The similarity in Stand and Deliver and "Still Seperate, Still Equal" that I found the most disturbing is the fact that these lumped minorities feel invisible in the community and the effects of this mentality. In "Still Seperate, Still Equal" a girl from New York was quoted saying if herself and the students and/or the entire community surrounding her were to magically "disappear" the rest of New York would be relieved if they had noticed at all. Very much the mentality of the Hispanic students at Garfield H.S. in Stand and Deliver. If there is never any positive influential factor, like a teacher or organization, to motivate and help students realize their potential they will continue to feel unoticed and unimportant. From first hand experience I truly belive when you feel unimportant it seems like you actions matter less. So doing something wrong or against the law seems like no big deal. Thus creating a pattern, between this mentality and crime and success (or failure). I believe that money does have an influence on your education but only in relation to the faculty and availability of help and support around you. The lack of experienced and motivated teachers, or support from the community, is the most inflential factor that determines the success of a student or not.
The First video is a URL that I recommend you seeing, shows how a motivating factor can change someones life and how living an underpriviledged life is hard to FIND that motivation. The second video is Ernesto Nieto the founder of the National Hispanic Institute an organization that was my life saving motivating factor. If you liked the teacher from Stand and Deliver you will love Ernie. He is talking about the 3 realities we have as underprivileged minorities and at what stage most of us are. These videos show the link between motivation and success.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9l9ZWYyD1k
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2 comments:
I really enjoy your idea of the kids who feel unoticed and unimportant will be more likely to commit crimes. It becomes completely true when you think about it. The kids with unloving parents, or perhaps without brothers and sisters to keep them company (or feeling wanted), are the ones that usually end up with crimes and lower grades on their report cards.
I think you are on target with your ideas. If children don't feel, have any activities, or parents to guide them in the right direction; they're going to vere in the direction of trouble. It's extremely sad because most of these children really don't deserve to live the way most of them do.
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