TV’s Need To Go…

An Article by Derrick Z. Jackson of Boston Globe caught my eye in the Toledo Blade.  The title  “When TVs go on, library lights go off.”  It struck me because my favorite place to go of all time is the library.  People don’t realize the wealth of knowledge that surrounds them when they walk in to one.

Derrick goes on to reiterate a statistic in Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, where researchers found that “40 percent of children regularly watched television by 3 months old.  By age 2, 90 percent watch and average of 1 1/2 hours of TV a day.”

Also in the article he points out that “The American Academy of Pediatrics says children should watch no television before age 2, as studies show that too much TV leads to poor grades, attention deficit, obesity, and bullying.”

So parents what ever you do.  Do not use the TV as a cheap babysitter when you are tired, and don’t believe the hype that these new DVD’s and “educational shows” are good for your children, nothing to me can replace the good old fashion book and toy.

So as a solution, Dimitri Christakis fo the University of Washington says, “The message is not to kill your television,… it can be used to pique a child’s interest.  If they see a show on lions, Google lions, go to the library and take out books on lions, go to the zoo and see lions.  Parents often say they live in a fast-paced world.  But we shouldn’t give up on traditional ways of learning.”

Our Black Boys…

There is no longer a need for dire predictions, hand-wringing, or apprehension about losing a generation of Black boys. It is too late. In education, employment, economics, incarceration, health, housing, and parenting, we have lost a generation of young Black men. The question that remains is will we lose the next two or three generations, or possibly every generation of Black boys hereafter to the streets, negative media, gangs, drugs, poor education, unemployment, father absence, crime, violence and death.

This is an excerpt from Phillip Jackson’s article “America has lost a generation of black boys.”  He goes on about how the plight of young black males have been undergoing extreme stress.  In education he states that, “Only 35% of Black male students graduated from high school in Chicago and only 26% in New York City,” 

Phillip goes on to express that “Black men in prison in America have become as American as apple pie.”  What are we doing wrong?  When will we begin to take responsibility for our future leaders?  What more will it take till we get our generation in line?  We are already in a crisis and in desperate need of solutions.

Phillip gives us some solutions to start out with:

“Please consider these simple goals that can lead to solutions for fixing the problems of young Black men:

Short term

1) Teach all Black boys to read at grade level by the third grade and to embrace education.

2) Provide positive role models for Black boys.

3) Create a stable home environment for Black boys that includes contact with their fathers.

4) Ensure that Black boys have a strong spiritual base.

5) Control the negative media influences on Black boys.

6) Teach Black boys to respect all girls and women.

Long term

1) Invest as much money in educating Black boys as in locking up Black men.

2) Help connect Black boys to a positive vision of themselves in the future.

3) Create high expectations and help Black boys live into those high expectations.

4) Build a positive peer culture for Black boys.

5) Teach Black boys self-discipline, culture and history.

6) Teach Black boys and the communities in which they live to embrace education and life-long learning.”

 

Something to consider.

Learn more about this information at www.blackstarproject.org

 

Parental Involvment

Did you know that Research shows that when parents get involved with their children’s education, the children are more likely to:

earn better grades

score higher on test

pass their classes

attend school regularly

have better social skills

show improved behavior

be more positive in their attitude toward school

complete homework assignments

graduate and continue their education

This comes from an article on www.ptotoday.com check it out.

In the classroom.

Educational success and leadership comes from parental involvement.  Parents in order to make a difference in your children’s life, take the time to be intimately involved in all that your child does in school, not only sporting events, but more importantly what they do in the classroom.

What is really going on?

Did you know…

          That African Americans spend over $600 Billion per year in this country, but only 3% of that is spent in our own communities.  We are not supporting our black businesses. Why?  Why do we continue to live apart?  Is it because black businesses have horrible customer service?  Are prices to high at our black owned businesses?  Do we not trust one another?

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is defined as insanity.  Let us stop our insanity.