Reader blames minority parents

A Brooklyn resident read the Associated Press coverage of “Reality Check 2006, Issue No. 2: How Black and Hispanic Families Rate Their Schools” and wrote to me an email (alas, this was before our blog went up last Friday, otherwise I would have asked her to post her comments there) saying:

 “The article makes it sound like the schools create the unsafe environment when in reality it is the students who do, which is why good teachers avoid rough schools - they don't want to be hurt.  The schools aren't encouraging kids to hurt everyone, carry guns/knives/whatever.  The kids do that because THEIR culture encourages it.  Lets stop blaming the system or society and start looking at the families who raise these kids and their values. Being poor doesn't make you a criminal nor does being rich make you a saint.  And putting all our attention on kids who behave badly only encourages them and leaves out the kids who do the right thing.”

 
I get the point that parents certainly play a role – and in actuality, so do parents. We’ve asked parents about these issues and parents themselves do believe that parents bear the responsibility for the behavior of children today, rather than the larger society.

 
That said, this new research in Reality Check points to a real problem: that black and Hispanic kids are much more likely to say that rowdiness, inconsistent enforcement of the rules and lack of respect are major problems in the schools.

 
Our point is this: If you were in the workplace and there was bad behavior all around you making it difficult to do your work, would it not be the responsibility of the company to ensure that basic workplace rules are enforced? Shouldn’t the company be held accountable for providing a basically safe, violence-free and productive atmosphere? Kids who are trying hard to learn shouldn’t be subjected to learning places that make learning so difficult. And unfortunately, black and Hispanic kids find themselves in this kind of environment far more frequently.

 
Certainly kids and parents are responsible for what’s coming into the classroom, but the schools must be responsible for how those classrooms are run.

-- Michael Remaley

 

Comments

[Jonathan Raymond Lane]

This is a rediculous report on Al-Zarqui,
the effort is completely responsible of the U.S. Air Forces. America should be out of Iraq by now.

[DCS]

Sadly, the Brooklyn resident doesn't understand the dynamics being played out in many schools. Unfortunately, she is not alone. Thanks for setting the record straight.

By the way, great blog!

[Caroline]

True, but the company can generally get rid of the employees who are engaging in the bad behavior. The threat to do so is the most effective means of enforcing the basic workplace rules.

... If you were in the workplace and there was bad behavior all around you making it difficult to do your work, would it not be the responsibility of the company to ensure that basic workplace rules are enforced? Shouldn’t the company be held accountable for providing a basically safe, violence-free and productive atmosphere? ...

[Ed]

"If you were in the workplace and there was bad behavior all around you making it difficult to do your work, would it not be the responsibility of the company to ensure that basic workplace rules are enforced?"

And would it not be the company's responsbility to fire employees that create the poor environment?

Oh, that's right -- schools can't fire students. The "let's run schools like a business" approach just doesn't work and neither does this comparison.

[lee]

If you were in the workplace and there was bad behavior all around you making it difficult to do your work, would it not be the responsibility of the company to ensure that basic workplace rules are enforced?"

And would it not be the company's responsbility to fire employees that create the poor environment?

Sure, employers should not and do not put up with "bad" behavior in the workforce. You get fired. Schools can't do that.
I agree with DCS BAD comparison

[Margo/Mom]

Re: The parents and THEIR culture.

Perhaps the writer could take a step back to take a larger look at "culture." Are we living in a culture that encourages an "I got mine, you take care of yours?" point of view. How else can we account for the above statement?

Every day when I drop my son off at his high school (urban, minority, low income), the school and surrounding lawns are full of students waiting for the bell--the front doors remain locked until then for "security" reasons. Teachers are requred to arrive about an hour earlier, so they are holed up inside. One has to wonder who the security is intended to protect.

Waiting students are free to smoke cigarettes that they buy at the tobacco store, grocery or gas station--each about a block away and known for their willingness to sell illegally to minors. Teachers believe that this is OK because "their parents let them."

The school offers an alternative--"healthy breakfast," cold packs to students who will hike around to the back door and partake in a gated portion of the school prior to the bell. A school official introduced breakfast to incoming freshman by saying "There's breakfast over there--you can go get it if you want. If you don't, I don't care.)

I think the point is--to the extent that teachers see themselves as commuters to a neighborhood that belongs to others--who unlike themselves do not care about the responsible upbringing of children--they are fostering the conditions that they decry within their building.

Get outside the building--on foot, not in a car. Walk with a colleague or some students if you must in order to feel safe. Make some home visits. Go listen to some parents about what their concerns are for their children.

THEN think about whether the conditions that exist (or you ALLOW or you CREATE) in your building are consistent with the culture of the parents in your (school) community.

Odds are--if you wouldn't want your child to attend the school in which you teach, the parents of your students aren't very happy about it either.