The Language of Investment: Saying Goodbye to ‘At Risk’ Populations

The following exchange may sound familiar to you. Somebody comments “What’s up with that guy”, the answer is “Oh, he’s at risk”, and then everyone stands around nodding their heads in an understanding manner. Or perhaps you’ve seen something like this. A vice-principal of an Ontario high school with a big heart for struggling students created an annual event taking a mix of at-risk students and senior student counselors to a camp setting to build constructive relationships and encourage greater school participation. However the at-risk students were told they had been chosen for a leadership camp and the counselors told it was an at-risk camp and to keep it confidential. Many students each year would clue in once they stepped on the bus and saw who else was there that this was no leadership camp, but go with the flow because it meant not having to be in class, until one year a senior counselor spilled the beans and word got around school. The bus that arrived for the program that year was half full, many of the participants having pulled out of the trip with resentment, hurt feelings, and some four letter words for those who decided to take pity on them.

The at-risk industry is a diverse entity including correctional services, restorative justice programs,wilderness counseling and therapy, team building, conflict resolution training, and more. At-risk populations are the subject of psychological studies, the focus of fundraisers, and the recipients of public sympathy, disgust and fear. At-risk children, youth and adults are at the centre of a great deal of attention with multiple programs in place for them, so what, aside from lack of funding to provide more programming, could possibly be wrong?

A good place to start answering that question is to ask random people, preferably other than your co workers if you work in the at-risk industry yourself, what comes to mind when they hear the term “at risk”. The answers, you will probably find, become somewhat repetitive after awhile. Poverty, drugs,piercings, and drop-outs are popular responses. Abuse, street-kids, violence, and gangs follow not too far behind. When a teacher, counselor or facilitator uses the term “at risk”, it is important to understand the cultural mindset and mental images that accompany that label.

And this article is not meant to address the act of labeling individuals or to encourage political correctness, but rather to encourage the exploration of overhauling the language we use when we work with participants who are struggling. When somebody is identified as at-risk society generally accepts that as an all encompassing explanation of their behavior or circumstances. But what makes them at-risk.Why have they been identified?