The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

I watched last night. It’s a very sad commentary on our children. The show concentrated on the children mostly in the 9th grade, and some of the teachers. There was very minimal interaction with parents.

At 13 or 14 years of age, you know enough to be responsible in school and in your conduct. Those kids simply did not care about their education. It just sad. The English teacher burned out in one semester, because he spent all of his time with discipline and disciplinary actions.

I’m just speechless. There were 17 year olds in the 9th grade. Many could not read. Unfortunately, I believe their road to destruction happened as far back as 3th or 4th grade.

I was just amazed at the attitude of the kids, although I’m sure that the bravado that they presented was just a cover for their not being able to read. I don’t know what their futures will be like. They can’t read, and I think these days children should be able to speak more than language.

It’s a sad, sad commentary on our kids.

I concur… It was sickening. It was like watching a train wreck. These kids did not care about school AT ALL. I felt very sorry for the teachers. And they tried some of everybody in that one English class.. They had the white experienced teacher, the older black substitute, the young hip counselor substitute… No one could reach those kids. You had kids just wandering the halls all day… A boy beating up a group of girls… All kinds of mess like that. But what got me the most was the basketball coach… Check out his attitude toward the kids and basketball vs his attitude about the kids and school… It is really sickening…

It was a very good movie though… I watched it twice already.

Here’s what I said

I was fortunate to sit down with the whole family and view the documentary. I must agree that it is grotesque. I feel awful for our future because there are so many children in this country that are faced with the same dilema. It is upsetting to know that these children will not be challenged when it comes time for graudation. The school system has been bullied into giving these kids diplomas in order to keep thier jobs. It is very disappointing that the class of 200 graduates was the highest graduating class in years. I think that what hurts the most is no one cares. It shouldn’t be no child left behind – it should be “No one cares about the kids of color.”

I am 28 years old I graduated high school about 10 years ago. From my experience there are some teachers that care but for the most part many were there to collect their pennines called paychecks and were on their way.

I am military dependant so basically I have been a fortunate enough to attend the elite as well as the inner city slums. From my perspective the level of education depends on your socioeconomic status (SES). I took notice that my grades were extremely higher in the inner city school district. However, when I moved to the elite school I was barely passing. I eventually got my act together with the help of tutors and extra materials that were given to me. Whereas the inner city school did not have enough books to go around the classroom. I receieved a grade on the basis of my attendance.
I think what scares me the most is that I am now a parent