high school
Are We Taught Enough?
When growing up you are taught to learn. Then apply that knowledge to succeed in what ever activity. This process fulfills our lives with intelligent, careers, money, love, friendship, and pride. Schools in American have some of the best teachers and learning tools of the World. Individuals come from all over the globe to get a education in American. Then take what they have learned and implement the education in their country.
Americas education may be one of the best, but are we taught all that we need to know. Do we get out of high school, or even college ready for the road ahead. What do we learn? Math, Science, History, Literature, English. The basics right. All of those subjects will help you in life at one time or another. What is it that you really need to know to be successful in life?
Steroids in Youth Sports
It used to be that kids would join little league teams excited to play baseball, football and hockey. Young boys all over the country had dreams of being the next Mickey Mantle or Roger Staubauch. These days, as kids innocently join teams ready to begin their dream of becoming a professional in their chosen sport, and as parents cheer from the stands hoping that their little one doesn’t get hurt, the pressure to be bigger, faster and stronger than the other guy gets harder to ignore.
With professional sports contracts paying out millions of dollars for each player every year, a kid’s dreams can bring him fame and a pretty big fortune. But only if he is successful at beating out every other kid with the same dream. Out of the 1,500 or so active professional football players, there are maybe millions of kids who dream of being a great pro quarterback. With those odds, kids, sometimes coaches, and sometimes even parents begin looking for an edge for their child. Even though they are illegal to use more and more kids are turning to steroids to give them the edge they are looking for.
Training Children Is No Different Than Our School System
As a former school teacher I was reflecting on the fact that training children and young athletes is a lot like our education system. When a child begins school, he/she is exposed to the basics of reading, writing and mathematics. As the child matures, the child is taught new skills, building on the skills he/she learned in previous years.
Even in college or university, there is a generality of courses from which students can choose; however, getting to that level requires a solid foundation of study that begins in first grade. It is not until graduate school that a student truly specializes in a single subject.
Whose Fault is it?
I currently have a position at Frederick Douglass High School; yes the school from the HBO Special. This is my first year at the school and it is disturbing to see the dynamics of our youth. Everyday staff is battling with students who run the hallways, call teachers a b**** or say f*** you as a response to a directive. This has been a failing school despite the many changes that have occurred. Students enter high school reading on 1st -5th grade levels. My question is what is going on at home and in middle school? Many parents of these children are incarcerated or deceased or have just abandoned them. Whose responsibility is it?
My heart grieves because I mentor and do what I can while they are with me during the day but they have to go home, right back into a community with gang violence, drugs and abandoned homes and trash everywhere. Grandparents and foster parents are the care givers for many of these children. These kids are angry at the world. They have no care for you as an adult or authority figure and it is disturbing to me. The parents who are present and active don’t know what to do with their child themselves. They look to the school as a resource when they cannot handle the child at home.
