When Ben and Frankie were in elementary school, every summer they would work on the school curriculum that would be taught the following year. I wanted to be sure that they were solid academically.
As black boys growing up in America, I knew they would be labeled, and as much as I could, I wanted to control those labels.
As a concerned parent, I once shared with an administrator that if three boys walked into a school - one Asian, one White and the other Black - the assumptions would be the Asian kid is above average, the White one at least average, and the Black one, below average and a behavior issue.
I was not going to let those assumptions describe my boys.
So, the journey began of preparing them.
Let me stop now and say, I screwed up in many ways over the years, in my role as parent. So please don't see this as bragging or boasting. It's just I believe this is one area I got right.
I was reminded of this yesterday, when I briefly took over a class of 5th grade boys. They were rowdy and energetic, but the thing that was most apparent, was how low they were academically.
Yes, the school, and the school system, have a responsibility to provide a sound educational experience, but the role of the parent is crucial. It is a rare kid who wants to learn for the sake of learning. The importance of getting an education has to be affirmed and drilled into kids by their parents or other significant adults in their lives.
Although there are exceptions throughout the ages of students defying the odds and excelling without a strong parental framework, but it is rare.
As much as I, too, believe that education is in need of reform, those necessary changes must include the role of parental responsibility.
Students with active, involved parents, attending to the academic achievement of their kids, do better in school.
That's a fact.
So, if you're an educator in a situation where parental support is not there, do you throw up your hands and give up? Of course not. You do the best you can and hope it's enough to thrust the kids forward.
To all of you out there who are not teachers, let me share something that every teacher knows - this is one of the hardest jobs on the planet.
So take a moment to salute teachers.
They deserve it.
As black boys growing up in America, I knew they would be labeled, and as much as I could, I wanted to control those labels.
As a concerned parent, I once shared with an administrator that if three boys walked into a school - one Asian, one White and the other Black - the assumptions would be the Asian kid is above average, the White one at least average, and the Black one, below average and a behavior issue.
I was not going to let those assumptions describe my boys.
So, the journey began of preparing them.
Let me stop now and say, I screwed up in many ways over the years, in my role as parent. So please don't see this as bragging or boasting. It's just I believe this is one area I got right.
I was reminded of this yesterday, when I briefly took over a class of 5th grade boys. They were rowdy and energetic, but the thing that was most apparent, was how low they were academically.
Yes, the school, and the school system, have a responsibility to provide a sound educational experience, but the role of the parent is crucial. It is a rare kid who wants to learn for the sake of learning. The importance of getting an education has to be affirmed and drilled into kids by their parents or other significant adults in their lives.
Although there are exceptions throughout the ages of students defying the odds and excelling without a strong parental framework, but it is rare.
As much as I, too, believe that education is in need of reform, those necessary changes must include the role of parental responsibility.
Students with active, involved parents, attending to the academic achievement of their kids, do better in school.
That's a fact.
So, if you're an educator in a situation where parental support is not there, do you throw up your hands and give up? Of course not. You do the best you can and hope it's enough to thrust the kids forward.
To all of you out there who are not teachers, let me share something that every teacher knows - this is one of the hardest jobs on the planet.
So take a moment to salute teachers.
They deserve it.
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