Victor Rios is able to work with youth on the fringes who struggle to stay in school because he used to be one of them. He was a gang member, a juvenile delinquent, and a high school dropout.
But in the 18 years that followed, Rios earned his high school diploma, finished college, earned a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, and wrote two books on his life and his research on juvenile delinquency. He now teaches sociology at U.C. Santa Barbara and helps at-risk youth navigate the perils of adolescence.
Rios says finding a teacher or mentor to help, finding a passion or a purpose and passing knowledge on to others are key ways to avoid the gang and drug problems many youth in his area experience today.
Quotes
"He's had my back. I've had his back. He's, like, helped me out a lot. He encourages me, tells me to stay in school, and just get it over with. It will help me out in the future. I trust him" - Hector Gutierrez, age 15
"If, during the time I was on the street as a teenager, someone approached me, an angel came to me and said, hey, hang in there, man, because, when you're 34, you are going to have a beautiful family, a wonderful household, a great job, you are going to be a Ph.D. from Berkeley, you're going to have written two books, and you will be an award-winning professor, I would have laughed and laughed. So now it's my job to let them know that it's not a joke, to let them know that I believe in them the way that my teacher believed in me, to let them know that there are second chances." -Victor Rios, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Warm Up Questions
1. What does the term "juvenile delinquent" mean to you?
2. What is a mentor?
3. Why do you think it's hard for kids to stay in school sometimes?
Discussion Questions
1. According to the video, what was the main factor that helped Victor Rios turn his life around?
2. Do you have a mentor or an adult to look up to? Do you think it does or would make a difference in your life? Why or why not?
3. What does the term "pay it forward" mean? What’s an example of that practice in the video?
Additional Resources
