Saturday, October 23, 2010

Education and the Individual of Color



I remember I had a conversation with someone about their son's education.  This someone stated that "Teachers needed to be more involved in the education of their children."  While I thought this was true, what about the parents?  What responsibility are parents taking up for their children's education, especially children of color?  My opinion is this:  We live in a society that is inherently racist and sexist, though we have come a long way.  Even so, parents, even White parents, should not leave their children to the whims of a broken educational system.  If parents are not concerned what their children are learning, their children will fail.  If parents are too busy to get involved at their children's school, their children will fail.  If parents do not make education a priority in their children's lives, their children will fail.

I was slightly incensed by this person's attitude, especially when they told me, "Well, his mom put LaShon (not his real name) in a school on the west side (of Chicago) now.  If he goes back to a suburban school, he may be behind."  I immediately asked what he and his ex were doing to ensure that his child did not fall behind, regardless of his location.  He simply shrugged and said, "Well, I don't know."  That's the kind of attitude that pisses me off.  Though inner city schools should be more effective, get more funding and for sure, be on track to get students into good colleges, there is a certain amount of parental involvement that's in the mix.  If you know your child may be behind, you must have a plan of action so that child's scholastic progress does not suffer.  I was not born in an upper middle class environment, but my parents were very involved in my education.  My parents knew what I was doing in school, what I was supposed to be doing and if I was slacking.  They had a relationship with all my teachers, and if a teacher was on some other ish, there would be hell to pay.

I asked this individual "Well, what's he doing in school?  What is he learning?  What are his assignments like?,"  He couldn't tell me.  He shrugged once more and said, "Well, maybe his mom might know."  But I later found that the mother didn't know.  To all the parents out there:  you have to know what your child is learning!  Take a look at the assignments.  If you didn't graduate from high school or can barely read above a certain level, that's still no excuse to not know what is going on with your child.  I have worked with parents of inner city youths who were always actively involved and though they didn't know calculus, could tell you exactly what their children's schedules were, what chapters they were on and what grades they were getting.

You have to know.  In today's world, black students are often slated for special education, are tracked into remedial courses and are often relegated to the educational trash bin, regardless of their abilities.  They are given a bad rap, told they cannot learn and educators refuse to give them the attention they sorely need.  So it is the job of the parent to fill in that gap, to find resources and free tutoring services that will allow their child to succeed.  Children need to feel as if their parents give a damn, and they are not doing this alone.