How Workplace Safety & At-Risk Kids Go Hand in Hand

So a few weeks ago I blogged about how I felt that as a teacher I was sometimes left out in the cold when it came to level of safety I felt in the classroom.  But as I contemplated my own experience I recognized that the thing that kept getting me up in the morning was that I cared about the students.  I cared about the ones who were brilliant and well behaved and I cared about the ones who made me feel less than safe in my own classroom. 

I recognized that many of the students who struggled with making correct decisions did so because they were never given the tools to choose differently.

I always held out hope that someday these students would be able to turn their lives around – that they wouldn’t end up in jail and that they would finish school and be productive members of society.  Unfortunately, like most teachers, although this was the ideal – I never felt like I had enough time.  Although I wanted to spend time with the struggling students I knew I could not exclusively work with these kids – they were plenty of other students that I had to attend to.

Now in another phase of my life – I am convinced that helping “at risk” students is not just a job for teachers, but a task that must be connected to safety culture and safety professionals.  

Violence is not just a safety issue that teachers deal with – it is one of the greatest risks in any place of employment.  While we can put band-aids on  some of these problems by trying to help adults deal with their anger and frustrations, I think it would make a wlot of sense to try to deal with some of the root causes of anger and violence before a child becomes an employee.  

This year MySafeWork is in dialog with corporations, government and other agencies about the possibility of opening the first Centre for Leadership and Skills Development.  This centre will be started in an inner city neighbourhood in Toronto.  It will help inner city kids get a vision for their future that is positive and full of promise. Although I am excited about the possibilities that this centre would offer I know that we can't see this vision happen without a huge effort from many champions who see the need and understand the benefits of engaging in a project like this.

In my opinion helping “at-risk” students is not just a good thing to do.  It is a decision that makes sense from a safety perspective and ultimately will make our cities, provinces and country a more prosperous place to live.  

If you agree, why not consider having your company or network of colleagues get in on this groundbreaking opportunity.  I can guarantee that you will never think of "safety" as boring again! 

What do you think?