Wes Moore Was Sent To Military School

The “other” Wes once said, “If [others] expect us to graduate, we will graduate. If they expect us to get a job, we will get a job. If they expect us to go to jail, then that’s where we will end up too” (127). In Wes Moore’s book The Other Wes Moore expectations from our role models impact everything including our jobs. Two kids named Wes Moore, similar in age grow up just blocks from each other, with difficult childhoods including run ins with the police and hanging with their crew. One becomes a Rhodes scholar, decorated veteran and business leader, and the other ends up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in prison. Their stories could have been switched with so many similarities in their life but the slight differences

Parenting played a big role in shaping the two boys lives. Having a parental mentor is important because they assist and guide children to take the right decisions about their lives. The author had his two parents at the beginning of his life. Also, the author’s parents, especially his mother, tried to raise him in an effective way wanting him to know the right from wrong at an early age. “No mommy loves you, like I love you, she just wants you to do the right thing” (Moore 11). This quote was a live example of the author’s life with his parents. It reflected the different ways his parents used to teach him “the right thing.” Though his mother was upset from his action toward his sister, his father

The author Wes Moore’s family greatly influenced him and definitely helped him become a successful person today. As a kid, Wes often struggled in school. His mother made many sacrifices, worked many jobs so her son could go to school out of the neighborhood.went to school out of the neighborhood because his mother wanted him to stay on positive path. His mom made many sacrficies for her son because she wanted him to get the education he needed to become successful. When Riverdale wasn’t helping him to get the education he needed, his mother sent him away to military school.In order to do this, his mother made more sacrifices. His mother worked several jobs so she could pay off military school. Also, his grandparents gave his mother the money

In addition, this book succeeds in terms of depicting real life situations to young children. As presented in the story, Reed’s father lost his job; thus, causing him to move back in with

Wes #1 grew up without his father; his father died near the beginning of the story with a rare disease. Wes #1 did not understand the responsibility that he would have to uphold until he got older because he was only three years old. Wes #1 needed a father figure because he needed a manly structure in his life. Even though Wes already had a loving mother, willing to play both roles as a mother and father, a mother can only do but so much. Young men need fathers/father figures because they help out with the things mothers can not explain. This takes us back to the subject of environment and family, because Wes #1 had a environment that strived off of respect, he had a family that strived off of doing the right thing.

    One central difference to think about when looking at the two individuals is the fact that Wes has a more supporting mother than Wes (2), in a person’s life a mother is so important and can be looked as a blessing. A mother is the one that supposed to be the person that takes great care of you and guides you,  and to teach what’s right from wrong. The author’s mother was much more supportive for her son, Wes acknowledges, “Every time I looked  around at the buildings and the trees and the view of the river, I was reminded of the sacrifices my mother was making to keep me there.” (Moore 52). Due to this quote, we can conclude that Wes’s mother, although struggling at the time, found a way to put her child in the best possible route in education. Wes presents it as kind of an understatement, however, from his mother doing this, it affects his life so much. By being put in a excellent school, it offers many more opportunities than that of the other Wes and he can gather a lot more help/exposure to guide him toward a bright future. On the other hand, we have Wes (2) that is lost and seems as if he just can’t find his way, “Young boys are more likely to believe in themselves if they know that there’s someone, somewhere, who shares that belief. To carry the

“The Other Wes Moore” is a story that follows two boys with the exact same name who start off living very similar lives in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the boys live on to be an extremely successful man and the other one is living the rest of his life behind bars. The two men wondered how their strikingly similar path diverged into two completely different fates and then an argument formed. Are people products of their choices or their environment and expectations thrown upon them? The book proves that people are products of their choices. Both Wes Moores were raised by a single mom in the tough streets of Baltimore and they both were rebellious children who got arrested at a young age. Their similarities lessened as their choices and their mom’s choices contrasted. The more fortunate Wes was sent to Military school and he chose to make the most of it and become the best version of himself. His determination and hard work trumped his previous hooligan mindset, therefore his future was bright and fulfilling. The other Wes chose to follow his brother,

In Wes Moore's book, The Other Wes Moore, he describes both his childhood and the early life of another boy of the same name who grew up near the author in the same Baltimore neighborhood. Moore's book explores the reasons why one boy, the author, succeeded in life while the other Wes Moore was overwhelmed by his struggles and will spend his life in prison. The author Wes Moore addresses different topics for the reader to take from the book.The ideas that are presented by him and should be recognised are the environment the boys grew up in, the motivation they got from family, and the influence from not having a father. The author Wes Moore has always had a supportive family while on the other hand the other Wes Moore had no one besides Tony, who even then was a big factor on why Wes is where he is at today. Their environment plays a big role in both of the boy’s life since they both were around the same things. The only difference is that one had a family who got him out of there to an environment that shaped him up to be the man that he is today and the one that never left will be the one that will never leave prison for the rest of his life.

The first environment that readers can analyze between the two Wes Moore’s is the lack of a father influence. Author Wes Moore grew up in Baltimore, Maryland with a family who seemed to have everything in place. Wes looked up to his father in many ways even as a young child. “I tried to copy his walk, his expressions. I was his main man. He was my protector” (Moore 11). Wes tells readers in the story that

In order to help the author Wes, Joy sent him to military school because she knew that the choice she made for her son would ensure that her son would be able to go into the world completely disciplined and prepared even if he hated her for sending him away. When explaining how the book was written, the author acknowledged, “This book is meant to show us how… our destinies can be determined by a single stumble down the wrong path, or a tentative step down the right one” (Moore xiv). She made the decision as a mother for her son’s entire future that ends up stopping him from making decisions like the other Wes Moore’s. The author acknowledges that the decisions he made and the decisions that the other Wes made affected their lives forever when he said, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that mine could have been his” (Moore 180). The other Wes Moore made poor decisions in his youth that led to a continuous use of drugs, alcohol, and unprotected sex. These decisions ultimately led to Wes being put into jail, hurting the ones he loved and changing his future

One American value is the idea that regardless of an individual’s background, family, and/or class, they will receive the same benefits as anyone else. However, in education there are different qualities a person could and can receive based off of the school they attend. Education is considered to be one of the main building blocks to a life of success or failure. For example, in the book The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore, one of the Wes Moore’s was sent to a private school, and then later boarding school, funded by his mother and family. The other Wes Moore went to a public school because his mother could not afford private school. The Wes Moore who went to a private boarding school had a successful life, while the other Wes Moore ended up

One’s childhood has a lasting impact on their entire life. Moore’s upbringing and the loving family he was born into, no matter how trivial it may seem, greatly contributed to his success. Wes seemingly grew up the same as any other kid in the Bronx – in a single-parent household, surrounded by bad influences… what separated him from the crowd? His support system: his family, and their ultimate support and sacrifices made all the difference. As a teenager, Wes seemed to be going down the wrong path. He constantly skipped school, his academic failures were overwhelming, and he was even arrested for vandalism. In the case of the other Wes, his family simply let these actions slide, and decision after decision ultimately landed him with a life sentence in prison. The author Wes’s mother, however, refused to allow this behavior to continue. As a method of intervention, she forced Moore to attend Valley Forge, and in doing so, probably saved his career. The extent of his family’s sacrifice was evident on page 95 when Wes realized that “my grandparents took the money they had in the home in the Bronx, decades of savings and mortgage payments, and gave it to my mother

“It takes a village to raise a child”, is an African Proverb. In other words, it can take more than just a child’s nuclear family to make her grow into who she will be as an adult. This lens is true because even though parents and siblings have a major effect on a child, and how they turn out later on in life, society and a child’s surrounding are what really shapes, and makes them who they are. What a child sees when he or she is new to the world, and doesn’t know everything, effects their behavior, and outlook on their life ahead. This lens is illustrated in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by

Through the Exosystem, Bronfenbrenner includes the economic system, political system, education system, government system, religious system, neighbors, social services, and mass media into the mix of systems that can influence a child’s development and can be held responsible for a child’s upbringing. In Dave’s memoir, there are many examples of this part of Bronfenbrenner’s model, one example of a neighbor that could have offered aide to Dave would have been Dave’s Boy Scout Den Mother. It would have been clear to the Den Mother that Dave was in utter distress and torment when he ran up to her door to explain why he could not make it to the troop meeting. However, the Den Mother did not seem phased by Dave’s appearance and simply told him she would see him at the next meeting.

     Throughout the story there are several aspects of the Protagonist’s character that play a major role in the shaping of her future. During her childhood she