blacktv247news.com
I didn’t attend a high school that was ill-equipped or that lacked resources. Actually, I went to one of the better private high schools in Baltimore City. However, I still experienced firsthand what is routinely being reported as a growing epidemic. Out of an incoming freshman class of 330 students, only 40 of us were African-American. This bothered me a little, but what was more bothersome is that by graduation 4 years later only about 20 of us completed high school successfully. I look back on it now and wonder on a much larger scale why so few young black men make it through high school successfully. And yet no answer can provide a substantial reason that cannot be reversed.
The 2010 Schott Report on Public Education and Black Males found that nationwide only 47% of African-American males graduate from high school. President and CEO, John H. Jackson feels this statistic has a lasting effect on how the lives of these black males will eventually unfold. The thought is that the high rate of uneducated black males has a direct connection to unemployment later in life and some say, to the crime rate in many urban cities across the country. The ”system failure” is reversible, there has to be strides to ensure access to early childhood education, effective teachers, and a college bound curriculum. This structure, if set in place from the beginning, should reinforce the benefits of obtaining an education and deter students from dropping out because they can visibly see the achievements waiting for them if they progress all the way to the collegiate level.
The argument that Black Males are an “endangered species” is heard early in family households, social circles, and the media all too often. It usually tugs at the emotional heartstrings of some willing to fight for reform, but significant progress has yet to be made if you go by the alarming statistics released yearly. The financial burden created by so few black males graduating grows in scope each year and has a wider effect. The low rate is traced to increased incarceration, health care, and social services.
The remedy, though easily stated, is much harder to implement. First a stronger household family structure and influence is needed. The parents and adults around these youth set the first examples for these males to model themselves after. If the bar is not set high at this point, then the potential for lack of focus on education grows exponentially. What is most troubling is as these males go on to father their own children, they probably won’t stress the importance of acquiring an education since they didn’t, setting in motion a generational problem with detrimental effects for years to come. Second, there has to be a push for better-equipped schools with more resources. The argument has been made that in some urban cities Caucasian males have a higher dropout rate than their African-American counterparts. While this is true and you cannot blame the shortfall on race alone, African-Americans are more likely to attend poorly resourced schools and have less access to the resources needed to perform well academically. It has been found in states like New Jersey, where they invested less money and resources in schools predominately attended by African-Americans, that when this practice is reversed an increase of Black males graduating was noted, clearly demonstrating this trend is reversible. Third, and this is one I am a huge advocate of, more successful Black males must mentor and directly take a vested interest in seeing more youth successfully complete their high school education. By providing a clear example of achievement and success by finishing your education, we can inspire them to tackle this challenging goal and give them someone to emulate. In my hometown of Baltimore City the dropout rate sits at 35%, and many young successful African-American business professionals have taken a direct approach to turn this statistic around. Simply pointing out the issue and speaking of what should be done doesn’t matter if no substantial action is taken to correct the problem. Four months ago an estimated 400,000 black males started their high school careers with expectations that less than half of them will make it through all four years. Instead of standing by to read the next report, which may show a bigger drop in graduation rates, step in and make an impact to start personally raising the bar for these students and reversing a trend that affects all of us.
William Morant
I appreciate that one of the first steps outlined in remedies this issue is via stronger household influence. I personally believe, a child has a greater potential for education success if their guardians take an ACTIVE role in their education. It can not be left to the system…even if the system existed without flaws.
While I went to an average junior highschool, in addition to expecting a high level of achievement at school, my family also insisted on teaching and working with me after school. I was often given extra writing and research assignments by my parents just for “the heck of it.” They had their motives. They didn’t want to leave my personal development solely up to my school. I’m assuming they would have done the same thing in high school but they took a more radical approach. They decided to home school me for highschool.
All in all, having the support and guidance from a household influence is KEY!
I totally agree with Sheena Lashay. A good education starts at home. I went to a high school in Baltimore City in the business field back in the 1980′s. I not only had my homework from school but also assignments from my father. Each week I was responsible for reading the entire Parade Magazine and finding an article that struck my interest. By the following Sunday I had to have an essay of the article that I chose on the kitchen table before my father returned home from work. My father imposed high standards on me as far as education. I still thank him for what he has done today. Parents have to take an active role in their children’s education. EDUCATION IS POWER. That is what I tell my children all the time. I graduated with all A’s and perfect attendance and was in the highest 10% of my graduating class.
The teachers job is to introduce, expose and then teach education to our children. We as parents have an obligation to enforce what the teachers are trying to instill in them. If parents allow there children to just come home and throw the bookbag down an go out in the streets, not inforcing homework and study time, they most likly will become the products of their environment and the streets will be the teachers. The crime rate in Baltimore City is sad, but the sad part is the ones committing the crimes are products of the BCPS System. My son is 13 years old and has wrote his first book. I am fortunate enough to have a son that wants to learn, explore new things, ask questions and read books on a daily basis.Each day he tells me and his stepfather something new that he learned in school. One who is proud of himself when he gets good grades, and strives to always do better. That is because he knows how hard it is for a black male to be successful in the world. I am very proud to have him as my son. And yes it is hard, the world will try and turn him around if he is not equipment before entering it.