Setting Young People Up For Success: Norfolk County Sheriff

BRAINTREE, MA — The following letter to the editor was written by Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick W. McDermott.

Happy Spring from the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the youth of Norfolk County. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected each of us differently, and our children and young people are no exception. As we begin to round the corner on COVID-19 and make plans what a “post-COVID” world might look like, I find myself wondering what kinds of challenges this will present to our youth and how we can help them navigate these challenges.

Whether it’s a loss of important socialization opportunities, the difficulties of learning in an online environment, or the stress of navigating a global pandemic as a child, we know that this experience has been trying for even the most resilient young person. But I also believe that it has given our young people an opportunity to see the good that can come from communities coming together to lift one another up, whether in the form of a birthday car parade, a socially distanced food drive, or simply wearing a mask to protect those around you.

It’s my wish that we can continue to embody this feeling of community belonging as vaccines help us transition to the next stage. I hope that we can take what we’ve learned about the importance of public safety, community support, and caring for others and use these lessons to imagine new ways to help set up our young people for success in their lives.

At the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office, we’re investing in Norfolk County’s youth by working hard to make sure they have access to resources that help them make good choices. This includes helping young people to stay or get back on the right path. For example, we are taking steps forward to work with our communities and community organizations to provide resources and support around youth substance use and mental health issues.

One of my priorities for our youth programming is to give young people in Norfolk County every opportunity to develop positive social skills that benefit them and their communities. This includes our Youth Empowering Seniors (YES) program that partners high school students with area seniors to help them better understand modern technologies, as well as our ever-popular Youth Leadership Academy, which helps young people learn the importance of setting goals and challenging themselves through team building exercises, ropes courses, and other intensive activities. In fact, we are in the process of expanding the Youth Leadership Academy outside of our Braintree location to pilot a session this summer in Franklin, in hopes of better serving residents in the southern part of Norfolk County.

We also need to provide more opportunities for our young people to get involved in their communities. This is why we are exploring partnerships with local non-profits that will give high schoolers a chance to volunteer and give back. I believe that volunteerism helps students make good choices, introduces them to people of different backgrounds, and shows them the value of helping others.

We all know that it will be a while before everything will be able to go back to the way it was before. But rather than thinking of this as a loss, I believe we can see this as an opportunity – an opportunity to build a new normal that tackles old problems in new ways, an opportunity for learning and growth, and an opportunity to come together and instill our shared values in the next generation. I look forward to working alongside you to make this happen.