Alternative Schools: Are Black Children Targeted?

Each year, more and more of our young black minds are taken out of the traditional school setting and into an alternative school, education or program.

The cause of such a transfer assumingly stems from:

Academic Failure
Poor School Attendance
Social Withdrawal
Conduct Disorder (rebellious/angry/bipolar/defiant/disrespectful)
Peer issues (fighting/arguments)
Cult/gang related activities

The list goes on, but those are some of the main reasons why a lot of our children are being pulled out of regular public schools.

In a 2010 report by The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Edward DuBose, president of the Georgia State Conference NAACP states, “Even in counties where African-Americans make up a small percentage of the population, they still make up a large majority of suspensions and students placed in alternative settings.”

This epidemic doesn’t just occur in only Georgia, but it is an ongoing trend in many states across the nation. It leads us to a suspicious inquiry: Are black children unfairly targeted for misbehavioral acts?

Some may believe that it’s a matter of schools’ over-disciplining practices that leads to unfair judgment. Some say it’s due to racist or prejudice teachers and administrators. Then, some may say black children just are natural misbehaviors.

The Chicago Tribune reports that “…on average across the nation, black students are suspended and expelled at nearly three times the rate of white students. No other ethnic group is disciplined at such a high rate, the federal data show….Yet black students are no more likely to misbehave than other students from the same social and economic environments, research studies have found.”

Unfortunately, because many black kids grow up in impoverished homes and broken families, a lot of them fall into this statistic. This is very sad to face, but this is what statistics reveal.

Now, whether our children are being targeted or not, there should be no reason why such a large number can’t receive the same educational treatment. Parents need to start making the effort to step forward and take control of the situation; whether that entails disciplining their children or involving themselves in their schools:

1) Be Involved- Get involved with your child’s school life. Make sure they are appropriately attending school. Ask the principal could you come in and sit in a class for the day so that you can observe his or her performance. That way you can gather some ideas on how to improve their strengths or weaknesses. Also, if permissible, ask the teachers and administrators to personally send you behavioral reports so that you can prevent any future issues before they occur.
2) Discipline them- For troubled children and teens, teach them how school is detrimental to their future: how their performance in school can determine what career they will obtain in the future and how their character will determine how well they work in that career. Discipline them to respect and honor their teachers and too only surround themselves around friends who have the ambition to reach high heights in life. To further the disciplinary, place them in a behavioral correction program outside of school to help aid in improving their behavior.
3) Homeschool- If you have the time and finances, homeschooling is always a great option for your children. They will no longer be able to collaborate and learn from their peers, but they may feel more comfortable being in an environment they are familiar with. Hiring a great tutor or teaching them yourself may not provide them with the same social and teamwork development skills, but it will give them the same educational knowledge and material they need to know to succeed. At least homeschooling will keep you from enrolling them in an alternative school.

If entering your child into an alternative school is your ONLY option, then go for it because any school is better than no school. However, alternative schools usually lead to prison or detention centers for many of our young people; so try to avoid this as much as possible.

Racism may very well play a role in this matter, but that’s something black American parents have and will forever face in this nation. Just do your part and grace will do the rest.

Ultimately, let’s fight to keep our children in traditional school settings!