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