Why Can’t Johnny Read?

“Johnny can’t learn how to read until Johnny gets over his emotional problems, don’t you think?”

I’m sympathetic to this point and I understand that the expectations are that you are supposed to close the gap despite this without support, etc and the powers that be see this as an excuse. They have used this against us and get a sympathetic ear with parents and community. The teacher bashers seize on this with relish.

To just stop here is simplistic. It makes it seem we throw up our hands. The question is what would it take to address the full range of issues, including emotional? We can’t say it is up to the parents - their lives may be in chaos. If the schools don’t do it, who will?

The question is to first figure out what it would take and then fight for it. Unfortunately, our union have given up this fight and go along with the “let’s reform the schools without putting real funds into it.”

They- meaning Klein, et al really wanted something from the unions and we should have drawn a line in the sand that we would only go along if the money was truly there in a foolproof way. But the UFT gave it all away for nothing but salary that was pegged to longer days.

Thank you for your comment.
I certainly didn’t mean to imply that we should throw up our hands and stop at this point. I was actually trying to open up the question that you put forth-”First figure out what it would take and then fight for it.”
I am at a bit of a loss to figure out what indeed it will take.
I do feel, however, that trying to raise test scores, although important, should be secondary to addressing the real problems that we must fix first; rage, isolation, frustration, and futility.

On this it seems we all agree. Our kids need us to be both nurturing and firm, strict with consequences but ready to listen or help when they need us. And Norm, your point is excellent; we cannot use emotional or home-life issues to become excuses for poor performance, but we must be realistic about their existence and the need to address them.

Socrates’s last blog post..40 Years

So let’s address them.

Johnny can’t read because Johnny can’t sit down long enough to learn.
Johnny can’t sit down long enough because Johnny’s bored.
Johnny’s bored because school is boring.
School is boring because it’s not a video game.
Video games are fun because you get to beat people up and “take them out.”

And taking people out is fun because it makes Johnny feel powerful.
Johnny needs to feel powerful because, in reality, Johnny is helpless.
Johnny is helpless because Johnny has been beaten into submission.

Isn’t Johnny a little young to be beaten into submission?

So poor Johnny has been beaten into submission, huh? Why? Didn’t he get his ipod for Christmas? Maybe Mommy and Daddy didn’t buy Johnny his XBox.
Poor, poor Johnny.

Nobody wants to talk about this subject.
It’s not ‘politically correct.’

AVITW- Johnny has been born into submission. He has been taught from day one to value materials and ignore education. He has been beaten into submission. He has been taught to be a statistic by the very people who are supposed to teach him to be better.

Justin- You are mistaking having ipods, xboxes, etc. for emotional support and guidance. People think low-income means that people lack stuff- that’s not the case.

ATB- It’s not PC, but it’s fact.

‘Emotional support?” Please.
My parents were too busy working two and three jobs to give me any emotional support.
They worked really hard so that we could get a great education-and you know what?
We didn’t have much ’stuff.’
What we did have was a sense of what is right and what is wrong.

Johnny needs to be brought out of submission by the self-confidence that comes from real achievement. That is a balm stronger than any other intervention.

Socrates’s last blog post..40 Years

Justin- You may not have had stuff, but you had parents who had a work ethic which taught you what was right/wrong. You are lucky.

AVITW wrote “Our society is crumbling”. All the institutions are crumbling. We are fighting against each other trying to figure out who is responsible for why Johnny can’t read, but the reality is that we are all responsible. Somebody dropped the ball and now our children are suffering.

Socrates, I agree. We need true achievement. But does that even exist in our society anymore?

To Socrates
So now, we finally talk about “self reliance.”
It took you long enough.

I’m not sure I get the irony, AVIW. Self-reliance is what it’s all about. That must be the goal of any school, any teacher, any public education system.

Socrates’s last blog post..40 Years

Also, Johnny can’t read because he’s been assigned to a horrendous school and has parents whose birthright earned them the same educational death sentence. The learned helplessness created by the absence of educational liberty - that is, choice - has prevented Johnny’s family from even envisioning the possibility of literacy. Johnny’s mom knows she can’t afford to put him in private school, and that the charter school lottery presents pretty long odds. No, Johnny’s zoned school has a hold on his life that Johnny’s mother cannot break. Johnny has a right to be angry.

Socrates’s last blog post..40 Years

Ok, can we turn off the Charter School Advertisements for one minute?
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but a large majority of these violent incidences are not being committed by the “disenfranchised.”
If you saw the video of the 16 year old girls who where attacking the other girl for “entertainment’s sake” you may notice that they’re not really disenfranchised.
At one point they express concern that the ‘furniture’ might get ruined.
They don’t seem to care that a fellow human being is being beaten and humiliated.
Would a voucher change that?

If she went to a good enough school it might.

Socrates’s last blog post..And Vouchers For All…

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