PatCassidy
05-23-2005, 01:01 PM
I posted this on the Misc. Other board as a response to a thread bout poverty.
I was reminded of one of my ealier sail training experinces. And its related to sail traing so I thought I would post it here too.
I recall my first five-day sailing trip from San Pedro (Los Angeles) to Catalina Island (about 23 miles as the crow flies) in 1999 with the Los Angeles Maritime Institute on the schooner Bill of Rights. Our trainee group of seventeen was made up of Hispanic 12 and 13 year olds - all young men. It was August and the temperature dockside had to be in the high 80s.
Three of the kids came up to me before we left and asked if we were going to see any icebergs! I was shocked! But then I realized that Titanic had come out that year and these kids lived about 60 miles inland where you could still see snow in the San Bernadino mountains in June. And clearly these kids had grown up and lived their young lives within a few miles of where they were born.
All of the kids were bilingual. Most of them had nice sneakers, walkmans and were very concerned about their personal appearance - on a boat full of guys.
The group leader on the trip was white and in his late twenties. He had gone through the same school system as a student and wanted to come back to make a difference. And he was very passionate.
As the week went on the kids, as they always do, loosen up and begin to relate to the old, white volunteer crew (anyone over 30). It doesn't take that long before you can see a little bit of yourself in each of them. After all, they're kids!
But here are some big differences:
(1) These kids had already exceeded the education level of their parents - who probably became parents while in their teens and started working when they were nine or ten.
(2) Many, if not most of these kids, didn't live with their parents. Rather, they stay with an aunt or a grandmother or someone else. It is not that unusual the dad is/was in jail in many of these "families".
(3) The average reading level of these kids going into junior high school was between second and third grade! Above the level of Dr. Seuss but below the level of comething like "The Hardy Boys".
So - face it - these kids were doomed to academic failure in high school. They had virtually no chance, being virtually illiterate. Not one kid ---- everybody!!!
(4) These kids were brought up in a school system that expected failure. Education in Califonia at that time was bilingual and their were no test standards to apply any objectivity as to whether or not these kids were ready for the next grade.
When I asked how teachers could pass them on the response was that it was many teachers view that an older, disinterested kid, who had already failed, would just be a bigger distraction to next year's class if he were held back.
(5) These kids curiosity about school, about life and averything in general was surpressed. They had grown up in an environment where if you were called on in school and did not know the answer you were ridiculed. Even though nobody else probably new the answer either.
(6) If you were to try to start a conversation with these kids with an icebreaker like: do you know how big Christopher Columbus's boats were?" they would interpret it as: "I know something that you don't and now I can embarass you with it". Just like in school. No wonder nobody raises a hand.
Think back to when you were kids and how sensitive you probably were. Now pile on top of that the background that these kids come from.
The volunteer crew at LAMI receives "program" training about how to relate to these kids - rather than alienating them. After all, you can see how easy it would be to shut them down - even with the best of intentions.
The California school system had gotten rid of bilingual education since I went sailing with those kids, and standardized testing is being instituted to give kids, hopefully, a fighting chance.
But I would not be surprised if it is too late for those kids that I sailed with that week. I am sure that our five days on the water was an extremely positive experience for each of them. And their teacher was great. But these kids had the odds stacked against them. The kids from that weekend are now out of high school - one way or another.
But its hard to be optomistic about their chances. And that my friends is the vicious cycle of poverty
[ 05-23-2005, 01:26 PM: Message edited by: PatCassidy ]
I was reminded of one of my ealier sail training experinces. And its related to sail traing so I thought I would post it here too.
I recall my first five-day sailing trip from San Pedro (Los Angeles) to Catalina Island (about 23 miles as the crow flies) in 1999 with the Los Angeles Maritime Institute on the schooner Bill of Rights. Our trainee group of seventeen was made up of Hispanic 12 and 13 year olds - all young men. It was August and the temperature dockside had to be in the high 80s.
Three of the kids came up to me before we left and asked if we were going to see any icebergs! I was shocked! But then I realized that Titanic had come out that year and these kids lived about 60 miles inland where you could still see snow in the San Bernadino mountains in June. And clearly these kids had grown up and lived their young lives within a few miles of where they were born.
All of the kids were bilingual. Most of them had nice sneakers, walkmans and were very concerned about their personal appearance - on a boat full of guys.
The group leader on the trip was white and in his late twenties. He had gone through the same school system as a student and wanted to come back to make a difference. And he was very passionate.
As the week went on the kids, as they always do, loosen up and begin to relate to the old, white volunteer crew (anyone over 30). It doesn't take that long before you can see a little bit of yourself in each of them. After all, they're kids!
But here are some big differences:
(1) These kids had already exceeded the education level of their parents - who probably became parents while in their teens and started working when they were nine or ten.
(2) Many, if not most of these kids, didn't live with their parents. Rather, they stay with an aunt or a grandmother or someone else. It is not that unusual the dad is/was in jail in many of these "families".
(3) The average reading level of these kids going into junior high school was between second and third grade! Above the level of Dr. Seuss but below the level of comething like "The Hardy Boys".
So - face it - these kids were doomed to academic failure in high school. They had virtually no chance, being virtually illiterate. Not one kid ---- everybody!!!
(4) These kids were brought up in a school system that expected failure. Education in Califonia at that time was bilingual and their were no test standards to apply any objectivity as to whether or not these kids were ready for the next grade.
When I asked how teachers could pass them on the response was that it was many teachers view that an older, disinterested kid, who had already failed, would just be a bigger distraction to next year's class if he were held back.
(5) These kids curiosity about school, about life and averything in general was surpressed. They had grown up in an environment where if you were called on in school and did not know the answer you were ridiculed. Even though nobody else probably new the answer either.
(6) If you were to try to start a conversation with these kids with an icebreaker like: do you know how big Christopher Columbus's boats were?" they would interpret it as: "I know something that you don't and now I can embarass you with it". Just like in school. No wonder nobody raises a hand.
Think back to when you were kids and how sensitive you probably were. Now pile on top of that the background that these kids come from.
The volunteer crew at LAMI receives "program" training about how to relate to these kids - rather than alienating them. After all, you can see how easy it would be to shut them down - even with the best of intentions.
The California school system had gotten rid of bilingual education since I went sailing with those kids, and standardized testing is being instituted to give kids, hopefully, a fighting chance.
But I would not be surprised if it is too late for those kids that I sailed with that week. I am sure that our five days on the water was an extremely positive experience for each of them. And their teacher was great. But these kids had the odds stacked against them. The kids from that weekend are now out of high school - one way or another.
But its hard to be optomistic about their chances. And that my friends is the vicious cycle of poverty
[ 05-23-2005, 01:26 PM: Message edited by: PatCassidy ]