Mark Naison: Schools Alone Can't Prepare Low Income Youth For the World That Awaits Them
For the last six months, I have been involved in a series of discussions about how to re-engage African-American and Latino youth with the educational system , and give them an alternative discourse and moral framework to contest the worldview they are immersed in through commercial hip hop and popular media.
It would be comforting to think that educational reforms such as reduced class size, smaller schools, and more regular testing to insure acquisition of basic skills would help narrow the gap between middle class and poor students, and between African American and Latino youth and their white and Asian counterparts, but so far, the school reform movement has registered few noticeable gains in achieving either of those educational objectives.
Making the school environment both more demanding and more supportive for children from poor families is certainly an important first step in reducing the test score gap, but cognitive and moral development take place in family and community settings at least as much as they do in school, and if children go back to stress filled, violent and cognitively and linguistically constricted enviroments when school is done, the gains schools can make, even with the most inspired leadership and teaching staff may be limited
It's time to take a harsh, realistic look at what children's lives are like in wounded families and communities. The words and images in gangsta rap that justly appall so many people were not invented by the rappers or the corporations that profit from their music- they echo the language many people in poor communities use in dealing with one another, and unfortunately, in communicating with their own children.
In a economy where the vast majority of decent paying jobs require communication skills more than physical strength, children who are cursed, yelled at, hit, threatened and called"N. . . r" and"B . . h" by the people closest to them, who are never read to or engaged in convesation, who are never taken to museums, stores and cultural events outside their neighborhood will find it very hard to compete with with children from middle class families when it comes time to seek employment or get into selective schools. In some cases, they may find it difficult to stay in school long enough to graduate from high school, or keep any job for more than a few weeks.
If truth be told, the brutality and cynicism in gangsta rap is no greater, and far less damaging, than the brutality and cynicism that pervades daily interactions in many poor communities. A two year old girl told by her mother's boyfriend"Shut the f..k up, you little b. . .h," when she cries, is going to bear scars that will dwarf anything inflicted by the most misogynistic and violent hip hop lyrics.While it would probably be healthier if popular music tried to uplift our wounded youth, rather than echo and reinforce the sources of their pain, in no way, shape or form should music be seen as the main cause of their misery.
So what should we do? We need to supplement school reform with the most intenstive afterschool and weekend programs than emphasize mentoring and cognitive development.
From the age of six, children should be drawn into small groups, with consistent adult leadership, where they will feel safe and protected, and given experiences that most middle class children take for granted. The first of those is CONVERSATION. Children should have the experience of being spoken to by adults, and speaking to one another, in complete sentences, without insults, cursing, or terms of abuse. Giving children the time and space to use their imagination in describing the world around them is a valuable experience for youngsters whose family lives are often characterized by constant stress and high levels of conflict. Schools don't have the time to do this. Mentoring programs which have 6 children at a time do. The second of these is READING. Children need to be read to on a regular basis in a relaxed environment. In many households in poor neighborhoods, the noise and crowding levels, as well as the stress levels many of the adults labor under, make this impossible. Mentoring programs that involve reading, both by adults and children, will make books seem like a source of comfort, inspiration and adventure rather than just a prerequisite for passing tests. A third element is HANDS ON EXPERIENCES IN SCIENCE AND THE ARTS. From the time they are two years old ( and sometimes earlier) middle class children are deluged with toys which give them a chance to develop congitive skills through hands on activities. Children in poor neighborhoods rarely have these experiences and mentoring programs have to offer them.
They should be given the leisure to draw things, make things, create new sounds, mix and match colors and chapes, conduct simple scientific experiments with water and light, and experience the physical word as a source of mystery and adventure in a relaxed setting.
Having the time to try different approaches, to make mistakes and correct them, to invent new approaches without adults yelling at them or other kids making fun of them or knocking down their equipment is a very important developmental experience many kids in troubled families simply don't have. TRIPS TO CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS Taking children to museums, concerts, or cutural festivals downtown, in a small group setting where they can be both guided and reassured, will give them the opportunity to see first hand what the world outside their neighborhood is like and will halp them develop the social skills they will need to go to school, or seek employment, in middle class communities. The more sophistication and broad exposure to different neigborhoods children have, the less likely they will grow up feeling trapped in the communities they lived in
Nothing less that what I have outlined above, which should begin for children at age 6, is capable of addressing the cultural and cognitive deficits that traps many of our young people in dangerous neighborhoods, and sharply narrows their choices when they have become adolescents or adults.
This is just my first effort to speak to a very difficult and complex issue. I welcome comments, criticism, and suggestions of more effective stragegies.