A hope for Hopwood students

Hope springs eternal especially for children who continue to have a full life ahead of them although some have started embarking the not-so-right direction.

Guided by the strong desire to lead their students to the right way, Hopwood Junior High School launched Project HOPE, a program intended to help delinquent and disturbed students who have been one of the major problems faced by the school for many years now.

Hopwood Junior High students have prominently figured in grave offenses ranging from sexual, verbal and physical assault to the use of controlled substance and even unwanted pregnancies.

The institution’s educators denounce what they call disturbing incidents where teachers have been sexually assaulted, slurred, threatened and physically attacked.

In fact, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accreditation have rejected to accredit Hopwood Junior High in three occasions although the school has been granted the same classification for two years.

Discipline, according to the institution’s disillusioned teachers, has been Hopwood Junior High’s leading list of concerns; close behind it is reading. Some have claimed that Hopwood Junior High seventh graders were reading on a fourth and fifth grade levels.

The teachers cited several incidents, among them:

• A tutor has been punished for her choice of attire after a student sexually assaulted her;

• A student verbally assaulted a teacher, which included racial slurs and threats of retribution to the tutor’s family; and

• A paraprofessional was assaulted and attacked in the head by a student who used 2×4 piece of lumber.

Based on the stories told by present and resigned teachers of Hopwood Junior High, the institution has undoubtedly become a breeding ground for juvenile delinquents, some of them are believed to have already joined street gangs.

Abused children

However, the situation at Hopwood Junior High may require further inquiry. Studies disclosed that while juvenile delinquents should be held liable for their actions or transgression, researches pointed out that they are actually more of a victim than a suspect.

Physical maltreatment or battery may lead to psychological imbalances. Psychological consequence of child abuse may vary from running away to being detached and revengeful, or joining street gangs.

Researchers said childhood maltreatment is a significant risk factor for juvenile delinquency. In fact, psychologists believe that maltreatment is a good sign of the prevalence of moderate and violent delinquency when ethnicity, sex, social class, family structure and mobility are held constant.

Children who suffer severe beatings and other forms of physical maltreatment sometimes react violently, either against their abuser or their peers.

There are no official records or studies on the involvement of CNMI youth to street gangs and how far they can possibly carry out delinquent acts but statistics show juvenile offenses in the Northern Mariana Islands have increased since 1992.

In 1992, juvenile offenses totaled 313 and increased to 363 four years later. Although the tally fluctuates from year to year, violence such as assault and battery remains on top of the list.

Psychologists said children of emotionally-immature parents, or those coming from homes with marital or economic problems, normally run away from home, making them more vulnerable to joining gangs or fraternities.

The CNMI public safety department has identified 10 youth gangs throughout Saipan. DPS, itself, has attributed the increase in juvenile offenses to fraternities.

HOPE

In desperate attempts to curb violence and address discipline problems in Hopwood Junior High, school authorities formalized an agreement with the Department of Public Health and the Division of Youth Services to launch Project HOPE in October 1999.

Counselors from the public health department and the youth services conduct weekly counseling sessions at Hopwood Junior High where they provide assistance to students who are faced with emotional and controlled substance abuse problems.

Hopwood Junior High counselor Ben Seman said Project HOPE is one of the steps taken by the school administration to address potential juvenile delinquency problems faced by the institution.

Under the program, disturbed children who have the potential to inflict bodily harm to their peers or teachers are subjected to anger and behavior counseling where they are given pointers on how to control their temper.

And because they are especially vulnerable to joining potentially-violent gangs, children coming from homes with marital problems are also a major target of Project HOPE.

Project HOPE, according to Hopwood Junior High vice principal Vincent Dela Cruz, provides one-on-one counseling to abused or disturbed students in order to deter their possible involvement in violent incidents, thereby reducing the school’s problems relating to student discipline.

Mr. Dela Cruz said that although success of Project HOPE remains far from sight, the program brings about a promise to reduce the number of, if not completely eliminate, delinquent students at Hopwood Junior High.