JOIN AAHN

Did you know that less than 50% of African American males are graduating from high school in some inner city school systems? 

Did you know that African American males are overrepresented in Special Education?

Did you know that African American males are more likely to go to jail than attend college?

As parents we need to face these hard truths.  We need to ask ourselves what are we doing to ensure that our sons get an education.  How can we ensure that our sons with disabilities live to their fullest potential?  What are we doing to make sure that our sons do not unwittingly surrender their lives to the prison system?

We must first take responsibility for the education of our children.  No longer can we drop our sons and daughters at the steps of the school building every morning and assume that they will get everything they need to succeed in life inside those doors.  We’ve got to do more than attend PTA meetings, attend teacher/parent meetings, and chaperone field trips.  Exactly what type of education are African American children getting in the public school system? There are students that get good grades and still cannot pass high school graduation tests or get into college! There are students that graduate with As and Bs and still cannot pass the college placement tests.

Instill in your children to take responsibility for their own learning.  Learning is natural for all humans.  We all want to learn, but we don’t all want to learn the same thing.  The public schools have essentially determined what each student will learn through standardized curriculum.  Achievement tests are based on the curriculum.  Students that do not learn the curriculum will probably fail the mandated achievement tests and possibly be retained.  The students have no control over what they want to learn (see article in Teaching Resources on Self-Directed Learning).

When our children bring their report cards home and we see the bad grades, we get the urge to tell our children to turn off the television, do not play video games, and stay off of the computer.  Through punishment we feel that maybe they will focus a little more on school work. 

Here’s a radical idea.  Put your children first.  Before work.  Before the car note.  Before the mortgage.  Yes, before the mortgage.  To influence their lives in a positive manner you’ve got to be there.  You won’t get the chance again.  Being there for your children may mean that you must take a lower paying job.  You can get another good paying job.  Can you get your son out of prison when the judge sentences him to five to ten years? 

Can you live with a seventeen year old that cannot read?  Give up the luxury car with the huge note and use the money to hire a paid tutor. Instead of living in the big hous that you are bearly holding on to, try a smaller home and use the extra money to fund music lessons or save up for your children to go abroad to learn. In our community we call it "keeping up with the Joneses"...but guess what...little Tommy Jones can't read.