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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Tutor Dixon podcast. I'm excited about today's guest,

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Speaker 1: Ian Rowe has been fighting against the victimhood narrative with kids,

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Speaker 1: and he's done some pretty creative things in his charter schools.

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Speaker 1: I know we're going to learn a lot from Ian

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Speaker 1: and his experience today. I am hoping to learn a

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Speaker 1: lot as a mom of a freshman in high school.

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Speaker 1: I know he's got a bunch of freshmen in high

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Speaker 1: school that he's monitoring every day, so I'm excited. He's

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Speaker 1: a senior fellow at American Enterprise Institute and the founder

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Speaker 1: of Vertex Partnership Academies. Ian, Welcome to the podcast.

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Speaker 2: Tutor. It's so great to have you. And I didn't

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Speaker 2: know that you had a freshman in high school, so yes,

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Speaker 2: lots for us to talk about.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. I mean this year, it was her first

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Speaker 1: day of school and she came out of school and

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Speaker 1: I said, so, how was it, and she was She

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Speaker 1: looked right at me and she said I hated it.

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Speaker 1: And I was like, I want to tell you it's

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Speaker 1: going to get better, but it's high school.

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Speaker 2: Know what she hated?

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Speaker 1: She I think it was just first day, but she's

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Speaker 1: getting into her vibe now and her friend group and

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Speaker 1: all of that. But I want to talk about that

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Speaker 1: because I think it is hard to find your path

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Speaker 1: these days in high school, and I think kids are

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Speaker 1: being drawn down several different pathways and getting confused, and

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of noise with social media and phones

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Speaker 1: and all of that. And you've done a good job

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Speaker 1: of kind of creating a four point plan for those kids.

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Speaker 1: So can you tell us a little bit about that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, sure, I mean, you're right. I mean being a

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Speaker 2: young person, I mean being a young person always, you know, thirteen, fourteen,

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Speaker 2: fifteen years old, finding your path in the world, your identity,

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Speaker 2: all of those things. But for today's kids, there's so

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Speaker 2: many competing forces, and there's so many voices that are

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Speaker 2: coming into your world. And there's no doubt that social media,

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Speaker 2: you know, the TikTok, Instagram, all of those sort of

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Speaker 2: you knows you as a parent, you now have a

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Speaker 2: lot less control over what your kids are consuming on

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Speaker 2: a day to day basis, and it's kind of imparting

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Speaker 2: ideas that you either have no idea about or be

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Speaker 2: might be ideas that you're not supportive of. So, you know,

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Speaker 2: young people, you know, so We've just launched a new

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Speaker 2: high school that you just mentioned. It's a virtues based

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Speaker 2: high school in the Bronx. You know, almost all low

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Speaker 2: income kids, Black and Hispanic kids, and you know, who

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Speaker 2: are dealing with lots of stressors in their lives, and

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Speaker 2: we wanted to create an oasis here, you know, an

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Speaker 2: oasis focused on academic rigor of virtues based education. So

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Speaker 2: our entire school is organized around the virtues of courage, justice, temperance,

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Speaker 2: and wisdom, and we can define what those four things

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Speaker 2: mean in the lives of our kids. But one of

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Speaker 2: the things that we did was to create this kind

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Speaker 2: of oasis for our students is that we said that

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Speaker 2: you know, basically, everything bad that starts almost always is

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Speaker 2: this on social media, whether it be texting, and we've

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Speaker 2: just seen the world in which our students are growing

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Speaker 2: up in. They have to have twenty four to seven

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Speaker 2: access to these devices, and we said, you know what, well,

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Speaker 2: when it comes to school, that's at the school door.

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Speaker 2: That's got to end. So we had adopted a policy

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Speaker 2: this year. We opened last year in twenty twenty two,

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Speaker 2: we actually allowed kids to bring their phones in and

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Speaker 2: it was a disaster, you know, it was just it

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Speaker 2: was a constant distraction, you know, teachers were running around

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Speaker 2: always trying to find the kid that was using their devices.

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Speaker 2: And we decided this year there's something called a Yonder pouch,

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Speaker 2: and we said that every cell phone, every Apple Watch,

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Speaker 2: every AirPod has to go into this pouch at the

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Speaker 2: beginning of the day. It's locked by the school and

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Speaker 2: doesn't get unlocked until the end of the day. And

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Speaker 2: it's quite amazing what has been achieved in the environment

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Speaker 2: of our school, which is that it's a lot calmer.

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Speaker 2: Kids are much more focused on academics. They're not dealing

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Speaker 2: with all the drama that comes along with all the

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Speaker 2: texting and social media, and so for the eight nine

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Speaker 2: hours of our school day, for our students, it's like

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Speaker 2: an oasis and we're showing to them that you can

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Speaker 2: live without these devices, and it's really empowering. It. It's

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Speaker 2: a good lesson because you realize that for so many kids,

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Speaker 2: it's the peer pressure that they're actually responding to the

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Speaker 2: need for these devices, it's not the devices themselves. And

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Speaker 2: so we've actually found that students are it's just so

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Speaker 2: much more refreshing, it's.

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Speaker 1: Probably freeing to be away from it.

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Speaker 2: It's liberating. It's liberating, you know. And you would ask

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Speaker 2: me about the four principle and I'll talk about that

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Speaker 2: in a moment, but it is something that we've recently instituted.

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Speaker 2: At the beginning of this school year. Kids were initially like,

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Speaker 2: oh my god, what am I going to do without

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Speaker 2: my devices? Even some parents like how am I going

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Speaker 2: to contact I was.

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Speaker 1: Going to say, because that's the problem in our school.

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Speaker 1: The parents are like, no, no, no, you can't take the

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Speaker 1: phone away from my kid.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, but you know what, somehow parents survive for centuries, right,

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Speaker 2: and there is still a phone, and so if something

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Speaker 2: happens and a parent really needs to get in touch

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Speaker 2: with their kid, they call the school and we find

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Speaker 2: the kid and the connection is made. You know. Thomas Soll,

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Speaker 2: a great economists and social scientist, says they're no solutions,

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Speaker 2: only trade offs. And so if someone allows cell phones

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Speaker 2: into the school to be able to allow parents to

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Speaker 2: be able to contact your kid immediately in those very

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Speaker 2: very rare instances, well that comes along with a lot

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Speaker 2: of other baggage. So we're willing to take the trade

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Speaker 2: off of not having the cell phones and come up

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Speaker 2: with practical solutions or trade offs so that we don't

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Speaker 2: bring in the rest of the baggage.

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Speaker 1: And I think it's just what let me just say,

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Speaker 1: we just had this conversation in our house last night

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Speaker 1: because my seventh grader was telling me that they were

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Speaker 1: in study groups in science and she said, you know,

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Speaker 1: my group was studying, that's what she said, who knows

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Speaker 1: she claims her group was studying. She said, the group

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Speaker 1: next to them was looking stuff up on their phone,

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Speaker 1: and the boy in her group said get off your

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Speaker 1: phone and to get the teacher's attention, and then the

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Speaker 1: teacher zooms and they immediately, she said, but he didn't

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Speaker 1: catch them because they immediately put the phone away. And

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Speaker 1: I thought, I cannot imagine trying to teach in this

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Speaker 1: environment where kids are sneaking and they have a pathway

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Speaker 1: to so many things through that phone that are going

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Speaker 1: to distract them from actually learning.

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Speaker 2: No. No, And this is the thing. It's not just

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Speaker 2: I mean, we say that, you know, kind of laughing

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Speaker 2: and joking, but this has real deleterious effect on kids.

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Speaker 2: Not only just from the pure distraction perspective that's an issue,

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Speaker 2: but then it's all the other stuff that they are

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Speaker 2: now consuming, which is creating a very distorted view of

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Speaker 2: the world, and that can be issues around sexuality, even

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Speaker 2: the explosion and transgender students. Suddenly these massive numbers of

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Speaker 2: students who are now identifying as things other than their

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Speaker 2: biological sex that didn't just come from nowhere. A lot

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Speaker 2: of that is triggered by the social contagion that occurs

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Speaker 2: because of too much access to social media devices, which

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Speaker 2: are not policed at all by parents who would probably

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Speaker 2: want to govern some of these messages that are coming

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Speaker 2: into kids. And so we just thought, again, is there

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Speaker 2: a way that we can actually create an environment that

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Speaker 2: removes kids from all that kind of pressure, And we

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Speaker 2: think we've done it, and our hope is that this

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Speaker 2: can become a model for lots of other schools. I mean,

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Speaker 2: even New York State has just they're now playing with

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Speaker 2: legislation that they may make it required that a student

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Speaker 2: and any kid eighteen or under or under eighteen will

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Speaker 2: require parental permission to be able to access TikTok or

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Speaker 2: Instagram or Snapchat. So there is a growing recognition that

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Speaker 2: these devices, plus the media apps that go along with it,

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Speaker 2: are often actually the source of a lot of the

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Speaker 2: mental health issues that a lot of our students are

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Speaker 2: dealing with today.

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Speaker 1: Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on

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Speaker 1: the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Something I just realized about a

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Speaker 1: year ago that maybe I'm naive, but I think that

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Speaker 1: a lot of parents don't really know what's happening on

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Speaker 1: these phones because we didn't have them growing up, and

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Speaker 1: everything these apps change constantly. So again, my seventh grader

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Speaker 1: one day says to me, you got to give my

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Speaker 1: phone back to me because I'm going to I'm going

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Speaker 1: to lose my streak. And I'm like, what, what should

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Speaker 1: we even know what you're talking about? So the apps

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Speaker 1: build in these snap streaks, like if you're on Snapchat,

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Speaker 1: you have a streak with your friend, and that means

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Speaker 1: you have to snap your friend every single day. And

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Speaker 1: if you lose your streak, you can actually pay real

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Speaker 1: money to get your streak back.

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Speaker 2: Yes, well that is addictive, right. The designers of these applications,

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Speaker 2: often gamers, are quite effective at using these ideologies and

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Speaker 2: technologies that generate what we call stickiness, where you have

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Speaker 2: this perverse incentive to engage every single day. And you know,

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Speaker 2: and parents, as just as you said, most parents probably

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Speaker 2: got cell phones or these devices so that kids could

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Speaker 2: stay in touch, so they could be a phone call away,

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Speaker 2: that they could text. It's just that now those devices

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Speaker 2: come along with all of these other things which are

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Speaker 2: ultimately harmful in our view, to children, and they're just

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Speaker 2: not yet ready. And why not create an oasis, especially

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Speaker 2: at school, because frankly, we don't control what happens after

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Speaker 2: they leave. But our hope is that they're learning that

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Speaker 2: they can survive without these devices, and so you know,

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Speaker 2: at a good point, you know, we can create a

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Speaker 2: rigorous environment during the school day kids realize that they

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Speaker 2: can survive without devices and that they can focus on learning.

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Speaker 2: And you know, that's just the foundation. But we thought

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Speaker 2: it was really important just given the realities that young

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Speaker 2: people are dealing with.

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Speaker 1: And you found that that actually led to higher test

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Speaker 1: scores in your school, so it must be having some

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Speaker 1: impact on them in school, just having that freedom.

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Speaker 2: No question, no question. I mean, it's the beginning. But

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Speaker 2: our kids are doing well, which we're very excited by.

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Speaker 2: We're a what's called an International Baccalaureate high school, so

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Speaker 2: that's a very rigorous academic program. You know, in an

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Speaker 2: environment where these kinds of curricula are not typically offered

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Speaker 2: to students. So the last thing we wanted to do

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Speaker 2: is create an environment with multiple distractions where it's already

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Speaker 2: hard enough to be successful, so you know, and it's

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Speaker 2: also because we're virtues based model, so I should probably

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Speaker 2: talk about that a little. We also have rewards based

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Speaker 2: on our kids doing the right thing. So like our

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Speaker 2: school is organized around courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom, and

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Speaker 2: those are the four cardinal virtues and taken from the

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Speaker 2: Latin word cardo, which means hinge. So this idea that

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Speaker 2: these four virtues are the hinge upon which all other

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Speaker 2: standards of moral excellence are built. Right, So, you know,

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Speaker 2: anything around character somehow comes back to these four cardinal virtues.

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Speaker 2: So like courage, I reject victimhood and boldly persevere even

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Speaker 2: in times of uncertainty and struggle, you know, or temperance,

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Speaker 2: I lead my life with self discipline because I am

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Speaker 2: responsible for my learning and behavior and the whole ideas

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Speaker 2: that our young people. First they memorize these words in

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Speaker 2: their head, but ultimately it's learned in the heart in

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Speaker 2: terms of how they actually conduct themselves on a day

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Speaker 2: to day basis. So these are the underlying virtues that

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Speaker 2: we want to create an environment that can be focused.

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Speaker 2: They can know how to practice courage in their life.

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Speaker 2: They're reading books like our canon. Our curricula is organized

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Speaker 2: around these four cardinal virtues. So the whole idea is

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Speaker 2: that we just want our kids to be focused, that

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Speaker 2: they have agency. You know. The motto for our school

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Speaker 2: is that there are no victims in our school. There

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Speaker 2: are only architects of their own lives, and so we

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Speaker 2: just want to create an environment in which they can

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Speaker 2: actually make that happen for themselves.

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Speaker 1: We see victimhood in schools, I mean taught in schools

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Speaker 1: a lot. What do you think is the point of

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Speaker 1: teaching victimhood to kids? Now?

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Speaker 2: It's a very interesting question. There is this sort of

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Speaker 2: perverse ideology that there's power in victimhood, you know, and

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Speaker 2: our young people are in my view, and I've written

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Speaker 2: a whole book agency about this topic, where you know,

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Speaker 2: I run schools because I want our students to know

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Speaker 2: that they can do hard things. And yet we're at

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Speaker 2: a time in our country where their kids are getting

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Speaker 2: the exact opposite message. You can't do hard things, but

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Speaker 2: there are all these systems that are rigged against you.

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Speaker 2: And I put it in the context of what I

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Speaker 2: call these two meta narratives that I think are driving victimhood.

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Speaker 2: One is an ideology that says blame the system, and

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Speaker 2: another is an ideology that says blame the victim. In

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Speaker 2: a blame the system narrative or ideology, that's the idea

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Speaker 2: that if you're not successful in the United States, it's

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Speaker 2: because America itself is an inherently oppressive nation based on

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Speaker 2: your race, your gender, there are some other immutable characteristic

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Speaker 2: you are going to be discriminated against, like and these

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Speaker 2: systems are so rigged, so discriminatory, so powerful that you,

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Speaker 2: as an individual are powerless. Right, it could be that

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Speaker 2: capitalism itself is evil. It's like all these institutions, critical

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Speaker 2: race theory, anti racism, all of these are ideas that

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Speaker 2: say there are these sort of silent and not so

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Speaker 2: silent systems that are designed for your destruction. And obviously,

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Speaker 2: if you're ten years old and living in the South

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Speaker 2: Bronx and hear this message over and over and over

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Speaker 2: and over again about how these systems are designed for

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Speaker 2: your failure, you're going to start to believe that. And

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Speaker 2: it's kind of this idea of learned helplessness, so that

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Speaker 2: obviously robs you of a sense of agency and that

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Speaker 2: you're kind of a victim until some other force like

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Speaker 2: reparations or some other government intervention swoops in to save you. Well,

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Speaker 2: that's you know, that's the blame the system narrative. And

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Speaker 2: on the other hand, I call this blame the victim narrative,

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Speaker 2: which says, if you're not successful in this country, it's

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Speaker 2: not America is not the problem. America is the land

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Speaker 2: of gold, where the streets are paved with gold. No, no, no,

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Speaker 2: you're the problem, like you should have pulled yourself up

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Speaker 2: by your bootstraps. You have some pathology, you know you

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Speaker 2: you are you were the crafter of your own failure.

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Speaker 2: And of course that's really hard because if you're seven

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Speaker 2: and you're growing up in the district like here in

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Speaker 2: the Bronx, we're only seven percent of kids graduate from

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Speaker 2: high school ready for college, and there's a legislative barrier

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Speaker 2: which stops people from opening up new schools. Like a

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Speaker 2: seven year old can't solve that problem, right, But between

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Speaker 2: these two narratives, that's that's the that's the bell for

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Speaker 2: our school. Between these two narratives that blame the system

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Speaker 2: and blame the victim. In my view, that's robbing young

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Speaker 2: people of a sense that they can lead a self

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Speaker 2: determined life. And so I I've written a book called Agency,

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Speaker 2: which is all about how do we break how do

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Speaker 2: we provide an empowering alternative to young people that they

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Speaker 2: can embrace. And throughout my thirty years of working in schools,

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Speaker 2: working with every kind of kid, rich kid, poor kid,

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Speaker 2: white kids, black kids, Asian kids, Hispanic kids, homeless shelter kids,

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Speaker 2: I've just seen young people grow up in pretty tough

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Speaker 2: circumstances and essentially recreate the same disadvantage that they experienced

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Speaker 2: as a young person. But I've also seen other kids

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Speaker 2: in those same exact conditions make different sets of decisions

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Speaker 2: where they were able to break the cycle of disadvantage.

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Speaker 2: And the question of my life has been what makes

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Speaker 2: the difference? What is it that was different about those

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Speaker 2: kids that were able to chart a different path. And then,

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Speaker 2: in my experience, those students had a sense of personal agency,

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Speaker 2: They had a belief that they could be the greatest

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Speaker 2: influence over their own destiny, and typically they embraced four

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Speaker 2: pillars family, religion, education, and entrepreneurship. And by family, I

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Speaker 2: mean not the family that you came from. No matter

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Speaker 2: whatever family you came from, you were on the pathway

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Speaker 2: to form a strong family. That's why we teach the

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Speaker 2: success sequence in our schools, which you might be familiar with.

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Speaker 2: That's data that says, if you've finished just a high

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Speaker 2: school degree, get a full time job of any kind,

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Speaker 2: just so you learn the dignity and discipline of work,

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Speaker 2: and then if you have children, marriage first. Ninety seven

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Speaker 2: percent of millennials who follow that series of decisions avoid poverty,

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Speaker 2: and the vast majority enter the middle class or beyond.

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Speaker 2: So we teach that in our school as an empowering

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Speaker 2: strategy that young people who've been successful, in my observation,

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Speaker 2: have typically been on that path. And that's just one

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Speaker 2: of the lessons, you know, Religion. Young people who've been successful,

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Speaker 2: who've been able to break the cycle of disadvantage, usually

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Speaker 2: had some kind of personal faith commitment in their own lives.

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Speaker 2: They had a moral understanding of right versus wrong, typically

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Speaker 2: learned from studying a religion, and almost didn't matter what religion,

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Speaker 2: but that they were part of a group of people,

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Speaker 2: a community of people who were part of rituals, whether

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Speaker 2: be going to church on Sunday, but expected them to

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Speaker 2: live up to a moral code of right and wrong.

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Speaker 2: You know. In my other observation education, you know, so

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Speaker 2: it's family, religion, and education. Typically kids who broke the

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Speaker 2: cycle of disadvantage benefited from some kind of educational freedom

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Speaker 2: or school choice or going to a charter school like ours.

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Speaker 2: And if you were typically on a path to form

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Speaker 2: a strong family, had a personal faith commitment, benefited from

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Speaker 2: educational freedom. That usually led to the last e and free,

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Speaker 2: which is entrepreneurship. That you're typically a problem solver in

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Speaker 2: your own life, that when challenges come, you don't just succumb,

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Speaker 2: you don't just shrink back. You devise strategies, you tap

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Speaker 2: into the networks that you've built into. And so that's

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Speaker 2: what we're trying to cultivate with our students, that you're

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Speaker 2: the architect of your own life. You know that, yes,

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Speaker 2: there will be all sorts of barriers that every person faces,

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Speaker 2: from the richest kid to the poorest kid, from a

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Speaker 2: black kid to a white kid. But you're in a

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Speaker 2: position where you don't have to be you don't have

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Speaker 2: to succumb to the conditions in which you are living

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Speaker 2: and that's what our school is all about, in showing

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Speaker 2: that there is an empowering alternative.

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Speaker 1: Well, you talked about reparations for a second there, and

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Speaker 1: I know there's been a big push for that, and

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Speaker 1: we've had many bills across the country that have been

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Speaker 1: introduced on reparations. But you don't think that that's.

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Speaker 2: A disastrous to be disastrous, I mean the idea. And

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Speaker 2: you know, people who are advocating for reparations often talk

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Speaker 2: about the racial wealth gap as the proof for why

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Speaker 2: reparations are necessary. So if you, for example, look at

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Speaker 2: the twenty nineteen Survey of Consumer Finances, you will see

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Speaker 2: that the median wealth of the average white family is

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Speaker 2: about one hundred and sixty thousand dollars more than the

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Speaker 2: median wealth of the average black family. And for some

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Speaker 2: that's it, you know, mic drop, that's the proof, that's

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Speaker 2: the proof of historical discrimination and present day discrimination. So therefore,

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Speaker 2: why every black American just needs to get one hundred

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Speaker 2: and sixty thousand dollars from the government. And then that's

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Speaker 2: just the beginning. The problem is if you look at

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Speaker 2: that same twenty nineteen survey of consumer finances, you will

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Speaker 2: see that if you take just two other factors into account,

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Speaker 2: education and family structure. The story is completely different the

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Speaker 2: median wealth. The median wealth of the APPA black married

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Speaker 2: college educated family is about one hundred and sixty thousand

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Speaker 2: dollars more than the median wealth of the average white

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Speaker 2: single parent family. Now, the reason that's important for young

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Speaker 2: people to know is that there are factors beyond race

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Speaker 2: that are far more determinative of what your life outcomes

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Speaker 2: will be. And those factors are in your control, things

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Speaker 2: like the level of education that you attain, the family

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Speaker 2: structure that you form, the personal faith commitment that you have.

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Speaker 2: And so I'm a big believer in teaching those strategies

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Speaker 2: as a way for you to fulfill your individual potential

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Speaker 2: as opposed to these top down government solutions, which are

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Speaker 2: all of the track record of money just being handed

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Speaker 2: to citizens creates dependency, creates idleness, perpetuates the very things

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Speaker 2: that we're all trying to fight against. So I'm a

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Speaker 2: I'm a big opponent of of ideas like reparations because

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Speaker 2: I think it's actually destructive for the very people that

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Speaker 2: you're intending to, you know, to support, you know, and

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Speaker 2: and and why should the son of a wealthy black

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Speaker 2: couple suddenly be entitled to money where there's you know,

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Speaker 2: a white kid in Appalachia or other parts of the country.

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Speaker 2: You know, So not only it would it would also

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Speaker 2: call it, you know, cause a civil war, much less

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Speaker 2: the fact that it's ineffective policy as it is.

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Speaker 1: Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on

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Speaker 1: the Tutor Dixon podcast. Let me ask you a little

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Speaker 1: bit about faith because my kids go to a faith

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Speaker 1: based school, and to us that's that is very important.

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Speaker 1: And I do see that the kids in the faith

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Speaker 1: based school they tend to lead to go down a

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Speaker 1: different path. I mean not always, but you're right, there's

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Speaker 1: definitely a different moral compass there. If you have kids

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Speaker 1: that come into your school and they don't have that opportunity,

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Speaker 1: they've never had faith introduced to them, how do you

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Speaker 1: talk to them about this, How do you introduce faith

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Speaker 1: or how do you get them to be curious about faith?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a really good question because we are a

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Speaker 2: public charter school, so we can't operate in the same way.

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Speaker 2: It sounds like your faith based school is that you

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Speaker 2: send your kids to, But we can introduce into some

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Speaker 2: degree a secular idea that when you look at successful

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Speaker 2: people or successful factors, there's all sorts of data around

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Speaker 2: what are the factors that led to that success. So

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Speaker 2: you can actually look at data of young people who've

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Speaker 2: had a personal faith commitment, go to church or practice

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Speaker 2: of religion in some way, and the data is overwhelming.

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Speaker 2: There's actually a great book and called God Grades and

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Speaker 2: Graduation that came out in the last couple of years

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Speaker 2: that shows the difference in life outcomes for young people

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Speaker 2: who have a personal faith commitment versus those that don't.

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Speaker 2: So you can talk about faith and what it means

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Speaker 2: in your life without proselytizing, right, So you can you

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Speaker 2: can say to a young person, you know, as you

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Speaker 2: make decisions over the course of the next ten years

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Speaker 2: of your life, around around relationships, around education, around work,

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Speaker 2: even around religious study, we can share data with our students.

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Speaker 2: It says, these are the outcomes for young people who

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Speaker 2: adopted a certain religion practiced it in a certain way,

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Speaker 2: and these are the outcomes, and and here here outcomes

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Speaker 2: for kids who haven't. Right. But the ultimately you decide,

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Speaker 2: you're the architect of your own life. So we can

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Speaker 2: do it in such a way that we're not proselytizing

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Speaker 2: in a given religion. Because we are a public charter school,

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Speaker 2: but there's still ways to introduce the idea. And what's

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Speaker 2: interesting is that for a lot of our families, at

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Speaker 2: least here in the Bronx, a lot of our students

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Speaker 2: actually come from families where there is a faith story.

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Speaker 2: So it's not in some ways a lot of our

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Speaker 2: parents are choosing our school because of the things that's interesting. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: because we're organized around the cardinal virtues, which for some

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Speaker 2: you know, there is sort of a Christianity based sort

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Speaker 2: of foundation, even though courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom are secular.

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Speaker 2: But I think many parents actually like that. They like

432
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Speaker 2: that there's a grounding in these virtues of moral excellence.

433
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:49,480
Speaker 2: And so I think I think there are more and

434
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:54,439
Speaker 2: more families that if we shared with them here the

435
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 2: benefits were not of practicing a faith commitment in your life.

436
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,679
Speaker 2: Here is we're not saying you must do it, but

437
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,320
Speaker 2: we're sharing with your kids this is what the likely

438
00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,720
Speaker 2: outcomes are. I think most parents and kids would appreciate

439
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,320
Speaker 2: being empowered to then make decisions in their own lives.

440
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,200
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you talk about being empowered, you also have the

441
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 1: kids recite I AM statements.

442
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:22,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's something that's.

443
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,119
Speaker 1: Important, and to me, I think that's very important because

444
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,119
Speaker 1: I think so many of our kids today are told

445
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 1: to say, I am depressed, I am suffering from anxiety,

446
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,680
Speaker 1: I am unsure of who I am, and those can

447
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,000
Speaker 1: really I AM statements can be powerful both directions, and

448
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,480
Speaker 1: I think when you talked about social media, a lot

449
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,880
Speaker 1: of those places kids end up those dark corners, are

450
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,240
Speaker 1: giving them really negative I AM statements. But you talk

451
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,440
Speaker 1: about how to empower kids with those statements. To tell

452
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:52,680
Speaker 1: us before I let you go, if you can tell

453
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:54,080
Speaker 1: us a little bit about that, because.

454
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 2: I'd love to hear about it. Well, Yeah, because we

455
00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,760
Speaker 2: want our students to get a sense of what we

456
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,880
Speaker 2: mean by these cardinals virtues. So like so the eye statement,

457
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:07,159
Speaker 2: for example, with justice, I uphold our common humanity and

458
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:12,639
Speaker 2: honor the inherent dignity of each individual. Those are powerful words.

459
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,840
Speaker 2: And even when you see all the conflict going on

460
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,159
Speaker 2: in the world right now, part of the issue is

461
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 2: that people aren't honoring the inherent dignity of each individual.

462
00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:23,760
Speaker 2: That's why it makes you capable of doing these horrific

463
00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 2: things that we're seeing. So we want to teach our

464
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,480
Speaker 2: students that you don't have to go down that path.

465
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:31,440
Speaker 2: But part of the way to do that is to

466
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,920
Speaker 2: not just say these words courage, justice, you know, temperance,

467
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 2: and wisdom, but define them and then pick books and

468
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:44,440
Speaker 2: literature and have experiences where we can have these eye

469
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,320
Speaker 2: statements play out in the real world, and so our

470
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 2: young people internalize what it means to reject victimhood. You know,

471
00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:56,480
Speaker 2: it's our for courage and boldly persevere even in times

472
00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:00,639
Speaker 2: of uncertainty and struggle. You're not a victim. You have agency,

473
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,920
Speaker 2: you have power. One of the poems that our students

474
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,840
Speaker 2: are going to learn is Invictus by William Ernest Henley.

475
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,119
Speaker 2: If you've never read this poem, it's an incredible allegory

476
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:15,639
Speaker 2: about overcoming adversity. But the last two lines of this

477
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:20,800
Speaker 2: poem are I am the master of my fate, I

478
00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:25,440
Speaker 2: am the captain of my soul. It's just so energizing

479
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 2: when you're seeing a group of students saying these words,

480
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,200
Speaker 2: because it's not just words, it's what they believe about

481
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,280
Speaker 2: their lives, and they know that they have power. It

482
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:37,879
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that they're not going to face obstacles, but

483
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,920
Speaker 2: they know that they have the ability to overcome those obstacles.

484
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 2: And for us, you know, it starts with the virtues,

485
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 2: the I statements, you know, even the cell phone policies,

486
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,520
Speaker 2: who they are not distracted. It's like, all of these

487
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:56,080
Speaker 2: things together is how you create a culture of moral excellence,

488
00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 2: academic excellence, and behavioral excellence. And so that's what we

489
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,959
Speaker 2: are seeking to achieve here. And you know, I'm just

490
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:06,880
Speaker 2: excited for the opportunity to share it.

491
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,440
Speaker 1: No, I mean, this has been so enlightening, honestly, even

492
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:14,040
Speaker 1: as a parent just thinking about these things and talking

493
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,160
Speaker 1: to my kids in a different way. But you know,

494
00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:18,440
Speaker 1: it's funny because I'm sitting here thinking about this and

495
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 1: I'm like, everything you're saying, I could easily step back

496
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,880
Speaker 1: and say, well, this is pretty common sense. I mean,

497
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,360
Speaker 1: it seems pretty obvious. But we have gotten so far

498
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:33,959
Speaker 1: away from this. It's like an anomaly to see someone

499
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:36,400
Speaker 1: talking like this. And I just think the blessing you

500
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 1: are to the students in the Bronx is awesome, and

501
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,240
Speaker 1: thank you for doing this. Thank you for sharing this

502
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,520
Speaker 1: with us today, because I know that the people who

503
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:47,600
Speaker 1: are listening are going to walk away from this and

504
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:49,680
Speaker 1: go man, I need to make some changes with my

505
00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:53,400
Speaker 1: kids or with the kids I'm teaching, but good positive changes.

506
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:55,680
Speaker 1: I mean I am. I'm like, I'm going to go

507
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,240
Speaker 1: home and talk to my kids about talking about themselves

508
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:02,440
Speaker 1: like this, you know, knowing that they can overcome, because

509
00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,320
Speaker 1: I think we started this with my daughter saying that

510
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:08,200
Speaker 1: about high school, and honestly, I really was like, man,

511
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,760
Speaker 1: high school's tough, but that's exactly what she needs to say.

512
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,360
Speaker 1: I can get yes, exactly, I will get right.

513
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,640
Speaker 2: And then we help them with the strategies to do that.

514
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,800
Speaker 2: Young people want to succeed, you know. I think I

515
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 2: think sometimes we as adults just fall down on the

516
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:27,360
Speaker 2: job and we refuse to impart these messages like oh, yeah,

517
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 2: you're such a victim, oh the mental trauma, you know,

518
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,160
Speaker 2: and it's like we've forgotten terrible we've forgotten out the

519
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:38,360
Speaker 2: importance of our role as parents, as grown ups, as

520
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:40,720
Speaker 2: the adults.

521
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,880
Speaker 1: Who I think sometimes we're even saying, you think you've

522
00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,640
Speaker 1: had a bad dad, bad you know, it's easy to

523
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:47,520
Speaker 1: get sucked in.

524
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,400
Speaker 2: The oppression Olympics, you know, we start to we valorize

525
00:30:52,640 --> 00:31:00,680
Speaker 2: victimhood over achievement and determination and we are determined here look,

526
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:04,560
Speaker 2: you can. You can, like Martin Luther King said during

527
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,760
Speaker 2: the Civil rights era, you know, you know, you can

528
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:09,640
Speaker 2: be a victim. But that doesn't mean you have to

529
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:15,200
Speaker 2: take on a victim mindset. It's very important, very important.

530
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:19,280
Speaker 2: You can face adversity, face trauma, but the moment that

531
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,240
Speaker 2: you succumb that you This is Victor Frankel, you know,

532
00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:24,520
Speaker 2: man Search for Meeting, which is an incredible book about

533
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,160
Speaker 2: when he was in the Holocaust. He said, the one

534
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 2: thing you always own, no one can take it away

535
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:36,640
Speaker 2: from you, is your ability to respond to a tough situation.

536
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,080
Speaker 2: You may not be able to control the environment around you,

537
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,920
Speaker 2: but you control your ability to respond to it. It's

538
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,320
Speaker 2: such a simple and subtle but fundamentally important message for

539
00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:52,800
Speaker 2: our kids for how you can gain control and overcome

540
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 2: whatever challenge you face in your life.

541
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:58,120
Speaker 1: So much so I love it. Thank you so much

542
00:31:58,160 --> 00:31:59,760
Speaker 1: for being here with us today, and thank you for

543
00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 1: taking you meet to school today. Ian wrote, I appreciate

544
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,000
Speaker 1: it really quick. Before we go, where can people get

545
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 1: your books?

546
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,240
Speaker 2: Oh? Well, my book agency is everywhere. Then it's on Amazon,

547
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,920
Speaker 2: good Reads, Barnes, and Noble. But it's a great book,

548
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:15,920
Speaker 2: and you know it's all about how to help young

549
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:21,360
Speaker 2: people overcome the victimhood narrative and discover their own pathway

550
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:26,160
Speaker 2: to power. And I lay out my framework around family, religion, education,

551
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,320
Speaker 2: and entrepreneurship. And you know, I have to say, I'm

552
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 2: really pleased at how folks are responding to it because

553
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,680
Speaker 2: it's a direct answer to a lot of the nihilistic,

554
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 2: in my view, destructive narratives that are out there hurting kids.

555
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:44,520
Speaker 2: And this is something much more empowering and inspiring.

556
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:47,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I'd say, even if you think you're immune

557
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 1: to it or your kids are immune to it, there

558
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 1: are forces out there that are finding them and you

559
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,040
Speaker 1: need to be that person in their corner telling them

560
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,560
Speaker 1: they can overcome. So I appreciate you. I'm so grateful

561
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 1: you came on, Ian Roe. Make sure you check out

562
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:03,720
Speaker 1: his book and we'd love to have you back sometime.

563
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:05,880
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you very much, Tutor.

564
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:08,240
Speaker 1: Yes, and thank you all for joining us on the

565
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 1: Tutor Dixon Podcast. For this episode and others, go to

566
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,560
Speaker 1: tutordisonpodcast dot com. You can subscribe right there, or head

567
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:17,600
Speaker 1: over to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

568
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,200
Speaker 1: get your podcasts and join us the next time on

569
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,960
Speaker 1: the Tutor Dixon Podcast, have a blessed day,