Dangerous Minds, By The Name Of Gangsta 's Paradise

Many children will be born in poor regions and low income areas around the world and may not ever be presented with the opportunity for a decent education. Sherman Alexie brings this fact to the reader’s attention on a personal level in his short story “Superman and Me”. This story follows a young Indian boy into his struggle of illiteracy and acceptance from his peers and friends. Alexie was able to focus the reader’s attention and convey much of his feelings into his written words because the story was about him and his own personal experiences. “Superman and Me” projects a message to the reader, that when faced with adversity, and when all odds are against you, willpower and determination can overcome even the toughest of obstacles.

Comparatively, the inner-city demographics hindered the boy’s chances of social mobility and personal growth along with the social brutality. A city is like a machine in the sense that every part of the city works together to bring

"The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara is a short story set in the inner part of New York City that gives the reader an opportunity to briefly see into the lives of children living devoid of wealth and education. It takes place in the early seventies, following the civil rights movement and during a time when the imbalance of wealth in terms of race was immense. Bamabara, through the use of narrative point of tone, symbols, setting and characterization, brings out and develops what I believe to be the two main themes of the story: materialism and social inequality.

“Forbes collected their information from the FBI Crime Statistics Database. Since 1985, the total violent crimes in the city have totaled above 8,000 each year” (Jennes). Some Memphians believe that the violence increase among the city because of the gang culture that spread across the whole city. Based on the police data, more than 12,800 documented gang members have been recognized in Memphis city. Almost 2,750 people have become a part of this culture in the past three years, which mean two to three people join every day. Additionally, many gangs that have originated in major states such as California and Chicago have been moved to Memphis, which make most of the committed crimes primarily relate to the gang culture which increased the violent crime rate by 6% last year as Jeremiah Graham and Dominique Jennes mentioned in their article about the Gang activity on the rise among Memphis youth. Most of those who joined and involved in the gang activities are youth because of the carelessness of the family. To give an illustration of what I mean let’s look at the case of the parent’s indifference, when the parental control of the child is not existing, this will lead him to the wrong way with the wrong people. “A child’s home and family are the center of development. One of the most important functions of this matrix is to provide structure and guidance in an effort to encourage and aid children in their socialization and identity development” (Stern et. al.,

In the article Bored, Broke and Armed: clues to chicago’s Gang Violence by John Elgion who is , discusses the how the lack of education can turn children into gang violence.  He observes, Conditions were ripped for

The streets of Philadelphia are rapidly becoming a home to violent acts and random homicides. Innocent lives are taken every day due to the strong presence of gangs, and the streets are run by unruly groups of fearless young adults. Gang violence in Philadelphia is a major issue, and the citizens will never be safe until gang prevention occurs. Gang prevention is not a simple task, but with the right resources available, it is possible. Gang violence is a problem that will contribute to the collapse of Philadelphia, and it has yet to be solved throughout many generations. With gang violence on the rise, the best solution to gang violence is to educate the youth and parents about gangs and use family support to prevent the creation of gang

"Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate. (Anonymous)” In the 1980 Chicago slums this quote couldn’t be truer. The slums were/are a terrible place for not just children, but everyone to live. The Henry Horner homes in particular are full of death, drugs, and poverty. This may not seem like the greatest place for children to be raised, but for some, they know nothing different. The constant gang trouble, drug trafficking, and hiding from stray bullets are an everyday occurrence for people living in these government housing complexes. The devastation is a never-ending cycle. The parents get into drugs and violence, and the children have no choice but to imitate their parents

My life is propelled from my education. While the daily facades of school walls try their best to dilute the distractions of reality, in my community, I see families sorting through clothing donation boxes and teenagers hanging around gas stations instead of school. Along with the wastes I see accumulate on the street sides, I see a more disturbing waste: the opportunities begotten from poverty that perpetuates my community's hardships.

There were many diverse aspects to this book. Most of this book is a recall from either the main character, or one of his students. This book is intended to open people’s eyes to see that in order to change the world we must first change ourselves. Being able to go through this story and see the mistakes, and the good decisions, teachers in Michie’s life have made, has taught me that the best way to teach is through love, justice, cultural empathy and imagination. Some of the points brought up in this book include the positive and negative sides of physical contact with a student, classification/stereotyping, race, gangs, police brutality/lack of justice, and children not being able to escape peer pressure.

To progress in society, one needs knowledge to further themselves. If one does not gain a good foundation for that knowledge, society will leave them behind. There are certain obstacles that prevent others from pursuing an education such as an inability to access a place of learning, not getting good education from teachers, or just flat out quitting school to make easy money by joining a gang. In Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool,” seven delinquents quit school to engage in rebellious behavior and in Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson,” a teacher takes several underprivileged children to a high-class toy shop. By using point of view, diction, and symbolism, Gwendolyn Brooks and Tone Cade Bambara show the reader why it is important to learn

The " Code of the Street" written by Eljah Anderson is an explanation for high rates violence among African-American Adolescents in Philadelphia. He wrote about poverty, lack of job, racial discrimination, rampant drug use and trafficking that leads to anti-social attitudes, violent behavior, alienation, and lack of hope for the future of the African Americas in Philadelphia.

Many African American families are suffering from the violence and substance abuse in their towns today, as reflected in the film “Boys of Baraka”. This film focuses on four young African American boys and their families from an inner city in Baltimore; Richard and brother Romash, Devon, and Montrey. As a result of the lack of discipline and an increased violence rate, these African American boys are suffering education-wise. Luckily, the Baraka School in Africa was designed for these children and gave them hope of bettering their lives as they enter high school.

A battlefield of violence and crime exists among segregated neighborhoods, especially for young black men. According to the movie, “1 out of every 21 black American males will be murdered in their lifetime.” Within these neighborhoods, people are consumed by poverty and hatred which results in an ongoing cycle of violence among the members of the community. Even young children are exposed to violence and crime, and many of them participate in criminal behavior. In the beginning of the movie, a group of ten-year-old children were walking through their neighborhood and witnessed an area where a man was shot. One of the boys said “I’m not afraid to get shot, both my brothers are shot and they still alive”. According to an article by Zimmerman & Messner (2013) urban youths have a 50% to 96% chance of witnessing a shooting or hear gun shots in

Beginning her paper with a brief overview of her life growing up in poverty; Beegle shows the reader a firsthand account of how heartbreaking these circumstances are. Revealing that “no one was educated beyond the eighth grade” and “subsisted on menial-wage employment and migrant work”, her family was stuck in the seemingly endless cycle of generational poverty (11). This approach is used to evoke emotion and capture the attention of the readers, allowing the author to more easily begin educating them on the adversity faced by children in poverty. When Beegle did attend college, she describes feeling “fear, humiliation, and insecurity” brought on by the negative interactions with her professors (11). It’s not until she

For this assignment, we were required to read Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane. This book goes in depth about an African boy’s coming of age. It goes over a lot of what Mark has gone through and how he overcomes the cruel behavior of the apartheid system. He also describes the racism and stereotypes the black children dealt with. From this book out of the three parts, I decided to go over part two of the book, “Passport to Knowledge.” I picked this section because a few of the aspect in here interested me more such as the allure and harsh realities of gangs, classroom regulations, and parents disagreeing over the worth of formal education. By embracing education, he is able to rise out of despair and destitution and make something of himself.