Children Don't Understand | Teen Ink

Children Don't Understand

May 26, 2016
By 19rh01 BRONZE, Dennison, Minnesota
19rh01 BRONZE, Dennison, Minnesota
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Kids in this generation are constantly on their phones even in the classrooms. Take the situation covered by CSmonitor posted March 31, 2013; A white male student and an African American student had both been on their devices during a class period and only one had gotten a one day suspension. The suspension was given to the African American boy while the White male had merely received an hour detention. Discrimination is a problem in our world and more specifically, it is a serious issue in our schools. The act of discrimination is a learned behavior; one that is being taught to children at an ever increasingly younger age. Students are being discriminated on and also being taught to discriminate as if it’s natural and it should be considered a serious problem that everyone should be informed about so people can understand the solution steps that need to be taken.


An enlarging dilemma in US schools is inequality between students. Imagine, two middle schoolers getting into a fight over who gets to sit in a particular spot and both of them shove each other once before a teacher ends the brawl. The white boy is told he has a three day in school suspension and the African American boy is arrested and given an out of school 10 day suspension, this coming from the huffington post updated July 2, 2014. By doing this to the African American boy they had basically told him he was more petty or worthless than the white boy. Which is not the message that should be taught to young adults who come to learn. Another complication is sensitivity towards different races history. At a Georgia elementary school 139 fourth graders were given slavery based math problems for example,”Each tree had 56 oranges, if 8 slaves pick them equally, how many would each slave pick?” or this one referencing violence “If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many did he get in one week?” This information taken from Huffington Post updated March 21, 2012. The teachers giving these math problems did not give any thought to the potential damage this could do to a young African American or any different race with a family background of slavery, or anyone. This could also make children feel very uncomfortable in a place where they should feel safe and comfortable. A new study from American Center, updated April 11, 2014 stated, “Regardless of how it is measured, teacher quality is not distributed equitably across schools and districts. Poor students and students of color are less likely to get well-qualified or high-value teachers than students from higher-income families or students who are white.” Notice how it was stated “students of color.” It is understandable that families with a lower income cannot afford to send their children to top rating schools, but there is no excuse to why nonwhite children with an average income cannot have the same education as other caucasian children.
Injustice to young adults is a major problem within schools. It isn’t just kid on kid bullying anymore it is also some faculty forcing their beliefs into children too. Updated April 17, 2013 Huffington post shared a situation in Albany where an english teacher had given an assessment to write a persuasive essay to argue “Jews are Evil.” As many people know, the holocaust a very sensitive topic considering the holocaust resulted in millions of tragic deaths. This is not just an offense to the nation but to any children who have family backgrounds relating to it. In that classroom it was not given any thought to how this could affect a person let alone a child. According to NPR updated October 10, 2011, a brain doesn’t fully develop until age 25. Thus, telling a teenager or child “Jews are evil” could easily swerve them in the wrong path or give them the wrong idea. Another dilemma taken from huffington post updated March 21, 2012; two children from the same school district, one from the elementary and one from the high school had pulled the fire alarm at both schools. The kindergartner at the elementary had gotten a five day suspension and the freshman at the high school had gotten a one day detention for doing the same thing. The kindergartner was an African American and the freshman was white.This was completely unfair to the younger boy. Just because he is of a different race doesn’t mean he deserves to be treated different. Schools should be obligated to accept all kids and lay aside their personal opinion.


A step that schools need to take for solution is equality. Students cannot be evaluated differently or considered of less value because of skin color or the type of person they choose to be. It is not only demeaning but unreasonable. A person cannot help who they are. Especially a student who takes in everything that they are told in school. A student of Sacred Heart Academy was told he couldn’t speak at his graduation, merely because he is gay, this information was found on Huffington post updated April 6, 2012. This boy may not be of a different race, but this is still who he is and he shouldn’t be discriminated against because of the person he chose to be. On April 2, 2014 a school in Georgia had their first integrated prom, this information coming from Huffington Post. Racial disputes are suppose to be settled, but yet there is still big events discriminating on different ethnic groups. Considering schools are public places they should be supporting all people no matter the state, town, or people in charge.


Starting to discriminate on children while they are young is a tremendous compilation. School is the place where kids learn and grow and once something have been said so many times that is what they will take into their future and there will then be no solution. Discrimination throughout schools needs attention because children are the country's future. Putting a child down through their high school career will put them down through adulthood too. No one can help who they are, but a person help the type of person they are. Stop discrimination in schools so it will stop everywhere else too. Adults say children are blinded by their phones, but adults are also guilty of moving through darkness completely oblivious.   


The author's comments:

All the articles I read and that just popped up really made my mind grow towards this problem


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