In order to understand why more boys aren't finishing high school and entering into institutions of higher learning, let's go back to the days of Teddy Bears and Barbie Dolls...When a little boy and a little girl begin school they are pretty much equal. Both are excited about learning and both are eager to go to school. Flash forward six years and look at that same boy and same girl and there have been some notable changes. While that girl may still be doing her work and engaged in the learning process, that same boy is now totally turned off by school. Usually, by the ninth grade, he hates school and somewhere in between 10th & 11th grade, he no longer sees the need to go anymore and in a lot of cases, he begins cutting school. Okay, you may ask me why has there been such a drastic change in the boy? Glad you asked... here is my theory.
In most public school, the teachers are largely female (I know I'm going to get in trouble here). A lot of these female teachers really don't understand males and how male children by their very natures are different. Boys like to fidget... boys like to do things with their hands... boys are very physical and like to wrestle and "roughhouse." This is just who and what boys are. Boys develop their communication skills a little later than little girls do. You can get little girls to focus and cooperate a little easier than you can little boys. It doesn't make boys bad, just different.
Now, imagine this little boy being made to sit in the corner, getting detentions, and being told that he is "bad" all those years. By the sixth grade, school has now become a place of humiliation and imprisonment for him. More male teachers and the involvement of more black fathers in their sons' education would go a long way in ending this cycle.
I am by no means berating female teachers. I just feel as though little boys need a male teacher and male guideance counselors (who understand them) to help them along in school. A father at home and supporting the mother, has a lot to do with the rate of both males and females finishing high school and going on to college.
I know that my theory is outlandish but, it's just a theory. I was that little boy who couldn't sit still... I was that little boy who had to stand in the corner and was told that he was "bad"... and I was that little boy who was totally turned off with school by ninth grade. But, I also knew that my father and mother would put a foot up (you fill in the blank) if I didn't get it together. So, leaving school and not graduating was never an option.
To boost my argument, San Quentin Prison has teachers from UCLA and the University of California at Berkley teaching college level courses to inmates. The instructors have said that the inmates are more motivated and engaged in education than many of their co-eds in the free world. When one inmate was asked why he was so motivated to get an education now, when he could have done this before he got locked up, he replied by saying, "I always felt humiliated in school, like I would be laughed at if I didn't know something. Here (prison), I'm with other guys who are just like me... I mean we are all in the same boat so, I tend to do better." He made my argument. Prison is no place to get a college education.
Go back to the days of Teddy Bears and Barbie Dolls and save the children.
6 comments:
This is an interesting post.
I completely agree with you about how boys perceive the education system differently than girls. And it IS mainly because of DNA. But more than just that, it is because the education system is not really about education than it is about elimination.
Men are supposed to be the backbones of their community. But if a man can't finish his education, he loses his own backbone. As a result, only the powerful few can be called men in this country. The rest of us are just overgrown boys in the eyes of the social elite.
This is why I have such a big bone to pick with Obama. He can't possibly see an America where everybody has a fair shot. Even now as my little bro defies odds by starting college this fall, his financial aid opportunities are limited. This would make the average kid throw in the towel, but thank God that little bro is different.
But I slightly disagree with you about the prison education system. I feel that having a degree gives one something to look forward to. And some of those guys AIN'T NEVER GETTIN' OUT. They'll never intern on Wall Street, or buy their first home. So, don't take the college degree away from them.
Still a GREAT, GREAT, POST!
hey - came via Miz's spot! As a female teacher i'm not offended nor am i gonna jump on u;-). most of my experience is in independent/private education. just wrapped up a year of subbing in nyc's public schools & i think it's more than the fact that the teacher is female - i don't even know where to begin w/ the f%$ked up public schools. i know i'm GLAD to be returning to private in the fall!
interestingly enough ALL kids (well both genders) loose some sense of self in their middle grade years when self esteem PLUMMETS!! i DO wonder if the typical school set up of 1 adult with 15+ same age kids is the culprit. Wonder how much better education was in ONE room schools where at least kids of different ages helped each other. I try to encourage the students to support each other as much as I can because there is wisdom in sharing...
i also agree with Zack that public education is CLEARLY set up for elimination & private education has ALWAYS been for the elite (literacy & education systems as a whole were NEVER intended for the "masses"). Just like the jail system was never set up to rehabilitate anyone...
But don't pick your bone with Obama - that Brother never said EVERYone has a fair shot (i read THAT in his interview with Oprah - he's VERY clear on that). The only thing I REALLY think Obama CAN do (cuz they're gonna do all they can to shoot him down & i PRAY it's not literally) - but what he CAN do is be a SYMBOL of great impact!! Just his BEING in that position does & will motivate others to push a lil harder, believe a li'l stronger...
Keith I loved this post (both parts!) Time did an article a few years back about the alarm rate that black females were outnumbering black males in college. Black women talk about it when they talk about the dearth of professional men who have the same credentials as they do, mostly college degrees, this is a really big issue for many women who expect to marry men who have equal or better educations than they do, don’t get me started on that. The fact is there is a large population of our men in prisons and many get caught up there because they aren’t in someone’s school.
Anyway I am so glad you bought up the socialization of young boys in school My mother was a teacher’s aid for a while and we would talk about how often little black boys were chastised or punished in grade school and sometimes they were punished and chastised while their white counterparts weren’t. She would say all they needed was for someone to just be firm with them and establish ground rules, not punish them at the onset of what was often typical boyish behavior. I think unless you are in a school where someone takes a personal interest in you its easy to fall through the cracks.
My mother NEVER stressed education to me one bit, but I as a little girl always knew I wanted more than a high school diploma. When I was younger I would say it was just me and just my drive, but as I have become older I realized there were teachers in my grade school who set the bar for me way back then. When I would act up anywhere in that school with in ear or eyeshot Mrs. Adams my black fourth grade teacher, who had taught my mother and all her siblings, would threaten to call my grandparents. There was Mrs. Nixon a beautiful, young, tall, pretty black woman who was no nonsense when it came to third grade math and who I thought was great. I always admired that she was strong and pretty. She was fair and even gave me pops once, long story I had some grade school shenanigans in my life. Even Mrs. S. Miller a tall, older white lady who always smelled good and made 5th grade English so fun.
As I sit here remembering all those role models I had, it’s easy to see why I turned out like I did even though a post high school education wasn’t stressed in my home, but who did our boys have to look up to, especially if they were not in sports. As a young girl I had those teachers all who I shared at least one thing in common womanhood showing me what womanhood was and how to be a woman simply by being women and telling me I was smart I could be a lawyer or a doctor or a scientist or anything I wanted.
Meanwhile who looked like the little black boys and told them that and showed them how to be a man. To tell you the truth I can’t remember one single male teacher in my grade school including the principal and surely he must have been male right?? I really don’t remember male teachers that made an impact in my life until Jr. high School, which is fine because I’m a girl not so fine if you’re a boy, by then you have missed some pretty fundamental years.
Anyway this was a great post and I am glad you decided to write it and double glad I got to read it!!
-OG
i like your theory. it's quite interesting.
I think you have something here. I have always believed that a great male role model in a young boys life, goes farther then education alone. Back in the day we had plenty of male teachers, almost a 50-50 ratio, and these teachers CARED, cared about all of their students. I'm not saying that they don't today, but i'm living in a situation where the majority of teachers are women, and most are non-black, and really i just can't see the same CARE!
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