Why Are Black Boys Failing in School

It is easy to point the finger unless(prenominal) harder to find a solution as to wherefore the pretense human beingsnish peasant is miscarrying in condition. There ar s unceasinglyal crucial factors that t anyy to this epidemic including, fosters atomic number 18 non communicating with the instructors, the socioeconomic status of the small frys family, and the fathers absence in the peasants life. Each of these topics spike with unmatched an new(prenominal) and is preventing a race of newborn men who will not be accustomed the chance to excel in life. The worst teachers ar the pargonnts. Teaching starts at home from the time the boor is old replete to speak, he learns from his pargonnts.We must(prenominal)iness realize that this is a vicious cycle which must be broken if we are to ever foster these early days forbidding boys. If a parent is ignorant therefore they in acetify teach their child ignorance. If the parent using profanity and does not spea k articulately neither will the child. The main trouble is that parents raise their boys until they are able to start give lessons and and so they are done. No, line of business is a life long process and with forbidden twisty parents these boys will bear on to fail at shocking rates. Perhaps if parents disciplined their children instead of just sending them to instill they might in reality meet the standard requirements.(Green 7).In the book titled, Smart Kids, Bad Schools author, Brian Crosby stated, If parents did a unwrap job at parenting, schools wouldnt hand over so umteen disciples who exhibit poor behavior. (Crosby 253). He feels that poor parenting is a direct cause as to wherefore children misbe nonplus in school therefore, resulting in weakness grades. He says that the parents of instantly are weak, prohibited of control, and litigious. (Crosby 253). He says, Disciplining ones child has become as out of fashion as typewriters, record stores, and unpier ced carcass parts. (Crosby 252).If children arenot held accountable for their actions at home then how dejection the school in turn hold them accountable for their actions at school, Crosby asks. Anformer(a) point Crosby points out is if the child is not in school how does the parent expect the child to learn. Education codes do not forfeit teachers to penalize students for absences. (Crosby 255). The parent allows the child to miss school then substantiates angry at the teacher for giving him a failing grade. We are not living in the 1940s when it was acceptable for a male child to not attend school because he had to work.Richard Wright wrote a book titled Black Boy, where he re-lives his childhood and arranges how fostering was an after(prenominal) thought. During those generation the economy was bad especially for glowerings in the deep South so in methodicalness to die certain sacrifices had to be made usually education. Wright writes, I began school at Ho state of ward Institute at a later age than was usual my receive had not been able to buy me the obligatory clothes to male me presentable. (Wright 28). Once again this type of behavior was acceptable during those times precisely now it surely frowned upon.Parents of grim boys surely do not understand the affect an absence has on a child that is already fight in their studies. This goes back to my statement that this is a cycle and until we begin to educate parents of dumb children this problem might continue. Children learn from their parents, mentors, or whatever other figure is in the household. If their parent has a ban attitude about life nine times out of ten that attitude has rubbed off on the child. The child then goes to school with an attitude and it is go forth up to the teacher of probably thirty other students to savor and break through this wall just to reach the child.Andy Kotner, president of the San Diego chapter of the group California Citizens Against Abuse, said, We necessity parents and their kids to accept responsibility for their actions. (Crosby 257). Simply put parents do not compulsion anyone to tell their children that they book a bad attitude, including the teachers. It is instilled in nearly parents to fight down their young with that being said, parents should listen to both sides of the story out front assuming that the teacher was wrong in their actions.Parents + Teachers= A successful student. Another problem with parents not teaming up with teachers is the business organization of being called a bad parent. Most parents of black students do not on a regular basis attend teacher/ parent conferences. These conferences are held usually between the sixth and eight week of school and during these meetings parents get a chance to voice any concerns they might wipe out as well as the teachers suggestions. (Cushman 11). One might ask how quarter a parent send their child to school without ever meeting the teacher?There are several problems associated with black parents and the school system which I controvert in depth later in the paper. Parents just do not place enough wildness on their childs education and in turn the child doesnt either. There is no way that a child could fail if their parents are in continuous communication with his teacher, yes, during these times there is simply not enough hours in the day nevertheless if a parent does not care about their childs future how can expect anyone else to? Black children are falling farther behind and are victims of an educational system that is failing them. ( Muhammad 2).If parents do not realize that a teacher alone can not defeat this caper alone, that it takes a village to raise a family its sad to say that these little black boys might be woolly-headed forever. In the book titled How to Handle Difficult Parents scripted by Suzanne Tingley, she offers tips for how teachers can try to get pass difficult parents. She says that teachers deal learn parent management skills. ( Tingley 8). By that she means teachers need to understand that during these times there is a lot of obstacles standing in the way.When teachers know that a childs parent stands ready to challenge them at every turn, they can become reluctant to confront in allow student behavior or lack of effort. ( Tingley 8). If the parents are confrontational the teacher becomes intimidated and therefore the issues go unresolved. She feels that parents should give out with teachers respectfully and civilly without judging the teachers credentials. In todays society is not always economically possible for the mother to stay at home while the husband works. She says, Parents work their jobs, raise their family, and pay their bills.Kids are amenable for attending school, staying out of trouble, and pay vigilance. ( Tingley 10). Teachers are not always pointing the finger at the parent but they would like it if the parent was more involved in the childs schoolin g. Somewhere along the way we need gotten lost in our forty plus work hour weeks, consumed by emails, and tied down by bills. Parents must take time out of their busy schedules and make a sacrifice for their children. Another problem, Tingley pointed out was that the parents of today make too many excuses for their childs lack of enthusiasm when it comes to education.Parents feel that if a child becomes bored at school that it is the teachers responsibility to make learning fun. They say that the child is not being challenged enough and that the teacher should devise a plan that works for their child. It is not the teachers job to entertain students their job is simple- teach. The unwillingness from the parents makes it harder for teachers to do their job. The stress of dealing with difficult parents remains one of the top reasons teachers cite for leaving the profession after only five years. (Tingley 7).There are different parenting styles that contribute to the learning process and should be discussed in order to get a better understanding of why the black child is failing compared to other children. In the eighth grade, only nine percent of black males across the country perform at or preceding(prenominal) the proficient level in reading compared with 33% of washrag males nationwide. This statistic comes from the National Assessment of educational Progress. (Green 2). There is roundthing that other parents from other races are teaching their children that we as black parents are not.Everyday our parents tell us Obey your teachers. Do your schoolwork. Stay out of trouble. Youre there to learn, not to fight. stay trying harder. Keep pushing yourself. Do your homework. After you have done that, you can watch TV. Sikh immigrant student in a California high school. (Thernstorm 83). I am a black mother raising cardinal black boys and our morning conversation goes a lot differently than the previous one. I tell my boys to evocative of their appearance t hey are judged on how they look. I tell them to be on time typical stereotypes of black people is that we are always late.Dont let let anyone make you feel bad about yourself you are just as good as anyone else. If that teacher calls me because you were misbehaving when you get home you are going to be in so much trouble. Parents of black children must remind our little black boys that the world grab them differently and that they must always conduct themselves appropriately. nuance plays one of the biggest functions in how parents teach their children. Once closinge is defined and I show correlation between the subject, I will discuss our history of learning in the States.It is important for one to understand that education was not always an option for blacks in America. Culture is defined as the beliefs,customs, and arts of a particular society. It can be defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, and neighborly habits. Twenty percent of the mothers of black ch ildren today neer completed high school. (Gross 124). It is sad to say but within our culture a lot of women have children out of wedlock and usually drop out of school. If we as black parents have no knowledge there is nothing that we can teach our kids miss survival.Asian students do better on average than an other students, this has a lot to do with culture. In 2000, a majority (54%) of Asian Americans ages 25-29 had a bachelors degree, as compared to with just a third of (34%) of snow-clads. (Blankstein 34). One reason Asian students are excelling at a compelling rate is that their parents have very high expectations for their children and failure is never an option for them. Another reason, Asian students perform better is because they watch less television then their counterparts.A study from Northwestern University titled, Children, Media, and Race, shows that black kids watch more television than others. Black children watch more than quadruplet hours a day and Asians watch less than two. (Blankstein 27). Asian youths are successful, Steinburg writes, not because of their stronger belief in the restitution for their doing well, but because they have greater fear of the consequences of not doing well. (Rochester 121). The last reason Asian students do better than the average American student is because their parents have a higher income than most.(Thernstorm 89).Socioeconomic status, plays an important business office in childs education. fit to history, it would appear that black children have been set up for failure ever since we arrived in America. From colonial times, educational opportunities for African Americans were extremely limited. (Sharp 8). White Americans often used several cruel techniques to make blacks feel middle-level including, segregation, divergence, and lack of education. The fourteenth amendment guaranteed that all Americans were to have allude protection under the law.At the end of slavery many freed slaves knew t hat education was vital to their survival and immediately went to register for school. Whites feared this dejection, they knew that if blacks received an education and training they would longer depend on the them and their dependency was crucial for the southern economy. ( Sharp 21). During the 1870s at the end of the Reconstruction era whites readily leaped into action to stop blacks from receiving an education even though there was a law that stated all Americans should be treated capablely.The Jim Crow laws, which were a set of laws that enforced the practice of segregation or discrimination against blacks in public places, employment, and other areas of social life. ( Volkomer 318). In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, an African American Louisiana man had been jailed in 1896 for refusing to sit in the black section of the train. Just when blacks thought they making some headway the Court ruled that as long as the similar facilities that were provided for whites were provide d for blacks then the Fourteenth Amendment had not been violated.(Volkomer 318).This decision grabbed the attention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which was founded by W. E. B Du Bois and other great African American civil rights leaders. The main purpose of the NAACP was to achieve, through peaceful and lawful means, equal citizenship rights for all American citizens by eliminating segregation and discrimination in housing,employment, voting, schools, the courts, transportation, and recreation. (Sharp 18). Founder W. E. B.Du Bois, the first African American to earn a doctorate degree at Harvard University, felt that education was the most was the most priceless possession a black person could have. In his book titled, The Educating of Black People. , he wrote, Education must not simply teach work, it must teach life. (DuBois 37). The rivalry between DuBois and Booker T. Washington was a break through moment in African American histor y. While DuBois felt that education was the silk hat opportunity for blacks Washington on the other hand felt somewhat differently.Agriculture to Washington was one of his psyche bringing close togethers of his racial uplift theory. Washington offered black acquiescence in disenfranchisement and social segregation if whites would back the idea of black progress in education, agriculture, and economics. (Rochester 79). This man used his undeniable wit and political savvy to convert white Southners that his educational program would keep black people down on the farm and in return he promised blacks that through work ethics they could achieve the American Dream and become not only business men but land owners as well.This political opinion clashed with what DuBois thought was appropriate for the blacks at that present time. I mean werent blacks trying to get off the farm and into classrooms to educate themselves? change surface though DuBois viciously disagreed with Washingtons v iew he did however, acknowledge him for being one of the first black intellects to defend the black race. DuBois writes, Negroes must insist continually, in season and out of season, that voting id necessary to modern manhood, that color discrimination is barbarism, and that black boys need education as well as white boys. (DuBois 63).While blacks had won the war on slavery, the battle on education was still in progress. Black leaders of the Civil Rights movement like Thurgood Marshall and Charles Houston that fought long and hard so that black children would be able to receive equal educational opportunities. Civil Rights, are defined as the right of an individual not to be discriminated against on the basis of their race,sex,or nationality. The education that blacks received in the South during those times foreshadow our culture and the negligent attitudes of black parents.For years blacks have fought for not only their freedom but the right to have an education, it seems that the parents of today have forgotten the many sacrifices their forefathers made for them. Not only were the lessons being taught inferior to those of the white students but the conditions in which the children had to endure almost made it impracticable for them to learn. The books that were given to blacks were often used and were filled with racial and uncomplimentary terms. To add insult to injury the curriculum within the the text books focused more so on the inferiority of blacks.It was said to have contained lessons that African Americans were referred to as ignorant and helpless people who were unable to travel without the help of a benevolent and superior white society. ( Sharp 15). Most of the schools did not have desks and chairs, a black board for the teacher to write instead, the teachers used cardboard to teach lessons, more times than most there were no bathrooms in the schoolhouse and the children had to go outside to relieve themselves. With these horrendous condition s how did whites think that black children were receiving equal education compared to the white children?The answer to that question is they didnt, they figured that if they made it hard almost impossible for the blacks that they would just roll over and conform to their way of life. In an article titled The Willie Lynch Letters. , which was written by Willie Lynch, a British slave owner he said, Keep the body Take the mind. He wrote this letter to help slave owners keep their Negro slaves dependent on them. (Abbott 4). Even when faced with misadventure the black fellowship did not falter nor did they give up on their hopes and dreams for their their childs future.In 1926, African American parents formed a group called the Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers. They worked tirelessly and feverishly to inform the state of Mississippi of the dark that they allowed to continue. We have come a long way from the Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. the Board of Education, and Martin Luth er King Jr. ill-famed I Have A Dream speech, but many will argue that we still have some ways to go. We are not where we used to be yet we are not where we want to be.From slavery to the Jim Crow laws to the No Child Left Behind Act we as parents must continue to fight against the injustices that either we created or society. Civil Rights leaders have fought and died for our little black children to have the same equal rights and it seems like the parents of today have forgotten about our history, this is our culture which has shaped black America into the cultural rich and diverse nation in which we live. Parents of black children must not allow fear to cloud our judgment when it comes to trusting our childs teachers.One reason these parents do not confide in the teachers is because of fear. We are panicked of failure, failing our children because of our ignorance. Majority of the time there are programs and services that are out there to help families that are struggling in area s of their home life. Until this gap is closed parents will continue to shelter their child from success. Black parents and Black communities are ultimately responsible for the education of Black children. Not teachers Not schools Not elected officials We are responsibleIf our children are being destroyed in American schools, it is only because we allow it. (Muhammad 5). It is often argued that the low education achievement levels of African- Americans and Hispanics are caused by poverty. ( Strauss 12). Parents of black children usually earn less than parents of any other race and it is the black children that are failing. Valerie Strauss author of, The Way out of the Black mendicancy Cycle. , says that, It is often argued that the low education achievement levels of African- Americans and Hispanics are caused by poverty. (Strauss 38).She feels that poverty plays a vital role in the education of the black child. She continues with, if there were more programs to help the blac k youth improve education this would help alleviate the high rates of incarceration among black males. (Strauss 14). She feels that the lack of adequate education in the black community is the number one cause in the high rates of black males displace out of school and ending up in prison. Once they are released from prison most have little or no skills to find employment adequate enough to provide for the family they have left behind thus, the family remains impoverished.Gabriel Trip author of, Proficiency of Black Students is Found to Be Far cut down Than Expected. , says that, Only 12% of black 4th grade boys are proficient in reading, compared with 38% of white boys. (Trip 3). While this is true Trip feels that, Poverty alone does not seem to explain the differences poor white boys do just as well as African- American boys who do not live in poverty. (Trip 8). This author thinks that if Congress would appropriate more money to the failing black schools and establish more networks for young black males that would be more productive rather than , just closing the failing schools all together.The final topic I will discuss is the absence of the father figure in the young black males life and how it has a major affect on the childs education. Mike Casserly, director of Council of the Great City Schools asks, How can we close or narrow the countrys black-white achievement gap when African -American males are not getting the attention and support they need. (Casserly 3). The reason black males are not the getting the attention they need to succeed is because their fathers are not involved in their lives.The fathers guidance to his children and his counsel regarding their anxieties and problems gives them that confidence and a feeling of affection which is necessary to the building of well-rounded personalities. (Paige 17). Thirty-six percent of the fathers that are currently incarcerated reported that they have one or more school age children. ( Drucker 7). Black children that grow up without a father or a positive male role in their lives have very little direction and often get involved with the wrong crowds.Studies have shown that children who their father is not in their lives stand the risk of becoming alcoholic beverage and drug addicts than other children. (Paige 5). Contrary to many beliefs a fathers social movement plays an important role in their childs lives. In the case of the black father and the black male child, the father is either incarcerated or has never been involved in the childs life. So there leaves a single mother trying to work and provide for her struggling family because the father is now where to be found.As Richard Wright writes, in his novel titled Black Boy, As the eld slid past the image of my father became associated with my pangs of hunger, and whenever I felt hunger I thought of him with deep biological bitterness. (Wright 125). This is an example of the negative image and feelings that a yo ung boy will develop for his father when he is not involved. It is impossible for the mother to monitor her children twenty-four hours a day, she cannot be everywhere at once.Like the byword goes, While the cat is away the mice will play. this leaves the child alone usually in the evening when the child should be studying they are more than likely outside or observance television. Under constant watch, care, and concern, children are less likely to experiment with extremes of behavior when they know they have two parents who are watching their every move. (Paige 12). It is understandable that divorce and break-ups do and does happen often, the father should still be involved in their sons life. When it comes to discipline mothers are just softer and more reluctant than the father, which leaves the boys free to do whatever it is that they want to do.Studies have shown that when a father is not present in a home, children are more likely to stand out and exhibit bad and dangerou s behavior. (Paige 13). Fathers may be unaware that their presence has such dramatic affects on their childs life as well as their educational goals. Children emulate their parents behavior and if the father is non existent concisely so will the child. Majority of the black males that are failing live in crime ridden urban cities, where gangs and liquor stores out number community centers and churches. Without a fathers love and concern what conclusion can one draw about the future of the young black male?Surely he will hustle up in a street gang where he robbing, stealing, and maybe even killing but this stereotype does not have to become a reality of underprivileged black males. There are several tips that can be given for single mothers of black male children whose fathers are either incarcerated or chose not to be involved in the lives of their children. First, mothers must realize that two heads are better than one, center even if the father is not involved find an uncle, b rother, or even a male wizard of the family that would be willing to assist you.Second, ask for help. Black mothers are so afraid of being looked at as a bad mother that we do not ask for help even when we are on the verge of breaking down. There are a lot of services within ones community that may have several programs like the Big Brother/Big Sister program, that provides positive role models for children. Third, mothers must break the cycle. Education is the key to getting out of that low paying minimum net income job and have an opportunity to have convenient hours and better benefits.Lastly, nothing can replace the presence of a loving, nurturing, and concerned father but there are close substitutes. The failure of black young males is a nationwide epidemic. While I have only visited a few reasons as to why they are failing like, poverty, lack of guidance, and the absence of the father this is just the tip of the iceberg. I fear that unless WE, importee the parents, teachers, political leaders, community advocates, and neighbors wake up and realize that this is not an easy fix, that this is not something that can be swept under the rug and forgotten about, they will continue to fail.