Yes. I am a public high school teacher. This "hip-hop" culture where young black men associate themselves with criminals and gang members is killing them. It's killing them academically and socially. In my school, we don't allow the F word in the hallways; when it's heard the kid (usually black) is written up and often suspended. What else are we to do? If we allow that kind of language the parents of the kids who don't use it will pull their kids out and send them to private schools, as maybe they should. As long as young black men have gangbangers as their heros and prefer to bring $150.00 sneakers to class tied around their necks instead of pencils and paper, this is going to go on.
Where do you teach? (you don't have to be specific if you like)
I was in 7th grade Jackson MS when court ordered busing came in over Christmas break 1969 and the Jr High school went from maybe 10% voluntary black to about 65% black when we came back from break. It was supposed to have been 50% but some white booked for private asap.
I stayed and it was wild. I had never seen kids so wild. Sure there were some nerdy black kids and whatnot but I had never seen sex in the bathroom and knife fights and all sorts of crazy stuff.....gang stuff too. I was attacked by a gang for refusing to turn over my pencil...lol...a damned pencil. My black homeroom teacher saved my ass.
My folks yanked me out after that year and we went private and neighborhood schools were ruined forever.
Folks here don't have a clue unless they were there.
At the time I actually thought it was fun...12 years old and all.
Thanks for your efforts teach!
It's about the families and culture....always has been.
Bingo. It's called "leveling the playing field" in modern liberalese. Creates a "war" zone, actually. And then the demands that only "specific minority teachers" teach only that specific minority. Quotas by another means. I've not ever seen it work well or bring up student grades, under those terms.