Power......

“All violence… is not power, but the absence of power.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson


My friend Rick Larios sent this quotation around in the wake of the recent shootings in Binghamton, New York. Since “power” is one of the five “Basic Needs” in Choice Theory, Emerson’s words have prompted me to think about power – what it means, how it can be positive or negative, and how people (including students) seek it out in their lives.

One of the ways in which some urban young people seek power is through the creation of their own groups or gangs. I think Choice Theory goes a long way toward explaining the attraction of gangs – given that a gang addresses all five of the “Basic Needs”: 1) safety & security, 2) love & belonging, 3) power, 4) freedom and 5) fun. If we want these young people to see our schools as preferable to gangs, then we need to make schools even more attractive on all five of these dimensions.

Make it a great day!

Steve Tracy