A Black Parents Responsibility To Empower Their Child

[Jaxson]

As an educator, I can honestly say that we all benefit as a community if schools and families cooperate to enlighten the youth of out community.  In my humble opinion, the failures and challenges arise in our schools when we treat our professionally certified teachers like babysitters who bear the blame for our own personal deficiencies.  I have met with more than my fair share of parents and guardians who give their children a free pass to disrupt the learning of others but afford them no responsibility to take advantage of the taxpayer-subsidized education that they are supposed to receive.  We are unwittingly enabling young people to abdicate any control over their lives because it is allegedly everyone else's fault for their ability to appreciate their chance to create a better future for themselves.  Our zeal to punish teachers for the sake of scoring political points fails to address the fact that we are ultimately responsible for out own respective futures.  I did not have grade recovery when I was in school and yet I woke up soon enough to do what I needed to do to graduate.  The expectation that our schools coddle our students does nothing positive for them in the long run.  The belief that our teachers, who often work off the clock, do not care about our children is a belief that borders on slander.  We have to work TOGETHER for our students' success.

[MuffinEdwards]

Most black parents in this generation don't realize the importance of being a positive role model, in their children's lives.  Nowadays they're "babies having babies".  It's really sad to see kids in all these expensive "name brand" clothing who are doing poorly in school.  (what is going on in these households?)

Where can I find the statistics that support your claim?

I see it everyday but I'm sure you can find the answers you're seeking on google.

While I see what you're saying & know you mean well, when you use words like "most"-"nowadays"-"all"-"these", they necessitate more of an intellectual underpinning than "I'm sure you can find the answers you're seeking on google"...

Thank you for sharing. Good day. 

[Coolyfett]

A Black Parents Responsibility To Empower Their Child

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs
to the people who prepare for it today." Malcolm X

The recent Educational Summit in Jacksonville, Florida
provided by Mayor Alvin Brown and his dedicated staff
emphasized the importance of parental involvement.
http://www.coj.net/mayor/education/education-summit.aspx

Teaching Engineering at a Title One school, a transitioning
STEAM school and conducting Social Media and technology
workshops for my community in Jacksonville, Florida I have
seen the power of technology expanding opportunities for Blacks
nationwide, the travesty is that Black parents are not encouraging
their children in the area of STEAM:
Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics;
Technology allows for the wonders of the world to be exposed in
many academic disciplines;
science, medicine, arts, engineering, space exploration,
examining of the world’s oceans also called “inner space”, robotics
and creates career opportunities for Black children that were
unseen 15 years ago.

There are careers present that allow a Black child to witness the
genetic structure of human beings (DNA). The ability to clone
animals and in the next five years if it has not been accomplished yet
in some European laboratory to clone human beings. As I have
blogged previously: “the  engagement of technology allows Black
children and children of color to expand their intellectual and
creative abilities beyond sports, entertainment and the
stereotypical elements that society deems appropriate for
Black children.”

The expansion of Blerds can be made successful if Black parents
encourage and support their school age intellectuals. The world
has embraced technology to such a point it seems that babies at
birth are automatically attracted to shiny screens, changing displays
and assorted musical tones of Smartphones, Tablets and other
electronic devices.
This is an automatic affinity to the engagement of technology
and empowerment that technology can provide. Technology is
a tool to assist Blacks educationally, economically, socially and
politically. The challenge comes in the changing of a value system
where Blacks create a paradigm shift from consumer
(purchaser) to creator (designer/builder) of technological elements.
Malcolm X Speaks on Black Economics in this YouTube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UtGPZY4Rr4

National data shows that Blacks in activity own Twitter by the
enormous content shared by the billions of Tweets posted.
Facebook has allowed unprecedented opportunities to network
and share content, but Black teens are missing the mark in networking
for jobs, higher education and searching for Internships that open
educational and employment doors. Employers are becoming fearful
to hire Black youth because their online content is smeared with
unethical behaviors and questionable actions.

Events like the BDPA Youth Technology Camp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYSH8d1gci8
showing how minority youth should be learning how
to use technology to their advantage.
The use of Social Media is being used by the media to
show the “bad” sides of many Black youth as violent,
educationally challenged and Black girls involved in entertainment
agendas that show them as sexually promiscuous that
no business will want to hire them except the pornography business.
Black girls do not help themselves when they show the
elements of Sexting to impress others that only see them as a sexual object.
The power of technology comes in the intellectual areas
to obtain an education and earn high paying jobs that technology
can offer. An example is Esther Mbabazi the first female
pilot in Rwanda, First-grader Zora Bell, youngest person to
create a full version of a mobile app video game, the creation
of #Blerdology for girls, Blacks in Technology for
Blacks that embrace the empowerment of technology
https://www.blacksintechnology.net/ in many careers and
Nokturnal Escape http://nokturnalescape.com/ showcasing
the cultural and engaging side of Jacksonville, Florida,
there are many more.

Those are still valuable careers, but 80 percent of Black youth
will not be successful in these areas.
Education and engagement in technology are keys to allowing
Blacks to compete in 21st century careers. To be taken seriously
in other avenues of economics, politics and higher education.
Parents need to emphasis reading, literacy and comprehension,
engagement of mathematics is vital.

"My alma mater was books, a good library....
I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying
my curiosity." Malcolm X more Black youth need to have this
philosophy.

In order for Black youth / potential Blerds to make
positive contributions in this country Blacks must
create and value Blerds in inner city schools.
Parents have to lay the foundation for success, instead
of purchasing entertainment systems like Wii, XBOX,
etc, they will have to change from entertainment to education.

Purchasing educational software for their children that struggle
with reading and math. Access online tutorial sites where most
are free to use so their children can learn how to use
Microsoft Productivity tools such as Word to create resumes,
write introductory letters to employers, and complete online employment
applications. Youth need to understand the dynamics of
PowerPoint, where they will have to design presentations
allowing them to speak to groups (small or large) to Market their
talents and abilities and future entrepreneurs.
The additional tools of Excel, Publisher, Access and even
similar tools on other platforms like Apple. These will
help in allowing inner city Blerds to be competitive and
valuable in a technology rich society.
Youth must learn how to Market and Brand themselves
in different Social Media platforms that highlight their
positive use of technology. Exposure needs to be increased
to give a value to learning.

Listening to the DVD Disintegration: The Splintering
of Black America (Eugene Robinson), there seems to be a
growing division in the Black community nationwide.
The valuing of education has changed and how Blacks
treat the opportunities to be educated.
I see from my experiences as a teacher and a Black teacher
those that embrace technology and learning to better
themselves are prepared for careers that are high paying,
those that use technology just for entertainment are being
left behind as a consumer not a creator.

In order for inner city Black youth to be competitive and
contributory in America they must move from the consumer
side to the creative/producer side. A perfect example is instead
of spending over 100.00 on new sneakers invest this into a
online class to obtain a certification in some area of programming.

Educational programs such as STEM and STEAM need
to be supported and encouraged in schools. Using these models to
encourage learning and foster a thirst for educational preparation.
To show Black youth the options that really are real for careers
they can have.
The integration of STEAM Science Technology Engineering
Arts and Mathematics, in more elementary schools will
allow Black children to explore new areas of intellectual
growth. STEAM encourages critical thinking skills and higher
order rationalization that is needed in corporate careers and in
scientific careers requiring research skills. Knowledge of
engineering and math that even embraces the Arts. 
Exposure to conferences, science fairs, seminars, workshops
should be important for Black youth to attend and for
school districts to see the value of exposing Black youth to
professionals in these careers. Education does not only
happen in the classroom, it happens outside the brick walls.
I complement my son a Junior at #FAMU, he recently attended
Maize Genetics Conference. There needs to be more Black
youth like him, both male and female. More Black youth need
to be exposed to Engineering Conferences as I attended with
Honor students from my elementary school. The Engineering
Expo of University of South Florida exposes youth from elementary
to high school to the value of a STEM and STEAM education.
http://myquesttoteach.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/rockets-attend-engineering-expo-at-usf/

The critical part of any successful educational endeavor is the
involvement of parents. Critical to valuing education, the
empowerment of learning and the direction of continued
educational success are from parents and their collaboration with
teachers and schools.  Technology has opened up a new period of
educational and social evolution. Parents must be willing to be involved
and put their children in situations of academic and technical growth.
Parents need to understand their part and get involved in their child’s
education. If they do not more cities will close schools just as in
Philadelphia, Chicago and other cities.

These schools will be in Black neighborhoods where parents are
not involved, seem to not care about working with teachers and allow
their children to destroy their educational opportunities. If Blacks are silent
about their educational thirst they will be ignored and moved from sight.
The words by Malcolm X ring true even in the 21st century, “People don't realize
how a man's (woman’s) whole life can be changed by one book.” Malcolm X

Resources:

The Gist of Freedom
Raising Blerds by William Jackson
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thegistoffreedom/2013/03/04/raising-a-blerd-black-nerds-william-jackson-med

Economic Education for Blacks by Malcolm X
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UtGPZY4Rr4

My Quest To Teach Interviews
http://myquesttoteach.wordpress.com/radio-interviews/

Its a pretty long winded post, BUT I see the point of it and its nothing short of Cosbyness. I agree on many of the points. Im not what one would call a Blerd...but Im black and like some geeky topics. I work in IT as a profession and kinda carry over what I do I work for other people on their personal machines. Helping black kids better themselves is an UPHILL battle and the hill is really steep.

[Coolyfett]

There are many issues that should be addressed and discussed in our community. I respect the fact that everyone will not agree with my writings, but my intent is to educate, enlighten and encourage. If a person feels strongly about my topics it is understandable, but there is always the option as was suggested to ignore the posts. I welcome ideas, suggestions and even criticism if that person has specific disagreements with what I post. I never intend to defame, put down, or degrade any person, group, organization, entity, culture, religion, etc.
As always I appreciate the staff from Metro Jacksonville allowing me the privilege and honor to share my voice
from my experiences as an educator, parents and member of the Jacksonville community. 

I have strong take on what you said, not exactly sure how to express them hear without being blunt, direct & possibly abrasive in tone. I think you have a lot more patience than I do in regards to the topic at hand. Jacksonville is not the only city with dumb ass black kids though, I honest feel those problems exist in many other cities with a high black population without naming the names of those cities/metros. The ignorant blacks are multiplying a lot quicker than the regular black kids who come from 2 parent black households like me. Ill read the thread though to see what direction this topic is going in.

[Coolyfett]

Most black parents in this generation don't realize the importance of being a positive role model, in their children's lives.  Nowadays they're "babies having babies".  It's really sad to see kids in all these expensive "name brand" clothing who are doing poorly in school.  (what is going on in these households?)

Where can I find the statistics that support your claim?

I see it everyday but I'm sure you can find the answers you're seeking on google.

While I see what you're saying & know you mean well, when you use words like "most"-"nowadays"-"all"-"these", they necessitate more of an intellectual underpinning than "I'm sure you can find the answers you're seeking on google"...

Thank you for sharing. Good day. 

ee you two...this sort of exchange is part of the issue/issues

Its really not about education and more so about behavior. I understood what Muffin said and meant, but I can also tell she isnt used to be challenged on the internet, this is an assumption of course. Muffin didnt answer her challenge instead she deflected it with the "google it" rebuttal. Then I ask why did she need to be challenged to begin with? Why not just take what she said and try to understand what she said? After all she is black and the users who are challenging her are not.....see where I am going?