Black Teacher Attacked In Baltimore School- Should You Consider Home Schooling?

Jolita Berry, an art teacher at Reginald F. Lewis High School in Baltimore was attacked by a student and the video has been everywhere. This attack caused African American Political Pundit to ask if Black American has lost control of its children.
What is going on black America? Why are we as black adults allowing our children to control adults? Run amuck in our own homes, neighborhoods and communities? Why are we allowing these types of activities to occur across our communities? What's going on Black America! OK, what am I talking about? Is it time to bring back reform schools? oops that's called prison - Right? So what should black adults be doing?AAPP


My answer is that not all of Black American has lost control of its children. I kow plenty of little Black children and teens who wouldn't dream of attacking their teacher at school, that being said, I think the pricklier question is should the children whose parents have control of them be forced to sit in a classroom with the children of parents who do not have control of their kids?

One of the hazards of blogging and of READING BLOGS *hint* is that you tend to hear about the foolishness. The kids who are going to school and want to learn, who are managing to function in chaos don't make the news unless someone shoots them. We do stories on all of the people who get attacked or killed, but we rarely do posts about the people who survive and thrive. So on one hand I recognize that there are a bunch of folks behaving badly on YouTube, we do have to pause and recognize that there are lots of decent parents whose kids are not on YouTube.

In relation to AAPP's distress that Black kids are on TV acting a fool, what did you expect to happen? We have a culture where the Black family as we know it is going to be extinct in about two generations. Marriage will be a status symbol just like a McMansion and the matching Hummer. (well maybe if it did because a status symbol more folks would get married because people LOOOOVE status symbols) Its not just that people are not marrying each other or being committed to each other, they are not committed to their children. So what does that mean?

That means the glue that is civil society, the REAL SAFETY NET, not that claptrap politicians try to sell you, but the safety net of family is also unraveling. You used to have Mama, Daddy, the grand parents the cousins, the aunts the uncles all these people created a buffer zone of safety. Not to mention people to model good behavior, correct you and keep you in line. Many people don't have any boundaries anymore and children, even teenagers, need boundaries. Even a bear cub has boundaries.

Now all many of these kids have is Mama, and she's struggling, the kids can see it and feel it. Many of them are the victims or witnesses of violence. They live in a world that is violent where they become more aggressive to survive. Combine that with trying to build their own status by popping up on YouTube and a permissive community and I am actually surprised we haven't seen more videos of attacks on teachers.

Now that this video has hit the news, I predict even more teacher attacks. Copycats who now know that fighting and acting a plum natural fool gets you attention. Schools don't need to just be expelling the student, but all the idiots standing around taping and chanting instead of clearing out the room and going for help.

For those looking for an alternative, Mahogany Momma has two words for you "HOME SCHOOL":

The secret is out. Many black parents are taking their children out of the American public school system and everyone is talking about it. Empty promises are no longer quieting poor minorities and the inner city masses. People are tired of waiting for smaller classes and bigger budgets. Black parents specifically are tired of seeing their children transform from bright eyed elementary school students into unmotivated, poorly educated, high school dropouts. Every year these kids receive an alarming amount of mental/behavioral misdiagnosis and negative criticism in their classes rather than proper encouragement and guidance. Moreover, beyond merely acknowledging these poor educational conditions, public schools have done very little to improve the state of education for black students. It is for this reason that Black Flight is on the rise. More black parents are seeking alternative solutions to the public school system in an effort to regain control over their children’s education. Mahogany Momma

I would tend to agree with her, but that poses a problem. Home schoolers I would assume are in two parent households, somebody has to pay to feed these kids, so what is the solution for the 70% of Black children who the stats are telling us are growing up in a single parent household and what about the parents that don't have the education or skills to teach their own children- because I have seen some of these parents today, and they can't even teach their children how to behave in public, how are they going to teach them science and math?

VOUCHER'S?? CHARTER SCHOOLS?? You say what?

WAOD NOTEABLE:
The NAACP is saying that the third graders who allegedly plotted to harm their teacher and brought a steak knife, handcuffs, a paperweight and assigned tasks like who was going to distract the teacher, who was going to knock her out and who was gong to wipe up the blood were planning to throw pies at the teacher. Um then why didn't they find any key lime, lemon meringue, pecan, sweet potato, or banana creme pies with along with the steak knife and hand cuffs? Now the NAACP wants the teacher investigated. . . there is your answer African American Political Pundit. Even though it was in Georgia, I told myself that this was not a group of Black kids because we would have seen their little faces blasted all over the television, but I was wrong. The teacher was white, all nine children involved were Black

Comments

[Katrina]

I'm not going to lie...I thought these were a bunch of white kids as well. But when I was watching the TODAY show around the time this occured, they weren't interviewing anyone but adult black folks. That's when I knew the kids were black.

What are we as a people coming to when 3rd graders know how to plot an assault with meticulous detailing?

And sadly, I believe it is only going to get worst.

[brotherkomrade]

Guess I'll be in my daughter's Kung Fu class when I'm working on my masters.

[cinco]

There are too many people in the world! Too many ignorant, selfish people who don't practice birth control or abortion. The belief that any life is better than no life is outdated and in some cases wrong. You can't help an innocent child if you need help yourself. I hope these little bastards are severely disciplined!

[Anonymiss]

@ Cinco,
That was the cold-blooded truth.

[muslimahlocs]

public school = child abuse.

[topnet_vip_world]

thanks
www.worldgames1.com

[JD]

If the teacher had a gun, we would not have this conversation right now. "From my cold dead hands!!!"

[The Angry Independent]

Happy Anniversary Gina!

I have been out of the loop for over a month and I no longer blog on a regular basis. (suffering from Clinton fatigue among a long list of other issues). But i'm glad that I caught the podcast.

As for Public schools... the problems begin long before the child gets to the classroom. It starts at home.... and as you mentioned...the family unit has broken down. The "Black" value system is also decrepit and broken. You should check out Wednesday's episode of NPR's News and Notes. (4/16). The panelists hold up rappers as heroes of "Black America". I listened to this nonsense at work and damn near lost my mind. Hip Hop culture and rap artists were celebrated as vital to Black folks... yet, the participants ignored the damage that Rappers have done & continue to do to Black folks, particularly with the anti-family messages, its treatment of Black women, and the negative and damaging stereotypes that are promoted that are harming the image of both Black men and women. When the discussion focused on the problems in Black America... Black on Black crime was hardly mentioned. The problems were passed off as largely the white man's fault. The panelists broke their necks in their attempts to be apologists for Rappers and the Rap culture. Finally, about a half hour or so into the program (towards the end of the segment)...it took an African Immigrant to stand up and talk about the Black Elephant in the room that the "African American" panelists had ignored.... he said what needed to be said...highlighting the fact that the problems in the "Black Community" were rooted in the disintigration of the Black family, and the lack of a moral foundation.

I was so disgusted after listening that I couldn't bring myself to do a blog on it.

They even mentioned your boyfriend... T.I., basically saying that he was an important role model for Black youth... (This is on a Black Radio Program...my God!!).

You need to check out the show from Wednesday.

I'm trying to decide if I want to post on the subject or not... my rough draft ended up being too hardcore, lol, but I may post something over the weekend.

And as for small town whites... Obama was correct in what he said. Even several Whites agree. And I spent considerable time growing up in white small town America...in Kansas & in Texas... and it's all true.

[cinco]

@anonymiss; cold but true IMO.

@muslimahlocs; I disagree. There are been many fine intelligent and prosperous individuals who have attended public schools. It's not only extreme but false to equate public schooling with the occurence and perpetuation of
child abuse.

and @ ai; you have identified one of the major reasons for this type of behavior. Educating your child begins @ home!!! Again, my earlier post indicates my views.

[Symphony]

And lets not be naive enough to believe there are no problems that stem from the school. With what I have to go through with my son I'm proof.

I'm all for homeschooling and private schools if thats what people want to do, but I'm also for standing up for kids in public schools. Yes, you have parents who dont work with the schools and get defensive when the school calls about their kids but there are too many parents who let schools do whatever the hell they want to our kids. My motto is I set the beat and you march to it.

Schools don't dictate what happens to your kid, most times they can only suggest. I had it out with my son's principal this year.

Parents need to be involved. They need to show the schools that you'll be there to support the administration and teacher and also put them in their place if thats needed too.

[Rainy]

I don't blame all the parents and I don't blame all the schools, but after volunteering with my mom at her school in Miami I can honestly say I'm disgusted at some of the parents.

There is a mother who takes no responsibility for her child's hair! I had to form her uncomed hair into ponytails with rubber bands b/c the mother was depending on her sister to do it instead of getting out of bed to get it done herself. The sister didn't have time before they had to get on the bus to get to school so the girl tried to wear her hoodie all day. How embarrassing for this young girl to come to school in this condition.

And I also happened to be present for the parent/teacher conference. My mom brought up the issue and this woman had the nerve to say that she "doesn't do hair" her sisters or her other daughter have to make sure that hair gets done. UM! Before you decided to open your legs and have two girl children maybe you should have made some arrangement to meet their basic hygenic needs!? Don't even get me started on how smart this girl is but she's never doing hw because she's at home "cleaning" and then she's tired afterwards. What is this woman doing to her kids?

And I have seen some of the teachers too! Some are more interested in their own clothes then teaching anything. They don't dress appropriately to teach anything (4 inch strappy stilettos in a middle school atmosphere? really?! your feet can't even stay in them their so swollen! and a mini skirt? it's not even Friday it's Wednesday!) Despite the bad ones though, I genuinely believe most teachers at least try, though.

I guess at the end of the day everyone is at fault. But the people who have to take responsibility are the parents. If my mother didn't encourage me to read at the age of two, I wouldn't have. If she didn't make sure I understood my lesson, I wouldn't have. If she didn't get me the tutoring when the teacher wasn't working, I wouldn't have done well. If she didnt' pay for the degrees I wouldn't have them. At the end of the day the kids MUST have support at home, because if it's pushed at home then it won't matter what the teacher does because the parent will take it upon herself to see to it the child will succeed regardless. Children are the ultimate investment, if a parent won't invest, how can we expect the teacher to? It's hard for anyone to reach a child when their home environment is a foe to the school setting.

[Donnie Smith]

Remember....we must not dicipline kids as that might destroy their self confidence or self image. We must get over this way of thinking and take control our our childern again. This has gone far enough. Students don't need that much confidence to feel safe to do whatever they wish. America and our school systems need to rob some of this from students. I recently wrote a blog about the problem we face. http://learnautobody.blogspot.com/2008/04/discipline-problems-in-our-schools-from.html Your Thoughts!

[Francis L. Holland Blog]

Should you consider home schooling? Yes! Particularly if you live in one of America's large city, your Black child has less than a 50% chance of graduating from high school anyway. So, if you can afford a broadband connection and some time to teach your child, then you can use the free tutorials and other resources on the Internet to do everything a school would have done and more.

[Joel]

A BIG problem is that some airheaded single caucasian woman/women without kids have told America that we can't physically discipline our kids, simply because some caucasian parents are abusive drunks/mentally unstable, and habitually beat and molest their kids. Now the kids have all the power, no boundaries, and are free to do whatever they want. Even animals swat their cubs to let them know there are some things that shouldn't be done, and can get you killed. Now we have all these kids with a chip on their shoulder cuz nobody can touch them, and we are reaping the results of "Hands-off parenting".