KENNETH JOYNER: It doesn’t matter what background
you come from, every boy needs a positive male role model in his life.
COMM: Raymond Nelson and Kenneth Joyner have
started a unique project for young boys who are students at the Memminger Elementary School
in Charleston.
RAYMOND NELSON: Everyone having a good Friday?
CHILDREN: Yes! KENNETH JOYNER: How was your day? Tell me
some good, tell me some good.
COMM: Their motto is ‘look good, feel good,
do good.’ And they teach important social skills to students, helping them to become
polite young gentleman.
KENNETH JOYNER: I grew up without my father
and that was tough, raised by a single mom. She did a phenomenal job and I just always
wanted to be able to do something to be able to give back.
RAYMOND NELSON: So we came up with the name ‘Boys With A Purpose’ and we said that
we would have the boys meet once a week at the school and the boys dress and go over
social skills, etiquette and proper manners. When introduce yourself to someone, you come
on up. Charles come on up.
RAYMOND NELSON: I’m a stranger, okay? I’ll
just walk up to you. Hey, how is it going, sir?
CHARLES: Good. RAYMOND NELSON: How you doing? What’s your
name? CHARLES MANIGAULT: Charles Manigault.
RAYMOND NELSON: Alright, you’re having a good day?
CHARLES: Yes, sir. RAYMOND NELSON: Alright, alright. Enjoy your
weekend, alright. CHARLES: Yes, sir.
RAYMOND NELSON: Alright. Now, did you all see the eye contact on Charles?
KENNETH JOYNER: That, that was… that was great, that was great. That was excellent.
KENNETH JOYNER: Some of our boys come from
single family homes, some are staying with grandma because parents are not there. Some
have mother and father in their homes and we act as a support.
COMM: Charles has been attending Boys With
A Purpose for two years. He lives with his mother and two siblings in a housing project
in Charleston.
CHARLES: Good afternoon, momma.
RAQUEL MANIGAULT: How was school? CHARLES: Good.
RAQUEL MANIGAULT: Homework? CHARLES: Homework?
RAQUEL MANIGAULT: What do you have for homework?
RAQUEL MANIGAULT: The whole Boys With A Purpose
programme to me is wonderful. I admire Mr. Joyner and Mr. Nelson. Some other guys, younger
fellows, look at it as, “Oh, he is a nerd” or “He is a geek”. No, I’m growing up
to be a young man. From my side, to have a positive role model, it means a lot to me,
because I feel my boys need a positive role model.
KID: Good morning.
KENNETH JOYNER: Good morning sir, how are you doing?
KID: Good. CHARLES: Good afternoon sir! My name is Charles.
JUNIAS: Good afternoon sir, my name is Junias. CHARLES: Junias, remember eye contact.
INTERVIEWER: They are real characters, some
of these kids, aren’t they? RAYMOND NELSON: Oh yeah, oh yeah. They all
have a great personality. Great personality!
KENNETH JOYNER: Let’s say Keeshan, he does,
he does open the door for someone. It could be a lady, it could be anybody, right? And
that person walks through the door and they don’t say thank you. How you think Keeshan
might feel. KID: Hurt.
KENNETH JOYNER: He might feel hurt. What else? KID: Blue.
KENNETH JOYNER: Might feel blue, what else?
KENNETH JOYNER: Are you doing it for the thank
you? KIDS: No.
KENNETH JOYNER: You’re doing it, what? KIDS: Because of the goodness of your heart.
KENNETH JOYNER: Because this is the right thing to do.
RAYMOND NELSON: We have some incidents where
boys would talk back to their teachers, get in fights, be disrespectful and so, that’s
what we try to push the whole, the whole point of respect.
KID: Hello!
KID: When you’re eating do not put your
elbows on the table.
RAYMOND NELSON: Our definition of a gentleman
is someone who respects themselves, respects others, polite to others. We teach our boys
all the time. It’s not about just holding doors for ladies, it’s about for anyone.
You say, “thank you”, you say “please.” You respond, “yes sir”, “no sir”,
“yes ma’am”, “no ma’am”, anyone.
RAYMOND NELSON: I’m okay? I’m good?
KID: Two years ago, I used to be throwing down in tears in and be disrespectful to my
teachers. But now it changed me, because now I open the door for ladies, I’m carrying bags for ladies and
it doesn’t and I, and I keep smiles on my face. And I keep looking good and feeling,
so I can do good. RAYMOND NELSON: What are we going to do right
now is we’re going to see who actually paid attention to us showing you guys how to tie
a tie. KENNETH JOYNER: Right? Just like you got to
look, there you go. Just like that, boom. CHARLES: I’m in 5th grade and this is the
way how you tie a tie.
RAYMOND NELSON: Yeah, let’s see who's been paying attention. Yeah.
KENNETH JOYNER: Remember the little books
that showed you guys fourteen different ways how to tie a tie? You have yours?
KID: Yeah! KENNETH JOYNER: Oh, okay go get it if you
have yours, okay.
RAYMOND NELSON: Alright, there you go. Okay.
CHARLES: And that’s the way how you tie a tie.
KENNETH JOYNER: Looking good does something
to a man. I don’t care where he is or where he is from or what his background is, when
he looks good, he feels a different way, he walks a different way in suit, you know, and a tie.
TASHANA MITCHELL: I absolutely love it and
I’m honoured that my son is a part of this wonderful, dynamic group. It warms my heart
that these gentlemen take their time out to mould our future men.
KENNETH JOYNER: It’s not hard for us to
give up our time when we think about the hundreds and thousands and millions of kids who don’t
have that kind of support. Who are being lost every single day to the streets, to whatever,
drugs and violence and different things. So, when we think about that, we think about saving
one child.
RAQUEL MANIGAULT: And I think that every school
in Charleston county, not even in Charleston county, worldwide needs to look into getting
this into their schools.
KENNETH JOYNER: That’s the motto, ‘Look
good, feel good, do good’. We want to be able to get to a place where we’re able
to give scholarships to kids getting ready to go to college and sponsor them as well.
We have seen them do so many random acts of kindness. We have seen them help one another
more. So they create a social atmosphere amongst themselves. We say that, if there is, if there
is, if there is hope in the future, there is power in the present.
RAYMOND NELSON: The impact on how they feel when someone helps them or they help someone
else, lets us know that they are grasping what we’re trying to teach them. They’re
not just thinking about themselves now. KENNETH JOYNER: We really feel privileged
to be able to do it, that's it.
KID: The first person you got to respect is yourself.
KID 2: And the second person you got to respect
is everybody. And my momma will be watching so, I would like to thank her, her for getting
me into this gentleman club and I love you, momma.