By: Monique Thornton @theMATmph

We’re a full month into 2016, and desperately trying to stick with our New Year’s resolutions. At least, I am. I have quite a few. But the most important one has nothing to do with me.

It's easy to get focused what we need to improve in our own lives that we forget one simple fact:  Improving the lives of others can help us improve ourselves too. And with the giving spirit of the holidays fading, if not already gone, I thought I'd rewind the clock for a minute and bring a little bit of that spirit back.

Last October, I was lucky enough to help One by 1, Inc. host its annual Ballin' for a Cause community flag football and charity drive event. With this event, we had two goals: build relationships between law enforcement and the community members and host a successful charity drive. For last year’s drive, we collected new books and toys for kids being treated at Children's Hospital.

I would love to say that the giving spirit hit me when I was collecting those toys and books at the game. But it didn’t. It didn’t hit me until we dropped the toys off at Children's. When we arrived, we were greeted by amazing volunteers. They welcomed us and our goodies with such appreciation and gratitude. They thanked us repeatedly, took pictures with us, answered our questions, and really welcomed us with open arms. It was like we were visiting family.

What stuck with me the most was the spirit of these volunteers. They took time out of their weekends to help sort and organize donations for Dr. Bear’s Closet. You could feel their passion for the organization. And it's that sort of passion that can cleanse the soul. They made me want to be more dedicated and reaffirm to my commitment to One by 1. And that is something I could not have gotten from anywhere else.

So find your cause! Find an organization that you believe in and give it all you can. You might find that in end, you got more from it than you could have ever put in. That it fuelled you and gave you purpose. That it gave you another family, another of circle of friends. That it made you whole. That it made you a better person.

For more info on volunteering at:

• One by 1, Inc., visit http://www.oneby1inc.org/volunteer.html
• Children’s National, visit http://childrensnational.org/foundation-site/get-involved/volunteer
• An organization near you, visit https://www.volunteermatch.org/

Over the past decade, an increasing number of school districts are bringing police officers into high schools, middle schools, and even elementary schools. Districts believe this will reduce crime as well as the risk of mass shootings. However, instead of making schools safer, the presence of armed police officers can lead to increase in crime or violence, and ultimately sends more kids into the juveniles justice system over issues that could be solved through standard disciplinary procedures.

When police officers are stationed in school hallways, a minor violation of school policy can land a child in the system, sending them into a cycle that could be avoided. This is why schools with police officers see increases in crime. In many cases, officers are not trained in the fields of education or developmental psychology, so they handle situations based on the way they have been trained to handle adults. Police officers have more difficulty determining what is a legitimate security threat and what is simply a disciplinary issue than teachers and administrators.

It has also been noted that minority students and students from low income families are disproportionately affected by the placement of police in their schools. A chapter of the NAACP in Texas reported that black students in the Bryan school district had four times as many criminal misdemeanor citations as white students.  In a school district in New York, law suits have been filed against officers who arrest children for noncriminal behavior.

Based on observation of the practice in action, it would seem that placing police officers in schools is a use of resources that creates a more penal school environment for students and puts them at risk of being put through the juvenile justice system for minor disciplinary offenses.