Discrimination Does Exist, by Pacheque Barber

            Discrimination, racism, sexism, prejudice, and hetero-sexism are all of the things that we as humans are aware of, but only a few admit that these things are a problem in our society.   . It’s like the “Big pink elephant” in the room; people know these issues are there, but no one wants to talk about it. I was on the Fox 43 news website and the title of an article caught my eye: “School: Transgender student’s birth name will be read at graduation.”  

Isaak Wolfe, originally born as female Sierra Liberty Stambaugh, wanted to run for prom king. The Red Lion Area School District denied Isaak the chance to run for prom king and decided to enter him for prom queen under his birth name.  He received help from the ACLU, and was allowed to go to prom with his date, but will not be in the running for prom king. Isaak states that he is disappointed in the school district because he believes that the district does not protect their transgendered students.

The Red Lion Area School District expressed that while Isaak Wolfe is able to wear a black cap and gown for graduation – colors worn by male students – his school plans on reading his birth name during the graduation ceremony. Upon turning 18 years old, Isaak plans on legally changing his name but it would not be in time for graduation. His family, friends and some of the teachers calls him by his male name and support him.

            It takes courage and strength to be a LGBT student in a high school where this community is not widely accepted. I imagined all of the issues that Isaak could have possibly gone through and it made me think: “if I were a student who identifies myself as LGBT, it would take a lot for me to attend school every day with the judgment and ridicule from students and even faculty.” Just think about it, there are kids everywhere who are a part of the LGBT community and are constantly bullied either because they classify themselves as LGBT or their parents do.  This can lead to events like the students not coming to school regularly, not doing any of their work, cutting classes or a full day, get into trouble, and all other issues that can occur. The school then goes from being a “safe environment” to a place where these students do not want to be.  I believe that the schools should do what it takes to protect each and every single one of their students and help them and motivate them to be successful and follow their dreams.

http://fox43.com/2013/05/06/school-trangender-students-birth-name-will-be-read-at-graduation/#axzz2SXTt6O8v 

The Impact of Early Chulidhood Education and Motivation

I recently watched a conference online about the importance and the impact of early childhood education in Union City, New Jersey. David Kirp, one of the guest speakers at the conference, stressed the importance of early childhood education and how it is imperative for students to be able to read by the third grade. If a child is not able to read by the third grade, then that child cannot read to learn about science, history, etc. Along with that, if the child has problems academically, by the time they get to the eighth and ninth grades, which are their crucial years of their education, there is a possibility that the truancy rate and dropout rate for those students will increase. Kirp talked about building a school system from preschool to high school which will help students exercise their skills and patience. Full days of high quality preschool education will keep and enhance their reading skills. This system will be continuous, engage parents in their children’s education, encourage parent meetings with the teachers, build a strong connection between students and thought-provoking teachers, as well as challenge students to their full potential. I agree with Kirp on his outlook on how important it is to have a positive rapport between teachers, students and parents. Parents who are engaged in their child’s education are extremely important because it gives both parent and child a chance to work on the child’s education and help inspires the child to succeed in school. 

Robert Slaven,another guest speaker, said “When given the resources and opportunity, the urban child will succeed.” I am not too sure if a completely agree with this statement only because I think that it takes more than resources and opportunity to make an urban child succeed. I say this because the child has to want to succeed and that drive has to be there along with the support of their caregivers. If the child is not motivated and is too wrapped up in the world that surrounds them, often times the child will still go down the path they choose no matter how many resources are out there. Being an urban child myself, I had different opportunities to pursue my childhood dream which was to be a dancer, but the school I was in and the people around me had no motivation for success at all. Because of their lack of motivation, even though there were resources available to me, I did not take advantage of them like I should have. The environment that I lived in and went to school in impacted me in a negative way. I started to lack motivation, and did not search for or use the little resources that were provided to me, I had no thoughts of furthering my education past high school because my surroundings were all that I knew. My mother pushed me into getting a higher education. Had she not given me two options to choose from (which were to either go away to college or stay home, work, and pay her rent) then I don’t know where I would be today. I do believe that getting a head start on education as early as possible, and staying consistent with the encouragement and motivation, will help a child succeed.