The feeling is slightly different here than in Riverside. That is no knock on my former place of employment just an observation. Most of the students here have applied and will be accepted to four year universities. Not JCs or even Cal States but schools like: UCLA, USC, ASU, USD, UoA, Oregon Univ., NYU, etc.
There are probably many reasons that the culture is what it is but I don't wonder "why," I wonder "how?" How does a culture create an atmosphere of learning and/or a desire to learn in their children? Parents would be the immediate answer from most but I think it goes much deeper than that. We can do all we can for our children but they are at school and amongst their peers for more hours than they are awake at home. If your child goes to school for the minimum eight hours a day, comes home at 3 pm and goes to bed at 9 pm, then you are already behind 2 hours. Most kids in high school are into extracurricular activities and then the discrepancy is even greater. Therefore, we are at the mercy of our children's friends and their desire to do well in school, which in turn becomes a reliance on their parents, etc. etc.
Didn't our soon to be President (cough, cough) say once, "It takes a village to raise a child." Most Mormons (if I remember correctly) were furious with that statement. I don't remember what I thought at the time but as far as an education is concerned, I think she was right on.
Positive or negative peer pressure becomes then the biggest factor. If the friends your child hangs out with have desires to do well in school then your child (most likely) will as well and vice versa. That is the biggest difference I have found here in Laguna. There is a culture and a pressure here to do well in school. You are in the minority if you: Don't do your homework, don't get As or Bs, don't study for the test/final, and don't get into a four year university.
Wouldn't you want that for your child (from an educational aspect) if you had the choice? Once again, I am not condemning Riverside or other places for not having that culture of learning and many great people have emerged and done very well for themselves, (including some of my closest friends from cities like Riverside); however, I am merely describing a discernible difference in the mood and atmosphere at the two high schools from which I've been employed.
Having my first "Finals Week" here in Laguna has been eye opening. My basketball team didn't want to practice all week because they "needed to study for finals." I was a little shocked but of course undetered. We practiced but there was almost anarchy and therefore our practices were shorter than usual. Luckily we pulled off the victory last night and are now 3-1 in league, (you like how I threw that in). :)
Does it truly "take a village?" No.
Does it help? Yes....at least from what I've seen in my 11 years of being a high school teacher.
Does that mean I'm going to vote for Hilary? Probably not.
Does that mean I'm going to vote for Hilary? Probably not.
4 comments:
Nice post, Dro, as long as you don't vote for Billary.:)
I think most of us (including Mormons) believe it takes a village to raise a child. Each of us aspires to live in a community where teachers, other parents, store owners and the like look out for and care for our children. Where we disagree is on how to create such a village. Hillary Clinton's village would be coerced by the government and financed through wealth resdistribution. You now teach in an area where parents have attended presitious schools and have the money to send their children to such schools. This example coupled with affluence allows teeangers to aspire to better things. Would the same situation exist if government took from those in Laguan Beech and redistrubted the affluence to those living in Riverside? Is that how you create a village? Elder Maxwell taught that a society that under-loves will always be under-funded. The work ethic and skills necessary to establish a village like Laguna Beach cannot come from a government program of redistributory politics. This is why the "village" concept is controversial. At least that is this former junior college student's attempt at an explanation.
Kyle, I agree with you especially the "under-loved, under-fed" comment. Real life example: Riverside Unified School District has decided to take novels out of their curriculum. English teachers can no longer teach the classics because "they are not tested on the Cal. State Exam."
What this essentially does is the make the gap even wider. The students from those schools will go on to college and because they haven't been exposed at the high school level to good literature, life lessons, and proper writing, some will feel inadequate and drop out.
Their California State scores might go up and the principals and district employees will be patting each other on the back but they obviously don't care about the ramifications to the individual student: "under-loved, under-fed."
Note: I took liberty to change the quote to "under-fed" which is basically what I think of when I hear "under-funded."
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