Schools and school programs are being closed and dismantled, but the bigger picture is that too few young people care about getting an education anymore. I fail to discover how a race of people who were once kings and queens can find harmony in being deaf, dumb and blind.
Some 1.1 million American students drop out of school every year, according to Editorial Projects in Education Research Center (EPE). For African-American and Hispanic students across the country, dropout rates are close to 40 percent, compared to the national average of 27 percent.
According to the U.S. Department of Education and National Center for Education Statistics, African-American high school students trail their white counterparts in graduation rates, literacy rates and college preparedness. In 2005, only 55 percent of all black students graduated from high school on time, compared to 78 percent of whites.
The propaganda of ignorance – “school is for fools” – keeps young minorities underachieving. To be dumb is the new cool. On urban street corners, you can find a group of girls and boys congregating. The boys are often dressed in oversized white T-shirts with their pants hanging to their thighs and the females wear anything tight and revealing. Mind you, this often transpires during school hours.
The disrespect factor also comes into play. This generation of youngsters does not have respect for authority, their elders, their parents or themselves. They don’t feel the need to learn or be taught because they are convinced that they know everything there is to know about life.
Urban education is rapidly spiraling downward into the proverbial toilet. Schools in impoverished areas, where they are most needed, are closing, while prisons are being built. The schools that are still in service are filled with faculty and staff that often are unqualified to handle the stress that comes with teaching this generation of teens. Many of these youth have a sense of entitlement that rivals that of the royal family.
A number of factors contribute to this trend, like budget cuts leading to overcrowded classrooms, but the blame is shared by the students themselves and their parents. Your first lessons are learned in the home. It doesn’t matter what school you go to, the situation you come from, whether you have one or two parents in the home or how much money your family has, if you have character and want to make something of yourself, you will put forth the effort.
Ursery is a St. Louis Community College student and St. Louis American intern.
