U.S Prisons: Myth Vs. Mayhem

The article “U.S Prisons: Myth Vs. Mayhem” is about the truth about prison and how much money we spend on each inmates and penal institutions. I’m amazed on how much money they spend on each inmate because all that money shouldn’t go towards them it should go to schools that are poorly funded. The government spends about $4 billion a year just operating these penal institutions when education is far more important than these criminals. All this money is going to waste because inmates are killing each other everyday and it is recorded that 100 inmates are killed each year. Prison should help all these criminals rehabilitate so they wouldn’t come back, but instead it became an everyday war against inmates, gangs, and guards. The best solution for dealing with gang members is not prison because they’ll just learn more about gang life and other rival gang members while they’re in prison. In my opinion the best solution for gang members is to do something similar to what Father Greg is doing and helping them have another chance at changing their life around. The most interesting thing I learned from this article was that prison will only harden an inmates antisocial tendencies and it will reinforce his motives to act on them. I just find it very confusing that our government will spend around $4 billion on penal institutions and will not spend that much money on our schools. 

Compassion

People all over the world should have compassion for others because you can also be that person who needs help. Everyone needs to understand that helping others when in need is the right thing to do. My mother will tend to help anyone from financial needs to taking care of people who are going through difficult times. She knows she doesn’t have to do all of that, but she wants to because she knows it’s the right thing to do and she probably has been through those hard times so she knows what to do. Even if the person has done things that are bad they also need a second chance to show they can change for the better, but if they’re only up to the challenge on changing their whole life around.

            There are people who aren’t fortunate as us and some people can’t even go to school because they need to provide for their families. I know what those types of families are going through and I show them a lot of compassion because my family has also gone through these rough times before they came to America. There are kids and teenagers that don’t know what their parents had to go through to get where they are now. These parents work hard so they can make their kids have all these nice things that they didn’t have when they were growing up.  People need to realize and take advantage of opportunities for their parents because they worked so hard just to get their children to go to school. Everyone needs to come together and help each other when times get hard so they can all go through it together and not alone.  

9 paragraphs

Teachers can have many affects on a child either good or bad, but teachers shouldn’t affect their students in any bad way. Whatever the teacher says to a student can affect him or her for the rest of their lives. Students don’t know if the teacher is serious or joking, that’s why teachers should be careful what they tell their students. These teachers that are bad can affect the students by putting them down when they’re struggling and those students will never show up to school again because of that moment. This use to always happen when I was in high school and students will drop out because of that one teacher who will always put them down. Teachers should be able to offer extra help to the students who need it and not put them down even more when they’re struggling.

            Bad teachers in low funded or achieving schools will always have a bad affect on their students. When the school year is over and students move on to the next grade most of them won’t have the reading or math skills they’re suppose to have in that grade. Most of the blame should go to the teacher, but it can also be the students not doing the work. These teachers are holding these students back because they’re not teaching them the right way or not at all and they won’t have the skills they need to move on to the next level. This is also the reason why students are being held back or being put in remedial classes.

            Teachers don’t realize where all these students that drop out go. Most of them join gangs, sell drugs, or find low paying jobs so they can help support their families. These teenagers that drop out think that school isn’t for them because they’re not smart enough or because they’re not good at math. They need to put in the hard work and time to become successful in school. Practice makes perfect in school and these teenagers need to give school a second chance. This is the affect that bad teachers put on students and it’s the truth because these students can end up in jail or even dead without education.

            Low funded schools are prone to having bad teachers because they can’t attract any young teachers to come teach or they can’t hire any good quality teachers. Young teachers wouldn’t even think about teaching at a low funded school because of what the school’s condition is in or the type of neighborhoods that surround the school. Low funded schools are either debt or have no money to spend so they can’t hire any new teachers. An alternative way of getting teachers to low funded schools is moving teachers from other schools in the area around or hiring permanent substitutes.

            Low achieving schools that are properly funded are also prone to having bad teachers. Teachers are probably the reason why these types of schools are low achieving. They need to change their teaching strategies to where students can learn and understand better. If there is change the school will show progress and will probably not even be labeled as a low achieving school anymore. Another way to get rid of these bad teachers is to replace them with teachers from TFA (Teach For America). Teach For America is an American non-profit organization whose mission is to “eliminate educational inequity by enlisting high-achieving recent college graduates and professions to teach”. These teachers are actually worth hiring because my high school biology teacher was in this organization and he had a big impact on our school. These types of teachers care for their students and have the motivation to make their schools they’re working at better.

            Schools that are surrounded by dangerous neighborhoods will always have bad teachers. Not only the teachers are bad, but also the students because most of them will be gang members or on probation. These teachers can be considered bad because they’re not teaching, but it can also be that the teacher can’t control the students or classroom. I think its impossible that teachers can handle a classroom full of these type of students without fights breaking out and security being called in every class. There is a way where a teacher can control his or her class and it’s by intimidating them or use fear to make them listen. For example the teacher can explain what will happen to all of them if they keep continuing their type of lifestyle. Teachers can explain why education is the most powerful weapon they have right now and why this school can make you successful in life.

            Teachers should be held at a certain standard and I mean all of the teachers in America. The school should set the standard even before they hire them and they should see how they teach a class. Setting a standard to the older teachers that already have been there can be more challenging because they already have standards for themselves. In this decade maybe those standards aren’t working anymore for the older teachers that’s why their class isn’t doing as good as its suppose to. Without standards teachers will be just babysitting the class all day without the students learning one thing.

            Preparation would be the main standard I would like teachers to have because it shows the teacher is ready to teach the class. I’ve seen teachers come late to class and not even prepared, that takes up in our learning time and we only have a limited amount of time to learn the subject. Teachers that are prepared will always have time to finish the topic and even probably continue on to the next subject. Without preparation for the class students will not learn properly and teachers will be the blame for that.

            Teachers should not only have standards, but goals and high expectations for themselves. If they set certain type of goals for themselves their classrooms can be successful and achieving. Teachers have to push their students not settle on an average grade, but the highest grade. Motivation is key for a classroom and every teacher needs to motivate his or her students on doing great. The teacher and students should work as a whole team to have a successful school year and show that they’re ready for what’s ahead of them in the future.

            

Low Achieving Schools

The public schools in the Bay Area that are low achieving schools are poorly funded. They are limited to spending because of the debt the schools are in or the budget cuts that were occurring. Our schools in the Bay Area aren’t as poor as in the schools mentioned in Savage Inequalities, but money can still make a big difference in education. Properly funding schools will give the students equipment and books they need to learn in class. In the book the author mentioned students not doing anything in their science class because they didn’t have proper equipment to do their activities with. Teachers shouldn’t have to make their own equipment or use their own money to buy materials.

            Schools in the Bay Area that are mostly populated with minorities are also low achieving schools. These students tend to fail their classes and be put in remedial classes or drop out. The schools are also surrounded by neighborhoods that are dangerous to the students and they attract students to join gangs or sell drugs. This relates to the book Savage Inequalities because the schools Jonathan Kozol visited that had mostly black students were in the same situation. They weren’t learning from their classes so they dropped out and dedicated their time and money to the streets. The schools that Jonathan Kozol visited had drop rates as high as sixty percent.

Comparing high school teachers in Hayward to teachers in Savage Inequalities are quite similar. Some high school teachers in Hayward didn’t really teach the class, it was more of a daycare for students. In the book there were teachers that just sat at their desk all day while their students also do their own thing. I can see why these students had to learn on their own or why they dropped out. Both Hayward schools and the schools in the book can’t afford to keep or attract young teachers so they are forced to deal with all the teachers they already have. 

One Paragraph

Teachers are unequally distributed among low funded public schools. A principal from Chicago stated, “Teachers are being dumped from high school jobs because of low enrollment. But if they’ve got tenure they cannot be fired so we get them here.” These teachers are now basically permanent substitutes for the schools. This is not fair only to the teachers, but also the students. They’re getting taken away from their students because of students not going to school and high drop out rates. Teachers should be given choices and priorities; they should also not be treated like this.