INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indianapolis Colts cornerback Marlin Jackson is hoping to play a role in curbing violence among our youth.
Jackson knows the impact a traumatic upbringing can have on a child's life.
He never knew his dad and mom were addicted to drugs. He moved from home to home.
Jackson says he had to fight for the life he wanted. Now he wants to teach the next generation to do the same.
"Good decisions lead to good things happening," Jackson said.
It's all part of his nonprofit, 'Fight for Life Foundation,' that helps kids understand the importance of decision-making.
50 students from a variety of schools in Indianapolis got to partake in a field trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.
The schools in attendance are IPS Innovation Network Schools. They were:
- Sankofa School of Success at Arlington Woods
- Phalen Leadership Academies at IPS School 103
- Phalen Leadership Academies as IPS School 48
The fun was a reward for students who made good decisions in the classroom.
"It is looking within and better understanding yourself, your emotions and what you feel. So you can have that self control," Jackson said.
All of the kids take part in Jackson's 'Building Dreams' program.
It relies on software, to help students track their good decisions in a point system.
The kids have to follow the core values of the program. Each good deed earns points that can be exchanged for incentives.
Not every student got to come on the field trip.
"That's life. Your decisions determine your circumstance," Jackson said. "Sometimes it is out of your control and you have to cope and manage and deal with it and continue to push forward."
Jackson hopes opportunities like these will stop the trend of violence among our youth.
"If you experience trauma sometimes, you are not in the best position to make executive function decisions. You are more fight-flight and your emotions lead," Jackson said. "But you have to teach kids awareness around what they are feeling and when they are being escalated so that they can gain control and better self manage so they can stay away from situations that lead to violence."
Students who earned the trip say it was nice to get out of the classroom.
But that doesn't mean the students weren't learning.
They were focusing on the social and emotional tools needed for kids' success in the future.
"[The program taught me] not to bully, stand up for little people, and make good grades," Latonya Jackson, a student at Sankofa School of Success at Arlington Woods said.
To learn more on the fight for life foundation, click here.
