Why African-American boys often fail in school

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 8/8/03 | ERNEST HOLSENDOLPH

[rdb3]

I guess it starts pretty early.

What starts pretty early?

[manic4organic]

Wait! If there are more girls in college that's unfair. Let's give boys extra points to help boost their numbers.

[Rummyfan]

Found that confusing too, but read the header again.... it is percentage of that group (white, black, female) that graduated by 2002 from the entry class of 1996. Not that I would be surprised since we're talking about UGA....

[aristeides]

A pattern among African-American youngsters is that they emerge from elementary school in reasonably good shape, if they learn to read in timely fashion. However, when they try to cross the fast-moving, rock-strewn river called middle school, many black boys get swept into fads, laziness and indifference, falling behind, never to catch up.

Hmmm, that would be when testosterone hits their systems, would it not?

[InterceptPoint]

Their kids are going to be successful in life

I believe it.

You raise kids in a black family with strong family values and what do you get: decent, hard working kids. Why in the H don't the rest of the black people in this country get it? Why don't they see how they have been manipulated for political gain or just out of "do gooder" mushy headed liberal ignorance.

It is a sad state of affairs but like your neighbors, there are exceptions who should be but aren't the role models for the nations blacks who seem to prefer a shyster like Jesse Jackson. Go figure.

[rodeo-mamma]

To do a good job, a single mother needs to realize that she really isn't single. She must live her life as if she is married, in other words, not date at all. In addition, she must realize that she must be both father and mother. This means being both loving when she can, but also getting tough and not applogizing either when the kids show that they are getting bratty.

[honeygrl]

I think it all boils down to the fact that when/if school becomes "cool" the problem will start to resolve. Finding a way to make that happen would be difficult though. Of course parents need to push them to get ahead but the reality is, for many that's just not going to happen. These parents are doing their kids sucha disservice though. My neighbor is an older black man with 2 boys in college. He is a barely coherent alcoholic (his own admission to me, not something I just guessed at) and even he knew enough to push his kids to do well in school. If an alcoholic single father can get it right, you would think that any other parent could too. They just don't seem to care and I am not sure that is a problem that can be fixed at this point. They raised kids who don't care about the important stuff, and those kids will likely do the same with their own children. Even the NAACP, who is supposed to be there to help minorities, is making excuses for them rather than telling them to work hard to get ahead. And as long as school is considered "uncool" these guys will be flipping burgers the rest of their life.

[randog]

There's nothing wrong with a vocational education if you approach it with the right vision. Work for someone else, learn the business, save money and look for the right conditions in which to start youre own business.

You're absolutely right. I guess what galls me about the notion that everyone must be pushed towards college is that I started out with vocational ed (electronics technician), worked as a bench tech for a number of years, went back to college to get an engineering degree and now own my own engineering consulting business.

While attending a 4-year college, I saw many kids that were pushed into college right after high school that didn't belong there, and many of them dropped out soon after their freshman year (the college I went to had a 50% freshman dropout rate). That would have been me had I taken that route right after high school.

[Jim Noble]

It also works a lot worse. In a population with an average IQ of 100, about 25% of the population has an IQ of 110 or greater. In a population with an average IQ of 85, about 5% of the population has an IQ of 110 or greater.

Your implication is that various populations should be separated?

This is not necessarily true.

If, as in days of yore, you went as far as you could in school and then left without penalty, then whatever percentage of a given population could benefit, benefited.

An all-white high school that is dumbed down for the 75% who are under 110 may not be better than an all-black high school that is dumbed down for the benefit of the 95% under 110.

[randog]

10+ years ago I landed in Muscat, Oman to do a telecom equipment installation job. I got a thumbnail overview of Oman from the cab driver on my trip from the airport to my hotel. He told me that 50% of Oman's workforce was Indian guest workers, but some jobs - like cab driving - were reserved for Omanis only. I asked him why, and he told me that the government realizes that not every Omani is a rocket scientist (his words) but still needs a job. A simple enough concept for an Omani cab driver, but somehow the pointy-heads in the Ivory Towers just don't get it.

[CurlyBill]

The black community is held hostage by the democrat politics of victimhood, where all their problems are caused by white people, plus an absense of personal responsibility.

Excellent point!!!!! Your one sentence wraps it up as completely as any other I've seen. We see it all the time. Just look at what Chief Moose did recently. What a shame!!!

[heckler]

Agreed. I know that I would have done much better in college if I had gotten a taste of the real world before I went. Theres nothing like trying to pay the bills working a minimum wage job doing something that you really dont enjoy to motivate you to take your education seriously.

I was working part time at a audio/video electronics store during college. I went to work full time and quit school because it was fun and I was making some money. I got paid minimum wage or commission, whichever was more. Business slowed down about the time I realized that I wasnt cut out for retail sales work(I grew up on a farm). When I went back to school I attacked it with a vengeance rather than just doing it because it had to be done.

[honeygrl]

Sounds like the kids in UGA aren't doing too badly. They are well above average.

[nmh]

Silly excuses... . Could it be that 70% don't have fathers? Of he remaining 30%, half a those marriages end in divorce leaving a dysfunctional family? Could it also be that academia is more female friendly and suits a female better? I think so ... .

[honeygrl]

Are you advocating dumbing down the education for the slower students though? (isn't that the no child left behind way?) I just graduated in 1997. At that point, even the advanced classes weren't too hard for most of the students. All you had to do was listen in class to pass the tests. And if you did your homework too, you passed the class. The only class that I really had trouble with was geometry, which I never could grasp and failed twice. Trig wasn't a required class. I really don't even think the problem is that the kids can't do the work, they just don't want to.

[freedom moose]

We need more (much more) voc ed, not less.
i agree. there's nothing wrong with being a plumber, carpenter, bricklayer, mechanic, butcher, baker, candlestickmaker etc etc and aspiring to be a master in one of these fields is IMO a noble goal. it's a shame that elitists look down on these professions. many students (of ALL races) are unsuited for college and a lot of them would excel in these professions, and would benefit from more educational opportunities like apprenticing.

[honeygrl]

"She must live her life as if she is married, in other words, not date at all. "

Sorry but that's just unrealistic and unfair. How about try dating men who are upstanding, decent people who would potentially make good fathers for your kids if/when you remarry? I do agree though that she should be just as tough as a father would be on the kids when they get into trouble. But saying she should not date at all won't help. Remarrying a decent man can be wonderful for the kids if their real father isn't present. And the only way for that to happen is for her to date decent men who are good role models.

[Biblebelter]

You have nailed the problem. I am familiar with the middle schools in the community in which I live. The public school minority population has hit nearly 50% while the minority population in the general community is closer to 20%.

The make-up of the teaching staffs at the middle schools which have a combined enrollment between 1500 and 2000 has NO BLACK MALES as teachers. There are virtually no white males either,the white males that are on staff are not teaching in the core curricula of math,English, science and social studies. The teaching staff and counselors are overwhelmingly white female. In the elementary schools there is number of black female teachers. Most of these black males hit middle school without ever being exposed to strong male authority. Middle school is a tough time for all youth no matter what the race or gender. A nearly all white female staff dealing with nearly quarter black male population is not a good mix.

There must be a lot of reasons why males do not enter teaching. The fact that schools have more committment to objectives related to further entrenching the social welfare state than they do instructional objectives must have something to do with males rejecting the teaching profession. My father was a teacher, principal, and superintendent. When I attended school in the fifties and sixties, the teaching staff was at least 50% male. All the teachers in the first four grades were female. All the teachers in the sixth, seventh, and eighth were male except for PE and home economics.

Black men and white women grouped together is not a healthy demographic for success in the public schools but it probably bodes well for the Democrats because it so reflects the hardest core constituencies of the Democratic Party.

[Our man in washington]

"The success of any culture directly relates to the FATHERS' commitment to their families."

Very true. Some would deride such a comment as sexist, but it is actually a compliment to women. In every culture, women do not abandon their babies, except for rare isolated exceptions. Thus, the woman's commitment is the given. The father's commitment is the variable.

Part of the problem is that our society has lost an appreciation of the masculine virtues. For example, one of the great masculine virtues can be summed up in five words "Oh, yeah? I'll show you!" Boys need to learn how to say this phrase, although perhaps not out loud in most situations. That's the voice that should be going off when a young mean hears phrases like:

"Johnny, you really don't have a chance of success in this high school."

"Oh, come on Billy. Nobody from this neighborhood ever became a doctor."

"YOU making the football team? That's pretty funny."

Unfortunately, young boys are not learning "Oh, yeah? I'll show you!" They're learning "it's unfair!" "You should sue!" etc.

Other things men need to teach their boys:

RIGHT: "I'm no quitter!"
WRONG: "I'm too sensitive to do this kind of thing. People just don't understand that."

RIGHT: "I'm above that sort of thing."
WRONG: "We shouldn't judge other people."

RIGHT: "So it hurt a little. I'm tougher than that."
WRONG: "Whaaaa!!!"

RIGHT: "We'll get a little dirty to get the job done. We can clean up later."
WRONG: "I'm not getting my sneakers dirty for nothing!"

[Freee-dame]

So, becoming a plumber, carpenter, machinist, technician, etc. is an achievement one should be ashamed of?

Jobs done by plumbers, carpenters, mechanics or electricians won't be outsourced, either.