Posted on 02/03/2015 6:35:03 AM PST by LeoMcNeil
The Washington Post published a piece by a teacher which originally appeared in the Daily Kos. We have another issue to add to the never ending list of “privilege” that the left loves to whine about. Educational privilege is apparently a tragedy that has to be dealt with. The teacher complains about a couple of gifted kids, one who appears to take one government school science class and another who attends a private school on scholarship. These confident gifted kids are compared to the sad storied poor kids the teacher has to deal with every day. She complains about hunger, she complains about missed educational opportunities and she whiles about the system. Her solution is to magically offer the same opportunities to those who are poor. In writing this, the anonymous teacher misses at least two glaring issues.
Why are these kids poor and why are they so far behind? Putting aside the absurdity that being poor equals an inability to persevere in school, the teacher never seems to wonder why these kids are poor. She likely chalks it up to “white privilege”, lack of various socialist government services or some other leftist boogeyman. In reality the problem is illegitimacy and lack of two parent households. Children who are raised as God intends, with a married mother and father who live in the same house, earn more over the course of their lives than children who don’t have such an arrangement. Such children are less likely to commit crimes, use drugs or drink alcohol in high school. Unfortunately we’re now several generations into the widespread acceptance of illegitimacy. In the black community, the illegitimacy rate is over 70%. Whites are only moderately better at 40%. Those are of course ridiculously high numbers no matter which race we’re looking at. Ultimately those numbers suggest a future of poverty for these illegitimate children.
The second glaring issue missed by the Daily Kos teacher is when she blames “the system” for poverty and ultimately for her failing students. The issue missed is which system is to be blamed. She believes the system is designed to hold them back from the moment they take their first breath. Her solution is of course more spending on education even though inner city schools routinely spend more per child than suburban schools. The problem is that the system which has created all of these problems is the system she wants to feed with more money. Kids are born into poverty because the government rewards women for having illegitimate children. By having illegitimate children, women are ensuring that their children grow up without fathers which ultimately encourages deviance, delinquency and poverty. All with the state’s encouragement, be it through extra welfare payments or with child support payments via divorce or child custody orders.
It is ultimately the welfare state that entices women to have illegitimate children or divorce their husbands without cause. That contributes directly to the poverty of the students this woman is allegedly teaching. These kids aren’t poor because other people have money, they’re poor because of the decisions their parents made in their lives. Ultimately each individual is responsible for their own actions. There is, however, no denying that the government creates incentives for women to have illegitimate children. It creates incentives for sloth. When it’s easier to be unmarried and live on welfare than get married and rely on a husband’s wages, the government is actively discouraging the very thing that protects kids most: Marriage.
No amount of government welfare can replace a father in the home. If people want to see themselves and their children lifted out of poverty the way to do it is to have children within a marriage. Inner city schools are full of kids who don’t have two parents living at home, in fact the overwhelming majority only live with their mother. Government education is always sub par and it’s even worse in poor neighborhoods. It’s worse in part because such schools have difficulty obtaining and keeping even low quality teachers. It’s also worse because there is absolutely zero encouragement at home. The deck is stacked against these kids but not because some other kids were born into well off families. The deck is stacked against them by a government that rewards sexual deviance and in doing so harms children. The poor neighborhoods of America don’t need more government, they need more Christian morality. They need government to stop rewarding illegitimacy.
Once, I took a job as a substitute teacher in a suburban, predominately white high school. The students could be classified as “white privilege” students. Add in the mandatory diversity population and you have your “typical” school.
The day before I started there, there had been a fight between two girls (one white, one black) that quickly got out of control. In all, 13 girls were arrested. In addition, each of the girls’ mother was arrested.
Here’s the worst part: the teachers were BRAGGING about needing 13 police cars to arrest the people involved. No shame at all.
While I believe in having two parents, I think a child can be properly educated in even a single parent environment. Dr. Carson is a prime example. And there are those with two parents who end up as dropouts.
The most important factor is an environment which encourages education. Children will be educated if their parent or guardian takes an active interest in their education. You don’t need a government program to start reading with your child at an early age.
My parents weren’t wealthy, but from the time my brother and I were small, our parents read to us. When we were old enough to read on our own, there were always books to read either from the school or the library. I remember the set of encyclopedias my Dad spent about a month’s wages on. We didn’t just use those encyclopedias for schoolwork. We actually would take a volume, sit down and just read it. Our parents also helped us with our homework or looked over what we had done. And they had firm rules — no goofing off until the homework was done.
If you don’t care about your child’s education, how do you expect him or her to care?
Obviously there are exceptions to the rule. There are going to be children from single or zero parent households who persevere and children from two parent homes that fail miserably. The statistics are pretty clear though, the way to ensure poverty is to have children out of wedlock. Women who have illegitimate children are usually younger or have a limited education. The cycle repeats because these women aren’t educated enough to catch on to the problem.
You have to admit 13 police cars is pretty impressive for a silly school yard fight. The question I have is whether the police are overreacting or under reacting.
Peers from minority (and even lower income white) households will shame and taunt their better performing friends as ‘TRYING to act white/preppie’ if they actually do well in school.
Anybody who tries to hold you back in life is not your friend.
I think the “acting white” or “acting preppie” argument is overblown on the right. It doesn’t happen nearly as often as some conservatives pretend. Especially with blacks. The only way they’re going to attack another black as being too white is if they come out of the closet as a conservative Republican.
I do agree though that anyone trying to hold you back isn’t really your friend. By logical conclusion, the government is not anyone’s friend.
I saw such comments in lunchrooms growing up.
And I’ve read books where teachers observe it among students who are excelling.
It’s as much a class thing as it is ‘color’ but peers will shame their friends and tease them for THINKING they can ‘be brainy’. Working class toughs don’t want to see their childhood friends go on to better things without them.
The welfare state deliberately punished anyone who starts to do well enough NOT to need the assistance. Keep them dependent and voting Democrat.
Fight was inside the school and mothers were involved. Overreaction? Not hardly. More like overwhelm the enemy with a superior force.
I remember that as well when I was a kid. I don’t think it’s happening as much today as it did back then.
Fair enough. :)
That is ultimately the problem with the welfare state. If anyone gets uppity and earns too much they lose food stamps, medicaid, section 8 housing and cash payments of any number of varieties. The state has ensured a permanent underclass, especially so when coupled with the woefully awful education provided these people at government schools. Notice how quickly Obama and the Democrats eliminate school choice, they wouldn’t want kids getting a better education and becoming capable of moving to the middle class and the Republican Party.
She wants to voucher the schools, and give parents full school choice?
Unfortunately no, she wants to spend gobs of taxpayer money believing only cash can produce results.
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