Educational Editorials # 2

Educational Editorials # 2

Ahead of My Time? (Article written sometimes in the year 2000)

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 38, 39.

We are not of the Doctorate of Ministry Degree, or even qualified to preach: We do know that we must bring all to know the Love of God...through Education! Many of our students have been brought to this end!

Our Sunday started with a motivational sermon by Pastor Sherman Gordon of the New Philadelphia A.M.E. Church in Carson. The topic of the message was..."Keep on Moving". Do not let anything stand in the way of you reaching your goals in life. He said to: 1. have a strong determination and stay focused 2. surround yourself with positive people 3. Keep on moving 4. know that if God is for you, no weapon shall prosper against you. The new students listened intently to the message from God.

Recently, I had a conversation with a parent to one of my tutoring students. The conversation has led me to believe that I am...way ahead of my time.

Some parents (click) have not reached the point where they put the education of their children as the top priority in their lives. They put everything else first. Very few interact with the school systems to ensure a complete education for their children and some have never visited a school...or a Church.

It is extremely difficult for me as a Tutor to assist some children. It is difficult because of some parents. They only look for the negative aspects of a free tutoring program and are very quick to remove a child at the slightest whim of a negative statement. It is because of "networking" that some parents hear a seemingly negative comment from another and immediately pull out their child from the program. Is it truly because the parents do not have the time to engage themselves in such a rigorous training program as this? After all, we do meet several times a week and take several field trips a year. We do insist that the students attend each and every tutoring session. We do encourage the students to attend a Church of their choice; Those without a Church will be introduced to one....by us! Some parents hear about us through word of mouth, take up our time with interviews, enroll their children, and then take them out after realizing that this is a very intense tutoring program and not just a "fad thing".

We do demand that children attend on a regular basis. We do demand that they do their homework every afternoon. We do demand that they exhibit good conduct. We do demand that they listen to their teachers. We do demand that they do our assignments. We do demand that they go on educational field trips. We do demand that parents participate in the education of their children. We do demand that they attend our productions of "show me what you've got" every 3 months. We demand all of these things and yet some parents do none of them.

Everything comes before education for some parents. Baseball practice, basketball practice, choir practice, and practice in general. It seems that everyone must play basketball and football.

"Sorry, Johnnie has football practice today and won't be coming to tutoring."

"Sorry, Johnnie has to go the baseball practice and won't be coming over to tutoring."

"Sorry, Johnnie won't be going on that field trip because he needs to stay home sometimes."

"Sorry, Johnnie won't be coming to tutoring today because he eats too much junk from that store."

"Sorry, Johnnie won't be coming to tutoring today because he has to baby-sit his little brother."

"Sorry, Johnnie won't be coming to tutoring because of Youth Night at the "Y".

That is the call that can drive a volunteer tutor up the wall! There was no football team when the tutoring program began and now football has to take precedent over education. Johnnie has to become an NFL player, I presume.

The trouble with some parents is that they don't take the members of their Race serious enough. They have little regard for the abilities of their own Race. How often have I heard some say that "That Black teacher doesn't know anything about the subject".

Parents must be committed to one thing in their children's lives. A "flunking student" has no business playing football or doing anything else except going to school and attending a tutoring program. They have no business receiving the finest Michael Jordan shoes, FuBu shorts and shirts, PlayStation 2 games and anything else that serves as a means of making them "like us".

Am I ahead of my time when I ask parents to be totally committed to their children's education? Am I crazy for asking them to help with homework each and every day and give up some of the pleasures of life if that is required? Am I stupid for asking the parents to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of their children's education? Am I expecting too much when I ask parents to attend the school and sit in on the class, on a regular basis? Or call the teacher on a regular basis? Am I asking too much when I ask a parent to check homework assignments with teachers and not the students? Am I ahead of my time?

November, 2000

Motivational lectures are "a given" these days. The students hear them from me all of the time. Keyotta (14) hears them from her mother all of the time, and she hears them from me. Students are constantly asked about their performance in schools and are engaged in frequent telephone conversations about their conduct and expected grades. They are constantly encouraged to call when homework assistance is needed. They are constantly warned about watching too much television, or going out to "hang out" with friends too often. In spite of all of these lectures on motivation, there are still overpowering forces that affect our intense Tutoring Service.

It is amazing how culture can affect education. Take hair appointments for example. It could take upwards of 12 hours of "braiding" in some instances. Our young people must have hair braids, nevertheless. It doesn't matter how much homework is due. Braids come first! It doesn't matter how many times I stress the fact that education should come first, the braids come first! Tutoring sessions suffer because of "braids"....and fingernails. Tutoring sessions must be flexible, because braiding sessions and fingernail sessions..... certainly can not be.

And then, there is the need to baby-sit. Teens are often called upon to baby-sit their younger brothers and sisters. A Tutoring Service is out of the window for those teens; baby-sitting and television is in.

Some parents also keep teens away from Church activities. For what reason? I do not know. Church provides a good moral foundation and a doorway to better communications between teens. It is perhaps because of the guilt some parents feel that they are not in church and the child is, that they keep them away?

Being a teenager is hard enough. Being a teenager of an ill-informed or misguided parent is worse. Parents are not born experts at child rearing, but some of them think they are. They know absolutely? what is best for their child. No expert in any field can tell them how to raise their child. No older person can tell them, no matter how much experience the person has. Some parents must make each and every decision about their teen based upon their assessment of the situation without any regard to anyone else's input. I believe I was one of those parents until I took courses in child psychology at California State University at Los Angeles (I was also a Liberal Studies major at the University) Poor, poor teen. Sorry "Parents of the Type Spoken Of" in the previous paragraphs. Perhaps, if you are of this type, it is better that you change, or stay clear of ......"A Free Tutoring Service: Preparing for the Future". Since we work for free, we feel extremely comfortable with our decisions! We aim to please no one with inefficiency! Any student who is found to: be at this location for any other reason except to elevate grade point average: be a role model for others that follow: and be of sound moral fiber....will be X' ed from this Program as soon as possible! There will be absolutely....no exceptions!

Motivational lectures, all of the time? Am I ahead of my time? Please read....."The Room"...Lesson Review 13B The Room ...and you will agree with me....I am right on time!