Looking
for Treasures in the Tall Grass
Time Magazine’s recent edition revealed
the victims of Malaysian Airline Flight 17 strewn across the field in the Ukraine like
discarded rag-dolls. One still strapped
in his seat, lies in the tall grass rotting in the hot summer sun. Another woman sprawled across a shanty floor
next to a bed where she fell through the roof.
No one would deny the tragedy: the loss of brilliant minds fighting the
AIDS virus, the loss of infants and children and entire families. No one would deny the loss of the
futures of all of all of these people.. Yet, the loss of opportunities and futures
for many children living in the inner cities of the United States goes unnoticed.
I have
taught in inner city schools where I have heard other faculty members say, “Ninety
percent of these students will never to college and of those who go, maybe five
percent will last longer than one year, so why bother offering an academic
curriculum of any substance?" I have
heard these same faculty members claim that by third grade, schools can
identify students who will be imprisoned for felonies. I attended a school just
like this. Although the teachers may not
have communicated their apprehension for the students overtly, the message was
received. It sickens me to hear teachers label students as failures. Teachers need to act as student
advocates. Teachers need to be looking
for treasures even in the tall grass.
I have
also taught in upper-middle class schools in the affluent suburbs where all of
the children, even the special education students, are expected to go to
college. In these neighborhoods, parents
are advocates for their children. There
is no difference in the intellectual ability of the students in the
lower-social economic neighborhoods, but there is a difference in the
expectations of the students and the demands of the parents. The parents in the more affluent neighborhood
demand that their child receives all of the services he is entitled to. They pay for outside tutors, voice lessons,
dance classes, and athletic programs.
The students in these schools are often over-worked and anxious from
their parents’ demands and scheduling, but they achieve and they achieve at high
levels.
Children
become what they are expected to become.
The students in the inner-cities need advocates too. Often both parents of these students are busy
working two jobs to support their families or they are single-parent families. Some of these parents do not speak English or
fear deportation if they make demands on the schools. There are a myriad of real reasons that
becoming involved in their child’s education is difficult for them. Being economically disadvantaged and
culturally different creates huge obstacles for most of these students. Their families do not have the resources to
provide tutoring or voice lessons. Some
of these students work part-time or full-time jobs to help support the
family. Some of these students care for
younger siblings while their parents work.
Some of these students have parents who cannot read or write and cannot
help their child. These are the parents
who are embarrassed about their own lack of education and do not attend
parent-teacher meetings least someone discovers. Some of these students have families that
have been involved in gangs for four generations, but it is the teacher’s
obligations to find the treasures even in the tall grass. Look hard for them. Help these students discover their
treasures. Teach them to be ready for
college and show them how to get there.
For me, it was my high school counselor, Dee Anderson who showed me how
to apply for scholarships and colleges.
He took the time to walk me through the procedures and when I hesitated
(because it is difficult to be the first in your family) he did not give up on
me. Students who live in the tall grass
need an educator to be their advocate.
These
students will surprise you. When I was
teaching in California at an alternative high school, I had a 300 pound fourth-generation
gang member who could paint the most delicate watercolor landscapes. I had another student whose parents could not
afford to pay for his A.P. exams, so all of his teachers chipped in and paid
for them and the principal helped them find a legal counselor to help the
family stay in the country legally. Educators
are greatest asset these families have.
Give them hope for the future.
Those
of us who have taught in the inner-city schools have known the seventeen year old girl
pregnant with her second child who misses school to care for her children
working eight to ten hours a day in the fast food industry. Those of us who have taught in the inner-city
schools have known the teenage boy who is running drugs to support his siblings
because his only parent is incarcerated.
We have heard him rationalize that even if he does graduate, he is
unlikely to find any job and if he does find a job, it will probably be a
minimum wage job in fast food. Could he
really feed is family on that? Our
children are rotting in the tall grass too and no one seems concerned. As a country we cannot afford to waste the
futures of these children. As a teacher,
you can make a difference. Be an
advocate for a child wasting in the tall grass.
