Letters from the Last Frontier - Alaska, 3

Dear Jodi,

I can only guess as to why a lot of the kids don't want to leave the village and go "see the world" as they say. I guess most of them like the things the way they are. Some leave but many come back after a short stay in some city down south. I guess the village is sort of like a family.

The boys have grown up hunting and fishing like their dads and uncles and like the life for the most part. Even the girls have started to branch out and learn what their brothers have been taught. One of my girl students shot a moose this year.

A lot of the kids talk about being a doctor or a pilot, the opportunities are there, but how much is whimsy remains to be seen. A few of the kids have talked to me about where I live but they are not that interested in the outside world. That surprises me.

One social psychologist that comes to the village now and then told me that many of the kids have a feeling of hopelessness and feel totally unprepared to meet the challenges of the real world. They get scared and come back to the village with baggage they did not have when they left.

For instance the other day there was a burial of a 21 year old boy that died of an over dose in Las Vegas. This happens in the lower 48 too, when a kid leaves a small town for the bright lights, but this is the third kid this year from the village that either died from a self inflicted wound or an overdose of drugs or alcohol.

The school district started a program whereby the kids would be taken to Anchorage for two weeks at a time and taught the rudiments of city life. I thought the program had a lot of potential, but the program failed because of poor administration, programing, and abuse of the facility by some board members and their friends.

Many of the kids have no idea what it is like outside the village other than what they see on TV or videos. I mentioned about mowing my yard the other day and they had no concept of what I was talking about. We have kids here that have never seen a tree. The place is really isolated.

There are some really great leaders in the village and they have a tremendous challenge ahead. We teachers are supposed to be here to help but sometimes I think we only get in the way.

Snapper