Tums Can't Fix an Ulcer

For years, I thought I had grown up in a community that was healthy, supportive, and looking to move forward. I was convinced that my hometown was a safe place for me to grow and make mistakes. After reading chapter two of Block’s text, my thoughts are beginning to shift in a new direction. Is any average community in this day really trying to provide an environment that allows each individual to succeed?

Block proves a very good point in chapter two, when he says that communities find ways to treat the symptoms of what are actually much deeper problems. We come up with ways, as a community, to make educational distractions from the problems at hand. Instead of creating solutions for the issues, we tend to cover them and almost pretend that they do not exist. Recreational sports, for example, simply cannot be the solution to underage drinking or gang violence. However, they turn heads into a positive direction, taking the focus off much more serious, deeper issues. (And all this time I thought I was just enjoying soccer!)

Another example I find that portrays this point is the transformation at the Clermont Counseling Center. Once the focus turned away from the patients’ problems, they began to take part in the production of the Center. They started to feel like citizens and not patients. Each individual performed tasks that fit with their strengths. Once this happened, things began running very smoothly and there was a large shift in dynamic at the newly named Center- Phoenix Place.

With things looking this positive, I thought the community had changed for good. As I continued reading, I saw the unfortunate news that the community began to move back to its old ways while other people around them changed positions. When what seemed like a perfect community had other factors thrown into it, it almost cracked and lost its strength. This shows just how complicated and almost unrealistic the idea of a perfect community is. Although they had found places to turn, the issues were still hidden inside. Putting the patients in leadership positions did not change the fact that they were still in need of help. They were treating the symptoms, but were unable to fully resolve any actual issues.

Another idea that is similar to treating the symptoms of a community is discussed in chapter three of the text. Block suggests that communities only take action to limit fear. For example, when a city first experiences a dramatic increase in crimes over a period of time, the mayor will sit down with his/her board members and create a plan of action. One simple ‘solution’ is to build a jail or a prison close by and add more local police officers on duty. Even though a holding place for these dangerous people has been built, the issue of people having the mindset to commit a crime still exists and needs to be addressed.

Most school systems now have to practice mandatory lockdown procedures to keep the students, teachers, and faculty safe in the event of an emergency. If a school is in an area where real lockdowns happen frequently, having this procedure can make members of this community feel safe. Although they are necessary for safety, lockdowns do not eliminate the behaviors that cause them to happen in the first place. The issue at hand is the person doing the action, not the outcome of their actions. If we created communities that focused on the bigger issue and not how to treat the symptoms, these actions would not even come to mind.