Teachusallfilm.org describes the movie as, "A documentary film + a social justice movement."
The synopsis, as posted on twomovies.tv, is: "On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the 1957 Little Rock school desegregation crisis, educational inequality remains among the most urgent civil rights issues of our time. With its school district hanging in the balance following a state takeover in January 2015, Little Rock today presents a microcosm of the inequities and challenges manifesting in classrooms all across America. Through case studies in Little Rock, New York City, and Los Angeles, Teach Us All seeks to bring the critical lessons of history to bear on the current state of U.S. education and investigate: 60 years later, how far have we come-or not come-and how do we catalyze action from here?
Read more: https://twomovies.tv/watch_movie/Teach_Us_All
The answer is, we haven't come far at all since 1957. Yes, there is no visible segregation such as black and white schools like we had in the 40s and 50s. But, children in almost every school continue to be segregated by race, income, and language.
Do you want to hear some startling statistics?
"Poor children that can't read on grade level by the 3rd grade are 13x less likely to graduate high school."
"Kids that drop out are 4x more likely to go to prison."
"Los Angeles spends on average $223,600 to incarcerate a juvenile and only $9,000 a year educating a student."
These quotes are all from the movie. What are we doing wrong? These kids are NOT dropouts. They have been FAILED by our system. My heart aches for these kids who were never really given a chance at all. How can we be the United States of America when we are casting these children aside, saying their education doesn't matter as much as rich white kids? My dad was one of these kids. He was underprivileged, teachers hated him, and he went to jail at least once after dropping out or being expelled (he did get his GED when we was 16). He was one of those kids that bad teachers and the school system had failed. That's one of the biggest reasons why he wanted to homeschool us in the first place. He had no faith in the public school system.
Watch the movie for yourself. It doesn't matter what race you are, what background you come from, whether you homeschool your kids or go to public school or want to make a difference in society. It's so powerful, incredibly moving, and I cried while watching it. This movie isn't just for educators; it should be for all of society. If we want our society to change, it has to start in the schools. These kids are the next generation. These kids will lead the world. When we're gray or gone, what kind of world do we want them to lead?
One thing they did not talk about in the movie is disabilities, or kids with special needs. Students with special needs are also discriminated against. And the issue of special needs is a RACE issue too, believe it or not. Did you know that African-American children are twice as likely to be diagnosed with intellectual disabilities and emotional disturbance, than all other races? (This statistic is from my sped textbook). It's not because they are less smart or more emotional than children of other races...it's because we make school incredibly difficult for them, when many of them are coming from incredibly hard backgrounds already, and we make school easier for white kids, or kids with a lot of money and family time.
What can we do to change these numbers?
What can we do to make all children feel welcome and succeed at high rates, instead of just the white kids?
What can we do to insure that every child feels loved, cared for, and put into positions where they can learn and grow without being held back or fear that they aren't good enough?
I'm going to start by learning all I can, working with kids in any way I can, and sharing my opinions and what I'm learning in school, until someday when I can be a teacher myself and make an impact on my district, my city, and my kids.
Change is possible. But we have to be willing to try incredibly hard. Whether you're a teacher, parent, involved in schools, with kids, or not, you can help create change. You just have to believe that change can be created and that it starts by changing you.
Advocacy for a change in our schools (and our country), starts by becoming an advocate and desiring change. Standing up for what you believe is right. Calling attention to things you believe are wrong with the system. Participating in your district, talking to people, helping your kids with their homework when you can, raising kids that see our flawed society for what it is and desire to create change. If we want society to change, it has to start with our schools and where we're putting our money. I'm realizing that more than ever now.
Until next time.
H.L.W
No comments:
Post a Comment