"The real news is that youth and adults working together can transform the culture."
—James Vollbracht
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James Vollbracht is frequently in the news as part of
a new book promotional tour or as a featured keynote
speaker at a youth conference, organization or school.
However, our favorite article is from Delta Airlines Sky
Magazine where James was featured as "Frequent Flyer
of the Month" in August, 2000.
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James Vollbracht
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"During the school year," a woman says, "my daily walk would always take me by a group of teenagers who hung out on the corner smoking across from the school. I used to make a wide circle around them, hoping there would be no trouble. But after hearing how important it was to build relationships with kids in our daily lives, I decided to say hello to them the next time I passed by. I can't say I wasn't a little nervous, because I was. But I was determined to make contact with them. "On the first day, I almost chickened out. But when I got a couple of feet away from them, I cleared my throat, and although it must have surprised them as much as it did me, I let out a week 'Hello' and a forced smile. About half a block later the adrenaline was still pumping. But as I continued, I realized that I hadn't been beaten up, accosted or robbed, so I decided to keep it up. "After the first week, a few of them looked at me and started saying 'Hi' back. After the second week, I slowed down and started exchanging small talk. "At the end of the third week, they actually invited me to hang out on the corner with them! Now I stop and talk with them all the time. "And if I miss my walk one day, they ask, "Where were you!?" James Vollbracht has heard this story, and many like it, before. He's told them quite a few times himself. Such stories have led Vollbracht to conclude that the real crisis facing our youth is disconnectedness. And such stories have led him to a career aimed at solving this crisis, at reconnecting the generations. Chances are you've flown with James Vollbracht. This book author, lecturer and workshop leader has chalked up nearly 1 million miles, all domestic, aboard Delta flights. A million miles. That's the mileage of the flights of Apollo 10 and 11, combined. Vollbracht knows how to make use of his hours spent in the air. "All my books were written at 35,000 feet," he says. And he knows how to make use of his time on the ground. His next book, to be called Stopping at Every Lemonade Stand (Viking/Penguin), is due out next year and is the culmination of 16 years of work flying Delta around the country, talking to community leaders about how to make children feel like valued members of society. The human infrastructure has broken down, leaving our children vulnerable, Vollbracht argues. To set this right, a million miles hardly seems too far to travel. In appearances around the country and through his organization, Higher Ground Associates, Vollbracht spreads the gospel of rescuing our youth: "I weave stories along with research to tell how ordinary people are doing extraordinary things to create a culture that is loving, healthy and safe for our kids, and hence loving, caring and safe for us all." The solution can be simple but powerful and often starts with saying hello. Senior citizens in Duluth, Minnesota, have pledged to smile at all teenagers they pass on the street; police in Seattle eat lunch with the kids at school; a grocery store owner in New Jersey has created family-friendly checkout lines, with no candy, tobacco or sleazy tabloids. Vollbracht outlines strategies for rebuilding the circles of support for children. The concentric circles radiate out from the child: the individual, the family, the neighborhood, the elders and the community, including institutions of faith, business and government. Although his strategies apply to all children, he admits that the older ones feel the most alienated. "As I talk with teenagers across America," Vollbracht relates, "one thing is evident: They do not feel valued. They feel like they're the enemy. Black kids have told me how humiliating it is to walk down their neighborhood streets and see people in cars at stop signs and stoplights check to make sure their windows are rolled up and their doors locked. White kids in rural Ohio have told me that they're not allowed to shop in certain stores." Vollbracht finds that many people, especially senior citizens, avoid shopping in places were they may run into a roving pack of teens with spiked hair or dreadlocks. "I try to get people to see through the costumes," Vollbracht says, "and see youth as participants in our culture, not the problem." All children are at risk, Vollbracht argues, not just those in the inner city. "There's nothing to do" was the universal lament he heard from children, urban and rural. In response, Vollbracht and two associates founded YouthReach International, an organization that reaches out to youth in foreign countries. It gives kids with nothing to do something to accomplish, including designing the logo, writing the mission statement, helping raise the money and planning the trips. "It's adult and youth-driven together," Vollbracht says. "Adults provide mentorships, and youth provide passion." The YouthReach group in Bozeman, Montana, has made several trips to an orphanage in Hermosillo, Mexico. There are plans for chapters in Seattle and as far away as Sweden. A former schoolteacher and a father of four, Vollbracht has firsthand knowledge of kids. He has put his experience to good use in his three books for children, each designed to teach a principle or value from rich spiritual traditions across the world. The Way of the Circle, set in ancient China, teaches the moral that what you set sail in a river, be it love or hate, will always return to you. In Her Father's Garden, a Tibetan girl dreams of a garden flourishing behind her father's house. Tended with kindness and patience, the garden eventually yields the hope and happiness lacking in her village. Small Acts of Kindness, set in the time of Jesus Christ, tells how one inconsequential act - a hug - can have consequences beyond imagination. Vollbracht also wrote The Way of Virtue: An Ancient Remedy to Heal the Modern Soul, a book of Confucian wisdom. The Way of Virtue rescues Confucius from the confines of fortune cookies by representing his teachings in story form. Each page takes a lesson from the writings attributed to the Chinese philosopher K'ung Fu-tzu and presents it as a modern parable, a sort of Won Ton Soup for the Soul. If Confucianism could tame the warlords of China in the fifth century B.C., Vollbracht figures, it can help us sort out our chaotic lives. So that 50ish man in the seat next to you tapping on his laptop may not be filling out a spreadsheet or writing a business memo. Look over his shoulder and you may gain insight into the wisdom of Confucius, or read a delightful moral tale written for children, or learn how our communities can do more to protect the fragile psyches of young people. At some point over the plains of Nebraska or the peaks of the Rockies, he may clench his fist and whisper "Yes!" to himself. That's because he's just started his second million miles. |
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community
resources
Here are some more great resources that teach effective strategies to create a kid-friendly culture. Search Institute Community Partnerships With Youth, Inc. Connect For Kids Spiritual Eldering Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Faith Inkubators Special Kids Saddle Lake Boy's and Girl's Club: Developing Youth Potential Through Partnerships
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