psychology
...just to be alive at the age of 17 to him was considered to be a success. Jackson Ward is a low-income, section 8 housing located 5 min from VCU campus. The population is made up of predominately African Americans, and the house holds are led by single mothers, a majority of its occupants are receiving government assistance, whether it is welfare or food stamp. Crime is rampant in this community, and teenage pregnancy has always been an issue. Kareem has a huge scar on his right biceps and a small scar under his chin, he said where he is from that means toughness ( he received them in a street fight two yrs ago, after being attacked by a rival group from another neighborhood. He talked about how he witnesses his cousin got shot three times in the chest a year ago, and he survived. This young man truly believes that he will not make it to see 30 yrs old. Despite all the hardships and tribulations he has been through Kareem is still excelling in the classroom. His GPA is a 3.1 and he has received a scholarship opportunity to attend Morgan State University, in Maryland and Virginia Union University has also offered him a scholarship to attend. He is on the football team, and is in the Key Club, and Vice President of his school’s National Junior Achievement Program. Despite these wonderful opportunities he has been offered, he said he will most likely not attend college next year. The reason: “My people need me.” He was referring to his family, his girlfriend and future child, and his friends. Kareem said that some people think he needs to be selfish but he says that he just wants to help raise his little brother who has ADHD and needs a male or father figure who he can look up to and that won’t leave his life. Due to the fact that their mom has a full-time job, and a part-time job working an additional 20 hrs week, he is desperately needed at home. Usually he is responsible for dinner on weeknight, and preparing his three younger siblings for bed. Those responsibilities plus other household chores definitely make him the man of the house. I wanted to know what has the biggest impact or effect on the way he lives. Kareem believes that peer-pressure and the absence of his father has given he a lot of emotional problems. He said that it was difficult to be around his peers growing up; he wanted to be accepted by them but at the same time they wanted him to be involved with things he knew was wrong. Kareem admitted smoking marijuana while he was 11 yrs old( just a sixth grader). He said his friends would tease him and refuse to let him hang out with them when he would not smoke weed with them. There were times that he was called “gay” and other derogatory names; because he wasn’t having sex while he was 13. Kareem talked about how it felt to be lonely and be excluded, that there was many nights’ he cried himself too asleep over the things he had done. He said the final straw that made him stand up to his friends was when he was asked to start selling drugs with the rest of the group. He started to think that people were going to label him as a problem child and that he thinks want anyone to have a negative view of him. One of Kareem’s biggest fear was to disappoint his mom, and that when he said he distances himself from those people who didn’t want to see him succeeds. In his eyes peer pressure and bullying are real problems that can destroy a child emotionally, physically for a long time. He said he harbored a lot of frustration and anger and that he vowed to himself to never become close with any child his age. Also, Kareem was affected greatly by the imprisonment of his father. He said he was thrust into the father figure role by the time he was eight. He said there was times that he wanted to talk to his father and say: “Dad’s I Love You.” Having a mother meant a lot to hi...