Kids need structure Colin Powell

what I want to do this afternoon is

something a little different than what’s

scheduled foreign policy you can figure

that out by watching I don’t know Rachel

Maddow or somebody but I want to talk

about young people and structure young

people and structured this was last

Wednesday afternoon at a school in

Brooklyn New York a cristo rey high

school run by the Jesuits and i was

talking to this group of students and

take a look at them they were around me

in three directions you’ll notice that

almost all of them are minority you’ll

notice that the building is rather

austere it’s an old New York school

building nothing fancy still have old

blackboards and whatnot there are about

300 kids in this school and the school

has been going now for four years and

they’re about to graduate their first

class 22 people are graduating and all

22a going to college they all come from

homes where there is for the most part

just one person in the home usually the

mother of the grandmother and that’s it

and they come here for their education

and for their structure now I had this

picture taken and it was put up on my

Facebook page last week and somebody

wrote in why does he have him standing

at attention like that and then they

said but he looks good he does look good

because kids need structure and the

trick i play in all of my school

appearances is that when i get through

with my little homily to the kids I then

invite them to ask questions and when

they raised their hands it’s come up and

I make them come up and stand in front

of me I make them stand at attention

like a soldier put your arm straight

down to your side look up open your eyes

stared straight ahead and speak out your

question loudly so everybody can hear no

slouching no pants hanging down none of

that stuff you know and this young man

his name is last name is Cruz he loved

it it’s all over his facebook page and

it’s going viral

and so so people thinking I’m being

unkind to this kid no we’re having a

little fun and the thing about it I’ve

done this for years the younger they are

the more fun it is when I get six and

seven-year-olds in a group I have to

figure out how to keep them quiet you

know that they’ll always start yakking

and so I play a little game with them

before I make them stand at attention

it’s now listen in the army when we want

you to pay attention we have a command

it’s called at ease it means everybody

be quiet and pay attention listen up do

you understand uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

let’s practice everybody start chatting

and I let him go for about 10 seconds

then I go Eddie’s hmm yes general yes

general try with your kids see if it

works you know I don’t think so but

anyway it’s a game I play and it comes

obviously for my military experience

because for the majority of my adult

life I worked with young kids teenagers

with guns I call him and we would bring

him into the army and the first thing we

would do is to put him in a environment

of structure put them in ranks make them

all wear the same clothes cut all their

hair off so they look alike make sure

that they are standing in ranks we teach

the medical right face left face so they

can obey instructions and know the

consequences of not obeying instructions

it gives them structure and then we

introduce into somebody who they come to

hate immediately the drill sergeant and

they hate him and the drill sergeant

starts screaming at them and telling do

all kinds of awful things but then the

most amazing thing happens over time

once that structure is developed once

they understand the reason for something

once they understand mama ain’t here son

you know I’m your worst nightmare I’m

your daddy and your mommy

you know and that’s just the way it is

you got that son yeah and then when I

ask you a question or only three

possible answers yes or no sir no excuse

sir don’t start telling me why you

didn’t do something it’s yes sir no sir

no excuse sir you didn’t shave but Sir

don’t tell me how often you scraped your

face this morning i’m telling you you

didn’t shave no excuse sir atta boy

you’re learning fast but you’d be amazed

at what you can do with them once you

put them in that structure in 18 weeks

they have a skill they are mature and

you know what they come to admire the

drill sergeant and they never forget the

drill sergeant they come to respect him

and so we need more of this kind of

structure and respect in the lives of

our children I spent a lot of time with

youth groups and I say to people when

does the education process begin we’re

always talking about let’s fix the

school’s let’s do more for our teachers

let’s put more computers in our schools

this now let’s get it all online that

isn’t the full whole answer it’s part of

the answer but the real answer begins

with bringing a child to the school with

structure in that child’s heart and soul

to begin with when does the learning

process begin to begin in first grade no

no it begins the first time a child and

a mother’s arms looks up at the mother

and says oh this must be my mother she’s

the one who feeds me oh yeah when I

don’t feel so good down there she kind

of you know takes care of me it’s her

language I will learn and at that moment

they shut out all the other languages

that they could be learning at that age

but by three months they that’s her and

if the person doing it whether it’s a

mother or grandmother whoever’s doing it

that is when the education process

begins that’s when language begins

that’s when love begins that’s when

structure begins that’s when you start

to imprint on the child that you are

special you are different from every

other child in the world and we’re going

to read to you a child that has not been

read to is in danger when that child

gets to school a child who doesn’t know

his or her colors who doesn’t have to

tell time doesn’t that a tie shoes

doesn’t have to do those things and does

how to do something that goes by a word

that was drilled into me as a kid mind

mind your manners mind you’re adults

mind what you’re saying this is the way

children are raised properly and I

watched my own young grandchildren now

come along and they’re much to the

distress of my my children they are

acting just like we did you know like

they did you imprint them and that’s

what you have to do to prepare children

for education and for school and i’m

working in all the energy i have to sort

of communicate this message that we need

preschool we need head start we need

prenatal care the education process

begins even before the child is born and

if you don’t do that you’re going to

have difficulty and we are having

difficulties and so many of our

communities in so many of our schools

where kids are coming to first grade and

their eyes are blazing they got the

little knapsack on and they’re ready to

go and then they realize they’re not

like the other first graders who know

books and then read to can do their

alphabet and by the third grade the kids

who didn’t have that structure and

minding in the beginning start to

realize they’re behind and what do they

do they act it out they acted out and

they’re on their way to jail well

they’re on their way to being dropouts

it’s predictable if you’re not at the

right reading level at third grade you

are a candidate for jail at age 18 and

we have a highest incarceration rate

because we’re not getting our kids the

proper start in life the last chapter of

my book is called the gift of a good

start gift of a good start every child

or to have a good start in life I was

privileged to have that kind of good

start I was not a great student I was a

public school kid in New York City and I

didn’t do well at all I have my entire

New York City Board of Education

transcript from kindergarten through

college I wanted it when I was writing

my first book I wanted to see if my

memory was correct my god it was

straight see everywhere and I finally

mounts through high school got into the

city college of new york with a 78.3

average which i shouldn’t have been

allowed end with and then i started out

in engineering and not only lasted six

months and then I went into geology

rocks for jocks this is easy then I

found ROTC I found something that I did

well in something that I love doing and

I found a group of youngsters like me

who felt the same way and so my whole

life then was dedicated to rotc in the

military and I say to young kids

everywhere as you’re growing up and as

is structures being developed inside of

you always be looking for that which you

do well in that which you love doing and

when you find those two things together

man you got it that’s what’s going on

and that’s when I found now the

authorities at ccny were getting tired

of me being there I had been there four

and a half going on five years and my

grades were not doing particularly well

and I was an occasional difficulties

with the administration and so they said

but he does so well in ROTC look he gets

straight A’s in that but not anything

else and so they said look that’s a good

let’s let’s take his ROTC grades and

roll him into his overall GPA and see

what happens and they did it brought me

up to two point oh

yep I said it’s good enough for

government work given to the army will

never see him again it’ll look silly and

so they shipped me off to the army and

lo and behold many years later I’m

considered one of the greatest sons the

city college of new york has ever had so

I tell young people everywhere anyway

you start in life it’s what you do with

life that determines where you end up in

life and you are blessed to be living in

a country that no matter where you start

you have opportunities as long as you

believe in yourself you believe in the

society in the country and you believe

that you can self improve and educate

yourself as you go along and that’s the

key to success but it begins with the

gift of a good start you don’t get that

gift each and every one of our kids if

we don’t invest at the earliest age

we’re going to be running in the

difficulties it’s why we have a dropout

rate of roughly twenty-five percent

overall and almost fifty percent of our

minority population living in low-income

areas because they’re not getting the

gift of a good start my gift of a good

start was not only being in a nice

family a good family but having a family

that said to me now listen we came to

this country in banana books in 19 20

and 19 24 we work like dogs down in the

garment industry every single day we’re

not doing it so that you could stick

something up your nose or get in trouble

and don’t even think about dropping out

if I’ve ever gone home and told those

immigrant people that you know I’m tired

of school I’m dropping out they say

we’re dropping you out we’ll get another

kid

they had expectations for all of the

cousins in the extended family of

immigrants that lived in the South Bronx

but they had more than just expectations

for us they stuck into our hearts like a

dagger a sense of shame don’tchu shame

this family sometimes I would get in

trouble and my parents were coming home

and I was in my room waiting what what’s

going to happen and I would sit there

saying myself okay look take the belt

and hit me but God don’t give me that

shame the family bit again it devastated

me when my mother did that to me and I

also had this extended Network children

need a network children need to be part

of a tribe of family community in my

case it was aunts who lived in all of

these tenement buildings I don’t know

how many of you New Yorkers but there

were these tenement buildings and these

women were always hanging out one of the

windows leaning on a pillow they never

left I so help me God I grew up walking

those streets and they were always there

they never went to the bathroom they

never cook they never did anything but

what they did was keep us in play they

kept us in play and they didn’t care

whether you became a doctor or a lawyer

or general and they never expected any

generals in the family as long as you

got an education and then you got a job

don’t give us any of that

self-actualization stuff you get a job

and get out of the house

we’ve got time you had time to waste for

that and then you can support us that’s

that that’s the role of you guys and so

it’s so essential that we kind of put

this culture back into our families all

families and it is so important that all

of you here today who are successful

people and I’m sure have wonderful

families and children and grandchildren

it’s not enough you’ve got to reach out

and back and find kids like mr. Cruz who

can make it if you give them the

structure if you reach back and help if

you mentor if you invest in Boys and

Girls Clubs if you work with your school

system make sure it’s the best school

system and not just your kids school but

the school uptown in Harlem not just

downtown montessori on the west side all

of us have to have a commitment to do

that we’re not just investing in the

kids we’re investing in our future we’re

going to be a minority majority country

and one more generation those that we

call minorities now we’re going to be

the majority and we have to make sure

that they are ready to be the majority

we have to make sure they’re ready to be

the leaders of this great country of

ours a country that is like no other a

country that amazes me every single day

a country that’s fractious we’re always

arguing with each other as we that’s how

the system is supposed to work it’s a

country of such contrast but it’s a

nation of nations we touch every nation

every nation touches us we are a nation

of immigrants that’s why we need sound

immigration policy it’s ridiculous not

to have a sound immigration policy to

welcome those who want to come here and

be part of this great nation or we can

send back home with an education to help

their people rise up out of poverty one

of the great stories I love to tell is

about my love of going to my own town of

New York and walking up Park Avenue in a

beautiful day and admiring everything

and seeing all the people go by from all

over the world but I always have to do

is stop at one of the corners and get a

hot dog from the immigrant Pushcart

peddlers

gotta have a dirty water dog and no

matter where I am or what I’m doing it

got to do that I even did it on our

Secretary of State I’d come out of my

suite at the waldorf-astoria be walking

up the street and I would hit around

55th street looking for the immigrant

pushcart peddler in those days I have

five bodyguards around me and three new

york city police cars with role

alongside to make sure they did it

nobody whacked me while I was going up

Park Avenue and I would order the hot

dog from the guy and he’d start to fix

it and then he look around the

bodyguards in the police question I’ve

got a green card I’ve got a green card

but now I’m alone I’m alone I got no

bodyguards I got no police got to hit

nothing but I gotta have my hot dog I

did it just last week it was on a

tuesday evening down by columbus circle

and the scene repeats itself so often

I’ll go up and ask my hot dog and the

guy will fix it and as he’s finishing

he’ll say I know you i see you on

television you’re uh were you gentle pal

yes yes oh and the money no general you

can’t pay me have been paid America has

paid me never forget where it came from

but now I’m an American sir thank you

accept the generosity continue up the

street and washes over me my god the

same country that greeted my parents

this way 90 years ago so we are stole

that magnificent country but we are

fueled by young people coming up from

every land in the world and is our

obligation as contributing citizens to

this wonderful country of ours to make

sure that no child gets left behind

thank you very much