Why African-American boys often fail in school

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

[Bernard]

I'll guess that there is no father in those single-parent households to act as a living example of what a man SHOULD do, and no father-figure to counteract the romance of fancy wheels on a car, and no father to effectively discipline a young male to stay in school, do their homework, etc., etc., etc.

That's why there was no mention of the traditional nuclear family in this article. No amount of funding for current government programs can solve the basic problem - the traditional family may not be the perfect solution, but it worked for several centuries. It wasn't until we as a society financed the great social experiment that we found out why the traditional family works.

[Chief_Joe]

No amount of funding for current government programs can solve the basic problem...

That is the point. You have to first define the actual problem before you develop a solution for it. Another way of saying this is that the output is dependent on the input. The question I believe that needs to be answered before blacks can move on is why do black women have low academic expectations for black men?  

[raybbr]

They know the public school system is broken. They want to keep it that way for the money. College is now the primary source of a good education. Push them through k-12 and let the colleges deal with the dummies.

[Ben Chad]

It's simple. You reap what you sow.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Her point was that if kids have to negotiate the education system without close parent involvement all the way, they can easily get sidetracked and discouraged.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you, The heart of the problem.

[Jim Noble]

Most of all, school systems need to consider dropping the vocational education pathway, a convenient way to divert students who don't fit. Instead, the regents say, put everybody on the college track and make it clear the schools expect all to achieve.

This disastrous "reform" has already killed public education in most white neighborhoods, why not put everybody in the same failure mode?

No more than 30% of Americans age 14-18 are capable of true high school work, much less college.

When you put them into a (forced) system where failure is a certainty but is not permitted, it is the system that has to fall.

And it has.

[Jim Noble]

Success in an (uncorrupted) academic high school program requires an IQ of 110+.

Making this a universal requirement does not work any better in populations with an average IQ of 100 than it does in populations with an average IQ of 85, except that it makes the latter more angry (as it should).

We need more (much more) voc ed, not less.

[taxed2death]

....most kids fail in school because being smart and getting good grades is not seen as being "cool".

[mhking]

Parents have a responsibility - whether they are traditional nuclear families like mine, or single-parent households - to help their children and to challenge them so that they are able to perform and achieve to the best of their ability. In our home, the expectation is there that our children do well in school. My wife and I reenforce that continually, and demand that of our children.

Too many households ignore that parental responsibility.

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[Liz]

Your children are so lucky to have you and the missus as parents. I know they will do you proud.

[OldSmaj]

Latrell owns a company that specializes in customizing cars.

Hey, cool. I especially liked those items that jump up and choke you out if you criticize them.

And then call you a racist POS if you protest the cost or performance.

Substandard as it may be.

[InterceptPoint]

Chief_Joe wrote:

I found it interesting that the article never addressed the structure of the black family as a potential cause of the problem.

The only words of wisdom that I have seen in this article and the entire thread. Of course it is the destruction, in fact the planned destruction, of the black family that is the root cause of this problem. If you plant potatoes you get potatoes. When you raise black boys up in a society where the majority of the children are raised by the women, where many of the men don't even know who there children are and probably don't care you are not going to provide young males with the role models that are the norm in most of society.

This is a phenomenon of my lifetime. I remember when it wasn't so. I grew up in a mixed interracial school and the black kids were my friends and they were just as hard working and dedicated to learning as anyone. Something happened called welfare and the welfare state, women's liberation, affirmative action, MTV, rap music, criminals as heroes and, well you get the idea. All of these things have contributed to the destruction of the black family and all have changed things for the worse.

If we start now it will take a generation or two to heal. A very sad state of affairs but it does have one great advantage: It secures 95% of the black vote for the Dems. Hard to beat that.

[heckler]

I remember a study done 8-10 years ago that found that the "average" millionaire was a small businessman who had worked hard over a 20-30 year period starting and building his business, often a plumbing or heating/air conditioning business, drove a Ford and lived in a $250,000.00 home.

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.

[dufekin]

That pre-algebra test ranks among the top ways that schools derail successful high-school and college carreers. Whenever I get a grade/middle school student who wants to get into college and/or the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of such student, I tell them to fight it. By the time they realize how important it is, it's too late. Fortunately, I (very narrowly) passed, and they told me that I'd be lucky to get a "D" in pre-algebra. I got an easy "A." When my brother took the test, he failed and they told him that there would be no chance he'd get any grade other than "F" if he took pre-algebra. Our parents fought it, the administration releted, and, predictably, he, too, got an "A" without doing hardly any work for the class.

[alrea]

While the rest of the country toils in universities and technical institutes to acquire the skills for professions, and the knowledge to understand the world, black boys -- to an alarming degree -- are lagging in class, dropping out or stumbling across the high school finish line with too few skills to make it through college.

I find this statement highly offensive and racist. This paper also claims that racism causes blacks to be sent to prison at a higher rate than others.

Can they not apply logic and thus make the case that those that stay in school tend to stay out of jail?

Liberals and the media are on racism watch. They are beginning to confuse themselves.

[Vinnie]

Never heard of them

I think I saw a set of a car the other day.

Imagine a turbine blade mounted on a ball bearing pivot in the center of a hubcap. As the car rolls, inertia, wind or both spins the 'turbine'. As the car slows or stops, the 'turbine' continues to turn, giving the illusion of the car moving.

I mentioned them to someone and they told me they were the ultimate status symbol at a price tag of $6000.

[alrea]

What's needed, the regents say, are teachers better equipped to deal with balky black boys, as well as persistent parental support and better-organized outside mentoring help

Joslyn Elders made the statement that over 90% of those in prison come from single parent homes. If true that is possibly the single most influential dynamic operating in our society today.

[NCLaw441]

You said:
I'll guess that there is no father in those single-parent households to act as a living example of what a man SHOULD do, and no father-figure to counteract the romance of fancy wheels on a car, and no father to effectively discipline a young male to stay in school, do their homework, etc., etc., etc.

Exactly correct!! And if there WERE such examples within the family, society would not see fit to use reverse discrimination in order to make it artificially appear as though minorities were succeeding when they, in many instances, are not. Similarly, black males would not have to look to rap "artists" and athletes as role models, but could instead look at their fathers and older brothers as proper role models. And despite all of this, those who claim to have taken on the mantle of advancing the cause of minorities make only token mention of the alarmingly great number of families headed by single females. "Yes, it's a problem, but what are you going to do?" It is not only "a" problem, it is "the" problem. The economic impact is obvious. The social impact is undeniable, both from within and outside of the nuclear black family (lacking a male head)leaving biological fathers to roam the streets and buy Sprewells and look for more prospective black female-led households. Go to any elementary school and spend just a moment with black boys there. The need for adult male role models is palpable. I have visited my son and daughter at their schools (they are now entering 6th grade) and it is sometimes hard to spend time with them because the black boys are clamoring for attention and nurturing from ANY adult male. By high school, of course, this "weakness" is disguised by normal teen sullenness and a layer of insolence, but you have to know that it is still there. I look for a reversal in the next 10 to 15 years, but I wish it could begin earlier.....

[ladylib]

The electrician in my town is a millionaire. One day I turned to the wedding section in "Town and Country" magazine and saw his daughter's picture.

[alrea]

When you raise black boys up in a society where the majority of the children are raised by the women, where many of the men don't even know who there children are and probably don't care ...

unless they make to the NBA