Marlon A. Walker

This year’s “The State of Black America” study by the National Urban League pays the most attention to Black males because they are further away from parity with their White counterparts in several significant categories.

Black men face the greatest battle to gain equality in society, and Urban League leaders say improving the educational outcomes of Black males is the best path for changing their plight.

Compared to White men, African-American men are more than twice as likely to be unemployed and earn, on average, 74 percent as much in income annually. Black men are seven times as likely as Whites to spend time in jail.

“Empowering Black men to reach their full potential is the most serious economic and civil rights challenge we face today,” says Urban League President Marc H. Morial. “Ensuring their future is critical, not just for the African-American community, but for the prosperity, health and well-being of the entire American family.”

It seems that Black children, especially Black boys, are losing out as early as elementary school in the process to maintain parity with Whites.

In writing proficiency tests, for example, Blacks score 13 percent lower than Whites, the study states. When they reach the final year in high school, Blacks only score at 74 percent of what white students score. Statistics like this are prompting recommendations on how to empower Blacks to edge closer to parity. Some suggestions presented by the Urban League include:

* Providing comprehensive early childhood education for all children

* Establishing more all-male schools with longer school days and more mentoring

* Creating more “second-chance” programs for high school dropouts and ex-offenders

* Restoring the federal Summer Jobs Program to its pre-2000 state

* Driving home the message to children that education pays dividends later in life

Dr. Edward F. Dragan, who spent more than 30 years in schools as a teacher, principal and superintendent, says the need for Black male elementary school teachers is more than obvious when statistics on convicted criminals are brought into play.

“When you’ve got such a high population of young Black men in jail and 90 percent of those individuals are people who have some type of learning disability or were never taught properly in school, that’s weird,” says Dragan, the founder and principle consultant of New Jersey-based Educational Management Consulting LLC. “I think help needs to start at the elementary school level. That’s not going to solve all the problems, but it’s one of the areas that I think needs to be focused on.”

Dragan says educators need to figure out what students are missing and provide it–regardless of monetary shortfalls.

“I think to any really good teacher interested in really doing something with kids, money is secondary,” he says.

Dr. Lenora Madison Poe, a licensed therapist from Berkeley, Calif., who deals with issues involving the family unit, says working with children while they are in elementary school is vital for their future success.

“That’s where we begin to shape our children’s minds,” she says. “We are building into them trust and self-confidence, self-esteem and self-acceptance. We’re getting them into the early school programs–even preschool–so they can learn those early self-relational skills.”

Poe says many Blacks put themselves at a major disadvantage when they left the South in search of a better life.

“Many of our [Black] families migrated for better opportunities, and did not have that extended family relationship,” she says. “We need the home and the school and the churches working together again like we had with our foreparents.”

Poe says that without the entire community working to encourage progression, many of the sentiments that suggest going forward are being missed.

“We’ve got to bring the family back intact so we can have our support system, our role models, our care messages, our encouragements,” she says. “All those things [need to be brought] back into the home, which launches the person out into the greater society. We’re just not getting the motivational hook for them.

“As a result of that,” she continues, “our school system, the society, the family, we’re all failing the Black male. Not that we don’t have the wherewithal to do what we can do in terms of achieving academically. We have those things, but we’ve got to bring it back into clear, consistent messages to our Black men so we can help them look at meaningful directions for their lives.”

Marlon A. Walker “Black men and education focus of Urban League report”. Diverse Issues in Higher Education. . FindArticles.com. 26 Oct. 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WMX/is_10_24/ai_n27310436

As a parent of young Black males, I am well aware of the labels that may be placed upon them as they go their merry way through school “Aggressive, uncontrolled, fidgety, can’t sit still….” Then we get the heavy ones, “ADD, ADHD…..have you tried Ritalin?”

Before I go any further, parents, and friends of parents who are reading this blog. PLEASE do not take what I say as medical or educational advice. I am just a parent and a former teacher who is speaking from experience. My word is not law and I do not claim to have any special expertise in this area. By all means, if you sense an issue with your young man, please seek medical assistance.

Now, that the disclaimer is out of the way, here we go. Boys will be boys. They have testosterone, which causes them to yell, holler, jump off couches, porches, decks, run, climb trees, bump into each other and random furniture, and did I say yell? It’s a fact of life that most boys are simply boisterous and seemingly out of control. Following are some tips on keeping your sanity while raising boys.

• Allow them to expend that energy. They are going to yell, run, shout and scream. Certainly, you can ask them to keep it down to a dull roar, but the best thing is to let them outside while they run like wildebeests. Meanwhile, you sit in a lawn chair sipping lemonade and reading your book.

• Find out their interests. For the most part, boys will not sit down and read a book. What you might do is find something that interests them and give this to them when you need a little quiet time. With my first son, it’s dominoes. With my littler son, it’s those HotWheels cars. The both of them can play quietly for at least 20 minutes with their special interest toys. And that’s a blessedly quiet 20 minutes!

• Give them affection. Just because they’re boys doesn’t mean they don’t like being hugged and kissed on the top of their sweaty heads. Just don’t make a big deal about “mommy’s little boy”. Also, no boy is too grown for a show of affection. They NEED that physical affirmation.

• Talk to them. Yes, you’re tired. You don’t need to hear a little boy prattling in your ear. Count to five, and restrain yourself from saying “You talk too much.” Listen and talk to your boys. You just might learn something.

School Days
Statistics show that black boys are more likely to be disciplined and/or expelled, even in the early years of school. They are also more likely to be recommended for special education or diagnosed with a learning disorder. Forewarned is forearmed, parents. Remember that the teacher, nor the principal, nor that guidance counselor is the end all/be all for your child. You don’t have to put your child on medication so that he sits in a corner, nearly comatose just to take the stress off a teacher who may or may not be able to handle a bouncy boy. Here are some ways to keep your child from being tagged as a trouble maker.

• Serve a good breakfast. Pop Tarts and Sunny Delight do not a good breakfast make. Talk about a recipe for disaster. I know my marginally well behaved boys would be bouncing off the wall after such a meal. Aim for high fiber, low sugar breakfasts such as oatmeal with milk or cream, boiled eggs and whole wheat toast, cream of wheat with butter and milk, yogurt with granola. If you’re in a hurry, try a yogurt smoothie with fruit and some cheese on the side. Just don’t get taken in by that instant oatmeal. In some cases you might as well serve your boy a packet of sugar. The behavior caused by blood sugar spikes may cause your boy to act out in class and/or be unable to sit still.

• Reinforce expectations. Let your boy know that you expect him to behave in school Also let him know that it may be hard to sit still for such a long time, but assure him that you know he can do it. Hopefully, he will have a teacher that does understand boys and accommodates them accordingly.

• Enough sleep and exercise. What else is there to say? My boys sleep well when I allow them to run around like gazelle in the back yard.

• Limit TV and video games. Yes, I do rally against too much TV. You don’t want your child to become a zombie, sitting in front of the TV for hours at time. Sure, he’s quiet, is his brain active?

• Avoid drugs, if you can. Medication should be a last resort. Try behavior modification, nutritional support, counseling, changing teachers, whatever you can to avoid the medication. Certainly, if all these things don’t work, then perhaps medication is the only way. But make it a last resort, not a first step.

Boys can be fun. They always seem to be having fun, running around and shouting at each other – who can’t admire that exuberance for life? Remember though, our black boys are a precious commodity and it’s up to us to raise them right.