Blog #9- Diversity Event

Nothing About Us Without Us: Youth and Community Perspectives on Education and Providence School Takeover

Where: Gaige Hall 200

When: Tuesday November 19, 2019 from 4-6pm

    The diversity event I attended was about the providence school takeover and it was run by the youth who are currently facing the situation. These youth were part of groups such as, PSU, ARISE, and youth in action. These are all youth lead groups that help other youth learn leadership skills and run activities and more. 

Providence Student Union:

   Mission: Building student power so that young people can improve their education. 

   Campaigns: Some campaigns that this group has run were the 

1. Student Bill of Rights
2. Counselors Not Cops
3. Walk in our Shoes
4. Gun Control Walkout

Website:  www.psu-rights.com

Social Media accounts: 

• Twitter, Snapchat & facebook: @pvdstudentunion

The youth in PSU are concerned about the takeover because they do not have a front seat roll in the changes that will be made. They are the ones going through it and they have no say and this upsets them. It is their education that is being affected and they also cannot voice their concerns. They worry about things such as the leaky ceilings, gender neutral bathrooms, brown water, and cops. They want teachers that care about them and their learning styles not teachers that neglect or brush over them. The things these students are concerned about are going to once again go left unheard because no one is taking the time to listen to what they need to improve their education. 

Alliance of Southeast Asians: ARISE

Mission: To prepare, promote and empower Rhode Island's Southeast Asian students for educational and career success. 

Vision: Southeast Asian community that is healthy, thriving and able to reach it's full potential by being engaged and developing socially responsible members in their communities. 

Campaigns: 

1. Youth leadership March of Our Lives
2. P.A.S.S- PVD Alliance for Students Safety 

Youth in Action

  Youth in Action is a youth lead group that offers different kinds of workshops for other youth. Everything is youth lead. They run by different levels from when they first get started in the group. 

1. Core
2. Immersion- Small groups that do different things
3. The Collective

Concerns:

   Some of the main concerns of these youth lead groups about the takeover should definitely be looked into much deeper. They are concerned because the takeover is not inclusive. It does not take into account the concerns of the students whose education is actually being affected. They are concerned about schools and their inclusiveness. The teachers barely know their names, they do not take the extra time if a student needs help because they do not want to fall behind on their lesson plans. Students do not feel as if they are people but instead ID numbers. Schools themselves are not talking about the takeover. The students feel as though everything is about money now and not about the education. The students simply want a better learning environment. 

Hinchliffe- Blog #7 TAL, Herbert, and Brown vs Board

Hyperlinks

While reading Bob Herbert's article, Separate and Unequal, I learned that schools are still segregated in a way. Schools themselves are not segregated but due to housing patterns and areas of low income, segregation is still going on. After listening to This American Life, I began to understand more of what it is like for children going to a school in poverty areas. The podcast was about Normandy High School and the children that attended this school were not given equal opportunities. When children were not meeting expectations the teachers were not informing the parents, and for the children that were, they were not recognized. It is hard to succeed in a place where success is not seen. 

Check out this Article:
https://www.childfund.org/Content/NewsDetail/2147489206/

This is a link to a website that talks about the statistics of children living in poverty struck areas. Children born and raised in areas of poverty are less likely to make their way out of poverty, or find a job that pays more than minimum wage.

Check out this site:

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_RAD.asp

This website talks about trends in the education of different ethnic and racial groups. " In 2016, the percentage of children under the age of 18 in families living in poverty was higher for Black children than Hispanic children (31 and 26 percent, respectively), and the percentages for both of these groups were higher than for White and Asian children (10 percent each)"

--> This is a quote from the website. Most children that face living in poverty are black and hispanic. Therefor education amongst blacks and hispanics is lacking the most. 

Check out this article:

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/normandy-high-the-most-dangerous-school-in-the-area/article_49a1b882-cd74-5cc4-8096-fcb1405d8380.html

Normandy High School is described as a dangerous school, where children fear for their safety every time they walk in. Their test scores are low while violence is sky rocketed. Is this due to the number of children living in poverty? Is this due to the education system at Normandy? How can the violence be stopped? 

Talking Points:

1. If mixing low-income children into schools with higher- income children/ families shows success, why is it not being done?
2. Why can a school go unaccredited for 15 years and still be running? That is not fair for the children that want to do good and are just not given the opportunity.