"At-Risk" minority youth speak out on their education

[YoMama]

<p>The maiden issue of newspaper at East Palo Alto High School in California presents a very honest look, in the words of the students, at the cultural aspects that lead to high drop out rates among poor, minority youth. The school is a public charter school affiliated with Stanford and serves “at-risk” (ghetto) African American and Latino students. My brother is a teacher there and he proudly delivered to me a copy of their first newspaper. I’m sorry I don’t have a link to the entire article (written by students Daisy Patino, Leo Mendoza and Nitzia Mendoza), but here are some excerpts:</p>

<p>“In East Palo Alto many teens are not afraid of fighting, guns, or drug dealing – things that people from outside the community may rarely or never see and might find terrifying. Is it possible that these same students, who deal with life in a city with a murder rate that is almost four times the national average, might be afraid of raising their hand in class or applying to college?”</p>

<p>“The first time in school that someone tells you it’s bad to speak Spanish or Black English, it feels like a rejection of your culture. Sometimes students reject school as white behavior.”</p>

<pre><code>“It’s hard when they try to change us when we have already developed our personality and the person we are,” says senior Briseida Solis.
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<p>“Students tend to be afraid of taking chances like raising their hands in class, applying to college, or proving to their friends that they can be cool and at the same time they can do well in school. Students often either give up or drop out. Students may think that selling drugs is an easier next step than college.
Students are afraid of this next step of going to college because they are afraid of not succeeding in a new world. They also think that by attending college they have to be sophisticated, leaving behind everything they have grown up with to fit into something new.”</p>

<p>“Students who work through these issues will not take their education for granted and will take full advantage of all the opportunities they have. That’s why they will become successful – because they are not afraid of success.”</p>

<p>And some questions from and opinions of the editorial staff:
“How many students will became successful due to the environment they live in? Who will stick to the state of mind that education will be the best way of resolving the problems with the economic struggles that minorities have?”</p>

<p>“Should the way we act and speak be forgotten? We wonder if the teachers understand the situations the students of East Palo Alto High have to face everyday. The goal that the school has should not be only to get the students to graduate, but to also understand all the things we feel we have to give up in order to get anywhere in life.”</p>

<p>“Why do we have to wear clothes we can’t afford for a job interview? Why do we have to speak this formal language that is taught to us in high school? Do the teachers understand that students often have to choose between two cultures-one that is valued by family and friends and the other that is valued by school and society?”</p>

<pre><code>“College is unfamiliar to most of us. We fear the unknown, and having that being the next step, most of us would just rather not go through it. It’s a process that takes a long time. A lot of our parents can’t afford anything else other than what they already have, and it’s difficult for them to send their children to an environment they are not familiar with. School staff should recognize that they are not just teaching us math, English, history and science, but a whole new set of values like education, college, and college degrees.”

“We as the newspaper staff representing the students have taken the first step in recognizing and asking for what we need to become even more successful. We should all step up – students, staff, and Stanford – and take the school to the next level.”
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[ctymomteacher]

<p>The language issue is huge, but it is what it is, and received Dialect isn’t going away. Controlling it is a skill everyone needs if they want to succeed in the larger world. Giving them that gift is important. It can be done without denigrating who they are. Teachers should be required to take a few linguistics courses and find out how, but students need to understand that it is what it is–a received dialect with power. </p>

<p>As far as having to wear clothes one canot afford to job interviews, I had to do the same thing for a long time, and my own parents never went to college, so those things aren’t a minority issue. They’re class issues. This stance is divisive, not constructive, either for the students or for their audience. I wish people saw that more often.</p>

[Ya_Ya]

<p>Save The Last Dance.
<a href=“http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206275/[/url]”>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206275/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[Northstarmom]

<p>“Should the way we act and speak be forgotten? We wonder if the teachers understand the situations the students of East Palo Alto High have to face everyday. The goal that the school has should not be only to get the students to graduate, but to also understand all the things we feel we have to give up in order to get anywhere in life.”</p>

<p>The problem, though, is that while their normal style of speech and attire is appropriate in East Palo Alto, there aren’t many jobs there. For them to get hired in legitimate jobs, they’ll have to conform to the styles of the folks doing the hiring those who patronize those businesses. </p>

<p>No one is saying that they should forget their way of speech and acting. They can continue doing that behavior at home and in their communities, just not on the job if they have a job that is outside of their community.</p>

<p>“Why do we have to wear clothes we can’t afford for a job interview? Why do we have to speak this formal language that is taught to us in high school? Do the teachers understand that students often have to choose between two cultures-one that is valued by family and friends and the other that is valued by school and society?”</p>

<p>Their problems aren’t different than those of, for instance, people who immigrated to the US or who rose from the ranks for being poor to being affluent. In most cases, the people have to speak standard English and conform to the clothing expectations of those who have the money to hire.</p>

<p>As for the cost of clothes, if the students are able to make it to Goodwill, they probably can find very suitable business clothes for low prices, possibly much lower than the expensive name brand clothes and gold jewelry that many low income people wear. </p>

<p>The amount of money and time that many low income women, for example, put into extravagant hair and nail styles would more than pay for a simple wardrobe of acceptable business clothes.</p>

<p>Part of what the low income students are not aware of is that when it comes to getting decently paying jobs, employers tend not to be impressed by expensive flashy clothes, hair styles or nails. They are far more impressed by clear, articulate speech and a professional demeanor and modest clothing. What impresses people in the hood isn’t what impresses legitimate employers.</p>

[mootmom]

<p>Additionally, there are organizations around the country, targeting women specifically, similar to the [Career</a> Closet](<a href=“http://careercloset.org/webPages/home.htm]Career”>http://careercloset.org/webPages/home.htm) here in San Jose which “…provide qualified women with interview clothing, workday outfits, interview skills and presentation advice that empowers them to obtain and retain employment.” Maintaining a directory of such organizations might be a worthwhile service for the students to research and offer for each other.</p>

[mardad]

<p>Perhaps the teachers could break the ice by teaching teenagers about received speech in a more abstract sense. This problem goes on in all languages and there are numerous funny stories that could be used to illustrate the problem that might be less threatening if they were about people speaking a language other than American English.
At the Goethe Institut the teachers would sometimes amuse each other by giving speeches in their native dialects.
One of the earliest recorded dialect jokes in English dates back to the 12th Century and involves merchants from Northumbria being unable to make themselves understood in Kent.
My favorite story concerns George Bernard Shaw who sat on the committee to decide on what was “received speech” for the BBC. Apparently a dispute was carried on over the pronunciation of “canine” (the tooth). Some argued for a short “a” with the emphasis on the second syllable while Shaw wanted a long “a” and emphasis on the first syllable. Shaw argued that it should be pronounced as it is by the people who use the word routinely.
One of his opponents said, “That just shows that you have an American dentist.”
“Of course!” roared Shaw, “how d’you suppose I came to have all my teeth at my age?”</p>