Carol Daniel
Summer is over, and the time has come again to hit the books. For my children, school starts next week. But my speech about paying attention in class, striving for even better grades and watching less television couldn’t wait until the big yellow school bus pulled up to the corner.
There are new challenges and greater expectations for both of them. PJ will spend his last year in elementary school when he takes on the fifth grade, and Marcus will face his first letter grades when he takes on the first grade. But the truth is, we can’t wait until graduation to give a commencement-type speech or to examine how things went once this academic year is in the history books.
We have to start the year off with a loud and resounding rally cry of hard work and sacrifice. There just aren’t any shortcuts to achievement. The formula to face those new challenges may sound easy, but it will take everything we have to meet the greater expectations before us. And if you don’t have greater expectations, now is the time to create some.
Superintendents, teachers, classrooms and even schoolbooks will change, but some fundamental truths remain the same. For African-American children, those truths are never more critical than today. We could be left in an even deeper hole if we don’t face up to the world around us and demand a better performance from ourselves. Today’s economy is a complex web that is no longer just woven with threads in the United States. Competition is global, and there are no free passes for the red, white and blue.
So what are some of those fundamental truths? Sacrifice equals achievement. Too much television often diminishes achievement. We as parents can and should demand better behavior from our children. And we also must demand better behavior from those parents who are just as likely to curse out a teacher as a cashier at Wal-Mart.
We have told our sons that the first sacrifice they have to make is with their time. We know we will have to sacrifice more time to ensure that he stays on top of his homework. I can’t take on more work if I am to be there to help them. Young children may say they have no homework, but we have to check that backpack anyway. And if there are televisions, cell phones, weekend parties, those are the first things to be eliminated if homework isn’t being completed and those higher expectations aren’t being met. Students who get good grades are doing more than just their homework; they are studying even when there isn’t homework.
Our beautiful brown children can get higher grades, but they can’t get them unless we take an active role. And they won’t achieve until we all decide that education is meaningful. If you decide that it’s meaningful, that means other things will become less meaningful. Music videos and the Xbox are less meaningful than school. Talking with friends on the phone at 9 o’clock on a Tuesday is less meaningful than preparing for the science test.
The other fundamental truth that we have to face is that no one can do this for us. We can stand in the face of racism, poor housing and violence and say, “I’m still doing my homework.” That doesn’t mean that we don’t demand the best from our school boards, police chiefs, circuit courts and elected officials, but none of them will be standing there next to my child’s desk when he is taking a math test. Government programs have their place and we do require skilled teachers and professional administrators, but no one has a greater responsibility for our academic achievement than we do. Now say these words with me and mean it: “Turn off the television and study!”