http://www.aetv.com/beyond-scared-straight/video/fulton-county-ga-3823683579#3823683579
I broke up a fight between him and another student on the last day of school. This fight, against all odds, took place just behind me, a known martial arts practitioner, and the cops. I have been told to my face in an honest conversation that students don’t want what we are offering. They don’t want to stop living that life.
Dr. Calvin Mackie says that in this day and age, Education is Useless, because as the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/19/my-view-education-is-useless/
I think about the education and training that I received prior to and that which I am receiving now, and I wonder how do we combat this? I see the attrition of those who care; wittled down by those who show up, to be seen portraying a ‘thug’ like they see on TV or on the music videos. People think that this is just a stereotype. This is just something that people say to sell diversity literature or lectures. No Sir; No Ma’am. The effect of the media, the loss of the black man, the resulting pressure on the black woman, and the culminating effect on the black youth is NOT at all a farce, cliche, or exaggerated. It is true. I see it everyday. I grade it every day. I tell it to go to class everyday. I teach it everyday. I hope anyway.
Insert...Just after posting this to facebook, I saw one of my former students post a picture of his new tattoo. Are you ready...
I am not writing this to be a kill-joy or a ‘nay-sayer’. I am just stating my reality. I am saying this to speak upon the overwhelming importance of being a role-model, father-figure, Uncle, Big Brother, Mentor, Confidant, and ‘good’ man/woman, who also happens to be a teacher. Those who hope to venture into a majority minority school in certain communities with a certain SES need to truly be aware of what they are going to face and exactly what kind of teacher that they need to be for the students that they will be entrusted with. Ladies and gentlemen, they need light. They need us to be exactly what they need...A relief, an example, a hope, a reason to believe and move on.
So many times I think about what Jesus must have felt, when my students come to me, in need, tired, hungry, hurt, and/or curious. We think we have problems...One student in my class is struggling with HIV, another is an adopted young lady who has a mother who just died a prostitute, yet others still are spoiled brats, some are trying to do their best just because that is the right thing to do, while there are others that don’t believe that they can change their situation.
I, as their leader, am not ashamed to share with them my pitfalls, my drama, and less than perfect past. I tell them of hunger, of cold showers and doing homework by candlelight. I share with them stories of domestic abuse, of molestation, and more to be a living example that there are NO EXCUSES! There are NO UNRECOVERABLE MISTAKES! There are NO DEAD ENDS for those who are passionate and dedicated to making a better life for themselves.
Nothing defines you, but what you allow to. In my classroom hangs the following, which I penned, “You are not your money, your devices or your environment, instead, you are what you know, what you believe in, and what you fight for.” To offer them an alternative as a representative of a person who has overcome is the answer to many of my students prayers, I hope. My goal is to always open up a slat in the lantern of pride and passion, courage and tenacity, providing them with a light of hope and a model/path to follow.
I leave you with this. I always tell young adults or anyone going someplace I have been what is ahead both as a warning and as a call to preparation. Parents, teachers, officers, adults of all kinds can tell you what to do, but cannot make you do anything. No adult can make you do anything; all we can do is make sure that you are not surprised.
Peace and blessings,
CEH
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