This article describes a very sad truth about our society. I taught in an inner city charter school with mostly black children. (Some hispanic) Almost everyone in my class knew someone in prison. Either a family member or a family friend. Everyone in my class had seen a gun whether in public or at a friends home. Many of their parents were young and uneducated. Many of their parents didn't speak proper english and couldn't help their kids with their school work. I had a student tell me that he couldn't play outside because someone got shot in the park. Another student told me he found a gun in an abandoned building. These kids seemed to be coming from generations of poverty. They didn't see a way out. They had a hard seeing themselves doing anything other than what their families were doing.
The students in my class had so much anger. They fought, they swore, they even stole from me. Me-the teacher they loved more than anything. I would have some of the toughest boys in my class hug me and while crying and telling me how much they loved me. Crying for no other reason than needing affection.
I tried to inspire my students and let them know that they are capable of being different than the people in their neighborhoods. They COULD go to college. They could be anything they put their minds to.
The fact is, the inner city school systems are broken. Behavior in inner city schools surpress the learning atmosphere. Lack of parental involvment, poverty and the cycle of being uneducated is what is getting int the way of educational and societal growth.
I read an article about a city here in NJ that is one of the most dangerous cities here. It is very small. The article is called "Where Did All the Black Men Go?" It discusses the fact that in that city there is an average population of black males until the age of like 16 or 17. Then the population drops drastically. By the time you get to the age of 30 there is barley any population of black men in the town. All of this is due to murders and black men going to prison. It is a scary statistic that is occuring all to often in cities around the country.
I think poverty is at the source of the problem. How do we fix that? I have no idea. But is saddens me to no end.
