ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 15, 1997 TAG: 9701150094
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PATRICIA SMITH
LIKE ANY good actor, high-school senior Chuck Campobasso, 17, wants to be clear about his motivation. In the skit, he portrays a 22-year-old unmarried father who makes $830 a month, $360 of which goes for child support. Campobasso tackles his brief stint in the limelight with obvious relish - in fact, the football team captain is such a natural ham his sweatshirt should sport a Hormel logo. Clutching the remaining $470 worth of neon-sprayed cardboard greenbacks, he faces a line of other students participating in the teen drama.
``I'm your landlord, and I'm here for the rent,'' says the first person. Campobasso reluctantly hands over a sizable wad of the fake money. Moving down the line, he encounters a bank loan-officer, an insurance agent, the guy at the gas station, a representative of the phone company, a grocery-store checker and a clothing salesman, all demanding their monthly share of the loot. Soon the cardboard cash is gone. Our hapless consumer is 20 bucks in the hole. At the end of the line, a young woman says, ``Hi, I'm your best friend. Wanna go out tonight?''
Campobasso shrugs theatrically, says, ``I can't, I'm broke,'' takes a bow, and the amateur thespians return to their seats amid scattered applause. Lesson learned - ya can't spend whatcha ain't got.
For young men who don't know the many ways in which becoming a father can rock their world, the simple lesson can be a mindblower. And the 26 student volunteers gathered at Medford (Mass.) High School weren't preaching to each other. They were being taught how to teach. The skits and exercises were part of a training program in the ``Dads Make a Difference'' curriculum, a Minnesota-based paternity-education project in which older kids teach younger about the importance of fathers in children's lives. In about three weeks, the Medford High students will team up in the town's three middle schools to spread the word about the legal, financial and emotional responsibilities of being a father.
Since fathers are getting younger and younger, that's one hell of a good idea.
Bringing the program to Massachusetts was the idea - no, obsession - of Lois Bronnenkant, the community relations and public outreach coordinator for the state Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Division.
``Publishing lists of `deadbeat dads' is one thing,'' she says. ``But our mandate is to economically protect the children of the commonwealth, so it behooves us to tell them what to expect as a parent, at any age. And we need to tell them sooner rather than later.
``I've been in court with young men who hear `The paternity test has indicated that you are the biological father of this child,' and it's like somebody knocked all the wind out of them. All the bravado and swagger is gone. All of a sudden they're just scared kids who've had this unfamiliar role thrust on him. And they have no idea what it means, what their responsibilities are, where they can go for help.
For Bronnenkant, the concept of cross-age teaching is what makes ``Dads Make a Difference'' such a groundbreaker.
``In my search for a curriculum, I've seen programs that tell kids, warn them, scare the hell out of them. In Minnesota, they went to the kids and made them part of the development of the program. Then they asked them, `Who do you want to hear this from?' And they said, `From other kids.'''
``Me and my friends thought it would just be a cool thing to do,'' says Campobasso. ``I understood what we were talking about, but I really liked learning the techniques to get across to little kids. I can't wait till we're in the schools.''
Junior Gina Marano agrees. ``At first, I thought there'd be a lot of people telling me things I'd already heard. But I think we all learned something, even though we're being trained to teach other kids.''
Her face clouds for a second as she brushes back a lock of hair. ``I might have had a better relationship with my own father if he'd taken this workshop.''
Patricia Smith is a columnist for the Boston Globe.
- The Boston Globe
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB