Delia Armstrong-Busby - The Absence Addiction Program

Publisher: Adventures In Learning K12 Inc

email:

P.O. Box 10383

80932

ISBN: 9781386387282

I am convinced that the cycle of self-destructiveness can be ameliorated even when family cannot be available. I have many years of personal and professional experience to back up my belief that self-defeating cycles can be interrupted with the help of other significant people in a persons life. Breaking cycles is not about blaming others. Its about utilizing whatever healthy resources are available; its about not being engulfed and consumed by victimization; its about realizing ones dreams for success in spite of obstacles.

All human beings have the right to have a chance at life and the opportunity to break out of self-defeating patterns as early in their lives as possible. Ms. Armstrong-Busbys workbook is about providing this opportunity and chance at a productive life.

This workbook is a powerful tool to assist in breaking self-defeating patterns of absenteeism. Its about realizing the potential and unique value of each student. Ms. Armstrong-Busby looks beyond the mask of truancy, to the student who is lost in a sea of confusion and not only needs, but most importantly wants guidance out of the murky waters. This workbook is about hope and faith in our youths and the belief that with a little bit of help from people who care and who spend a significant amount of time with our children, we can help the student break the cycle of school absenteeism, a necessary prerequisite for achieving success in life.

I am very impressed with Ms. Armstrong-Busbys commitment to, and respect for our youths. Through her workbook, she has provided detailed guidance to teachers, counselors, principals, and other school administrators, on ways to break the cycle of self-defeating patterns that some students may unknowingly be caught up in. She challenges educators to dispel their own rigidly held beliefs about who and what contributes to the opportunity for students to become successful. Her paradigm of the Absence Addiction Cycle, is well thought out; and with accuracy, describes how self-esteem and the lack thereof, play a part in the spiral of depression, despair and ultimately apathy. Her intervention strategies are equally well thought out and on target in regards to attacking an insidious problem in our schools today.

Every child deserves a chance at a productive life and an opportunity for success. We all play a part in providing that chance for our youths. The support given by educators and other significant persons in a childs life, is especially important when our children, through no fault of their own, cannot turn to family for support and encouragement. To send the message to our children that it is the sole responsibility of their parents to see that they achieve academic success, is in my belief, blaming the victim and can potentially extinguish their light of hope. This attitude only communicates to the child that he or she must face life on his or her own, without the opportunity to develop effective strategies for facing academic and future lifes challenges.

Without a doubt, Ms. Armstrong-Busbys workbook provides an exceptional model to help insure that our children will not be abandoned if they find themselves in self-defeating patterns. The workbook provides a practical guide for helping the student throughout his or her lifetime.

In summary, the workbook provides challenges and rewards for all who adopt this paradigm for breaking what would become an addictive cycle of self-defeatism.

Let us ail maintain hope for the worlds children. Let us all share a part in the exciting adventure of creating the best next future generation of leaders that we can. Let us all share a part in breaking cycles!

Deborah Nunally-Blowe, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist/Writer

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Absence Addiction Program. Developed over a fourteen year period, the Absence Addiction Program is an outgrowth of a dropout investigation that originated in the mid-seventies with high school dropouts in Colorado Springs, Colorado school districts were surveyed to discover why they left school. Over fifty percent of those surveyed responded. The thoughts and feelings they shared provided valuable insights into how the dropout views the school experience. The story that emerged was of an unhappy relationship that expressed itself {not surprisingly) as conflict with teachers, administrators, and peers. Respondents expressed a sense of not belonging; and for these young people, not belonging was painful. The Absence Addiction Program provides a way to address this pain and alienation. It provides a means for arriving at a sense of self respect and personal control and responsibility while keeping dropouts (and potential dropouts) in the school setting.

The Absence Addiction Program should properly be thought of as a process: a process that allows participants to alter, and eventually abandon dysfunctional behaviors (truancy, academic failure, inappropriate social interactions) in favor of more rewarding pursuits. The change process begins with the participants decision to enter the program. Entry and continuation in the program are voluntary. At the outset, participants decide what behavior needs changing. Absenteeism will be the choice of many. This is the case when the participant realizes that the absences are creating obstacles to personal, academic, and social success. The change process allows the participants to practice new successful behaviors, beginning with regular school and classroom attendance. It also permits participants to practice the skills essential for achieving self-discipline and personal responsibility. Through the practice of healthy, functional behaviors, (regular classroom attendance in the case of chronic truants) and resultant academic success, the participants start to believe in the new identity that comes with practicing success. Their peers and teachers, likewise, begin to see them in a different light; social labels and stigmas that come with being caught up in negative cycles of school behavior no longer seem to fit, and are eventually shed.

The following diagram illustrates the change process:

The Causal Loop: Students addicted to absenteeism are left struggling in a negative cycle. Through the Absence Addiction Program positive cycles can be the reality

We see the self-perpetuating plight of the Absence

Addict. The individual labeled chronic truant is locked in a negative behavioral cyclea causal loop.

Non-attendance can be seen as a starting point for a series of dysfunctional responses, Including apathy, lack of direction/goals, low self-esteem, depression, and academic failure. These responses lead to emotional disconnectedness followed by physical disconnectionin this case, non-attendance. Thus, the addictive cycle is complete: Dysfunctional behavior is both the cause and the effect. The process of replacing the negative cycle with a positive one begins with intervention. The immediate objective of the Program is a behavioral changein this case, increased attendance. The process begins by providing a supportive school setting distinguished by positive interest in the Program participant.