[SoftballMominVA]

Long ago, in what seems like another life, I graduated from college and taught exactly 1 year with children from the type of poverty I didn't even know existed. For whatever reason, the parents were virtually nonexistent. The school I attempted to teach in was a shambles with tiles falling down, mold an inch deep in the corners, peeling paint, brown water, and what was probably asbestos falling from the gym ceiling. Some teachers were dedicated, some were half-asleep, others like me well, we were just over our heads.

As imperfect as the school was, and believe me it was indeed a mess, it was so much better than their home lives. It was the only place with a semblance of structure, and with any type of authority. And that was the sad part. The school was the best thing going for these kids.

I suspect the same may be true in certain places in Trenton, NJ - that a gov’t agency filled with a mixture of adults ranging from apathy to empathy is better than the adults who created these kids.

Sad huh?

[GovernmentShrinker]

My sense is that, at least at the high school level, the schools in places like Trenton and NYC (i.e. with densely populated, predominantly black ghettos) are so completely out of control that the adults who work in them have close to zero influence on what goes on there. These kids have no respect for authority other than gang leaders (i.e. well-armed and very violence-prone authority, wearing lots of gold chains, expensive sneakers, etc), and the adults working in the schools aren’t allowed to do anything to *make* them respect authority. I’m sure most of the homes are awful, but the mob mentality rules in the schools, and that can engender some pretty horrific behavior.