
Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) test, during the 2002-2003 school year
the Fanning Middle School sixth-grade class rose from a second-grade reading
level in October 2002 to a fifth-grade reading level by May 2003. This
improvement in SRI scores was the stated goal of UrbanFuture for the 2002-2003
academic year.
Various controls were in place to demonstrate that this increase was a result of UrbanFuture. During the same time period, seventh and eighth graders at Fanning (none of whom had UrbanFuture mentors) showed no improvement in their SRI scores. Sixth graders with mentors improved their scores 198 points, while sixth graders without mentors improved their scores only 89 points. UrbanFuture posits that the sixth graders without mentors raised their scores because the energy and mindset of those with mentors influenced the entire class.
Individuals involved with UrbanFuture have consistently praised the program. One faculty member at Fanning wrote, “One-to-one mentoring is VITAL to student improvement.” Parents have praised the program as well. When asked what changes they had seen in their child since he/she enrolled in the INSPIRE program, one parent wrote on her evaluation form that her son became “more responsible and sound, and his confidence and self-assurance really increased, which is what we were looking for.” Another said that UrbanFuture, “gives the kids a chance to confide in a positive source at school when they need it. My boys are so grateful for their mentors.”
Conclusion
The social conditions that adversely affect today's urban youth
are effectively combated in Saint Louis through the UrbanFuture program.
This program's success is at least partially due to its underlying philosophy,
which has made it an operative implementation of Catholic social thought.
By relying on family and community members to teach virtue to urban youth,
individuals are empowered and true social reform is made possible.
[1] United States, U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Survery '01, 2001,
1 March 2004 < http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs/results.htm
>.[2] One on
One Inspire Mentor Handbook, 2003-2004. UrbanFuture, 2003.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] For example, see the
argument made by Robert Kraynak in his book Christian Faith and Modern
Democracy: God and Politics in the Fallen World, Notre Dame, Indiana:
University of Notre Dame Press, 2001, 31.
[6] Saint Thomas Aquinas,
The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by Fathers
of the English Dominican Province, 1920, 10 March 2004 <http://www.newadvent.org/summa/209402.htm>,
Book I-II, question 94, article 2.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Pope Leo XIII, Rerum
Novarum: The Condition of Labor, 1891. Catholic Social Thought:
The Documentary Heritage, ed. David J. O'Brien and Thomas A. Shannon
(Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992), 16.
[9] Ibid., 19-25.
[10] Nicomachean
Ethics, trans. Terence Irwin (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company,
1985) 44.
[11] Pope Leo XIII,
18.
[12] Pope Paul VI,
Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World, 1965. Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage,
ed. David J. O'Brien and Thomas A. Shannon (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis
Books, 1992) 200.
[13] Ibid., 195.
[14] Ibid., 200.
[15] Ibid., 200.
[16] Peter L. Berger
and Richard John Neuhaus, To Empower People: The Role of Mediating
Structures in Public Policy (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise
Institute for Public Policy Research, 1977) 19.
[17] Ibid., 20.
[18] Ibid., 20.
[19] Pope Pius XI,
Quadragesimo Anno: After Forty Years, 1931. Catholic Social
Thought: The Documentary Heritage, ed. David J. O'Brien and Thomas
A. Shannon (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992) 60.
[20] Pope Leo XIII,
27.
[21] Berger, 2.
[22] Ibid., 1.
[23] Ibid., 2.
[24] Ibid., 6.
[25] Ibid., 36.
[26] Pope Leo XIII,
33.
[27] Berger, 40.
[28] Ibid., 41.
[29] Ibid., 40.
[30] Ibid., 41.
[31] Ibid., 7, 45.
[32] Ibid., 7.
