Racism in Todays High School - Essay Example

Racism in today’s High school Racism in today’s High school Introduction The United s has for long been known with racism directed against minorities in country like the ethnic black Americans and immigrants from other parts of the world like Mexico. Racism is the discrimination of an individual based on their different religious, ethnic and race background, always attempting to portray them as backward and uncultured as compared to the mainstream tribes. The increased racial discrimination targeting the minority groups has increased despite the continued democratization of the United States and the emergence of elected ethnic minority leaders in predominantly cosmopolitan towns (Resmovits, 2014). Schools in the United States have been accused for propagating racist activities and practicing favoritism against minority tribes. Studies in schools across the country have showed increased racism today as compared to the times of Martin Luther King Junior, the human rights activist. Non-whites have been subjected to unequal treatment in ‘dropout factory’ high schools across the country in which most of them end up not graduating due to the poor learning education and ineffective teachers. Most of these students do not prepare for life after high school as the environment is non-convincing and the teachers do not encourage them to pursue their education beyond high school level. In this paper, racism in today’s high schools in the United States will be discussed, highlighting the challenges that non-white students’ face and how the system has done little to increase educational equality (Resmovits, 2014). Forms of racism in high schools today Though the approaches used in the 50s to depict the minority as inferior in schools have changed, newer approaches have emerged in schools and these have continued to build racial animosity among students. According to a report released by the United States department of education, racism in high schools has advanced and minority students are finding it hard to graduate in time. Today, discrimination varies from the form punishment used on students, qualification of the teachers assigned to the minority communities and the use of IQ tests as a way of showing capability. The US department of education showed that black students and those from the minority Spanish Americans receive more severe punishment as compared to their white counterparts. This stems from the notion that has depicted the blacks as more prone to violence and with less ability to understand unless punished. Veteran teachers in school have more experience and are best placed to address the challenges affecting the transition of students from high school. Studies have demonstrated the students who are handled by veteran teachers are best placed to develop in their careers and progress to college with better marks as compared to those handled by pioneer teachers (Parrett & Budge, 2011). As a clearly known fact in high schools, this has been used to practice racism towards the blacks and the minority Americans as such students are rarely given a chance to access veteran teachers. This creates a situation where student development in the same class is so wide apart with the majority white students favored as compared to their black counterparts (Brooks, 2012). Punishment in schools takes different forms from on-spot punishment to suspension and expulsion from school if the situation warrantees such a form of punishment. The civil rights data collection of the United States in 2012 showed that the number of black students expelled or suspended from schools was triple that of the white majority students. The total number of black girls suspended from the public schools stood at 12% in the same year, a value that was above the number of white boys suspended (Rosenbloom, 2010). This led to a number of questions in the education sector as the data collected could not supported by factual data to demonstrate the deviation in their behaviors. Access to experienced teachers has also been left to the majority whites while black students are forced to learn under the supervision of less experienced teachers. This affects students who are not native English speakers and minority students who are not favored by such experienced teachers. The report indicated that 7% of black students in the country are forced to attend schools where most of the teachers failed to meet the license and certification merits provided by the department of education (Brooks, 2012). The national educational and employment policy has continued to favor teachers who teach in majority white students as opposed to teachers in majority black students. Teachers in majority white are paid $5,000 as compared to those from predominantly high Latino student enrolment. The stiff penalties that these students are subjected to further highlight the negativity of the education system in the country, which creates discord among the students. According to the report published, most of these students are subjected to legal court systems after the suspension and expulsion further casting darker aspersion on their character. Due to the high number of expulsion and suspension targeting the white students, a number of studies have been done to determine the extent of misbehavior among the blacks and the variation that exist between them and the whites (Rosenbloom, 2010). The results of these studies casted a negative shadow on the punishment practices in public schools that have targeted the black students as compared to their white colleagues. Most of these students do not behave as badly as compared to the white colleagues which can be justified by the wide variation that exist in the punishment approaches used. Racial fear and ignorance has therefore contributed to the atrocities committed against the black students in modern day America as compared to the black counterparts. One of the most recent cases of student bullying that ended in the courts involved the administration of the Duval county school and the parents of a student Beverly Cox (Parrett & Budge, 2011). In this case, the student was bullied and physically harmed by a known bully in the school, an event that the school had prior information about. The school was fined $100,000 for negligence and asked to account for all the medical bills of the girl that was harmed by the acts of aggression by the bully. Such legal actions against the school lower the general public perception of the school resulting into decreased overall intake and admission (Resmovits, 2014). Impacts of racism in high schools Racism has massive impacts on students and schools affected and this increases the inequality that the government has been attempting to bridge. Students exposed to a racially charged learning environment have higher chances of leaving a life of contempt and engagement in criminal activities. According to a study conducted by the American psychological foundation, the decision to engage in criminal activities especially among the black and the ethnic minorities in the country stem from increased racial discrimination in the country (Rosenbloom, 2010). Increased exposure to racially charge learning environment increases sensitivity of the students and this affects their ability to control themselves. Lack of academic life self-control has been attributed to failure in performance and increased engagement in criminal activities while out of schools (Brooks, 2012). Teenagers who are exposed to racism in public schools develop a phobia for school and this affects their performances. Due to the school environment that openly practices racism from the management, to the teachers and the students themselves; most students develop psychological fear which affects their willingness to attend classes. Apart from staying away from school, those who chose to brave the challenging environment and attend classes are affected with the negative comments from teachers, fellow students and the administrators which affect their concentration in class (Perez, Johnson & Kohli, 2007). This is increased especially among students who anxiety levels increases as a result of the racially abusive environment which affects the ability of the students to perform. Students who do not speak English as their first language are also affected significantly by racism in the country as it reduces their chances of self-expression. In the classes, teachers tend to shun students who have a problem speaking English and this does not improve their attitude towards the learning processes. To conform to the culture bred into them by students, most students tend to abandon the practices of their culture and lose the values taught to them by the parents (Parrett & Budge, 2011). A teacher in a position to manage his classroom well is best placed to identify cases of bullying through acts of aggression from some students and mitigate ways of stopping them. However, once the classroom management and control leaves the hand of the teacher and moves to the rogue students, the instructional approach used by the teacher becomes ineffective and results into loss of proper learning in the school. No meaningful education can occur in such a setup and a number of psychological problems may arise associated with the loss of control by the school (Sian, Law & Sayyid, 2013). Extensive development of behaviors related to bullying in schools arising from ineffective control by the administration results into adult and teacher bullying. Bullying behaviors arise from an environment that allows for such negative acts to grow and extend without considerable control. When teachers and school administration lose control over the student’s behavior, such behavior extends to higher levels. This results into increased incidences of teacher and adult bullying, acts that potential harm to the bully, the teacher and other students collectively. The abuse of the teachers, school drivers, other support staff and even security personnel demonstrates the highest level of this vice in the school and is attributed to the lack of control and effective measures by the administration (Resmovits, 2014). Bullying of adults may vary considerable and may lack evidence of physical torment but is characterized by intense and provocative sarcasm, to voluntary ignorance of laws, directives and instruction from those in authority. Teacher bullying is influenced by a number of factors, chief among them being the failure of the institution to demonstrate control of the students and reduce the prevalence of bullying. The bullying themselves may develop the feeling of being in control and begin extend their acts to teachers and other members of the administration. In doing this, the perpetrators use approaches like mocking, use of sarcasm and derogative statements and irritating imitations in class (Ani, 2013). Such a school faces the risk of closer as the parents whose students are subjected to torture and torment may withdraw their students. The teachers faced with this vice may also choose to seek transfers or resign all together thus affecting the overall success of the school (Sian, Law & Sayyid, 2013). However, a number of researchers have attributed the high level of bullying acts within the schools to the direct actions of teachers, tutors and coaches. As a teacher or coach assigned the responsibility of caring and training a student, approaches adopted must seek to maintain the integrity and respect of the student. However, this rarely occurs as teachers humiliate the students in front of the others. This provides a breeding ground for the bullies to mock and laugh at their colleagues thus impacting negatively on their personal confidence and self-belief. The impacts so far witnessed from this vice are thus related to poor instructional methods adopted by teachers in different areas of study and at varying levels of training (Perez, Johnson & Kohli, 2007). Mitigating racism in high schools The Obama administration in conjunction with the department of education has adopted a number of approaches that are geared towards ensuring reduced discrimination targeting blacks and Hispanic Americans. However, critics who are considered as pro-whites have termed the approaches as discriminatory and aim to create animosity in the country by emphasizing on the negative challenges faced by the black and Hispanic community (Klein, 2014). According to critics, any claim that seeks to portray blacks and Hispanic as less favored is an aim meant to correct the racial wrongs by more wrongs targeting the white majority. According to a federal policy adopted by the government, an IQ test that results into more black and Hispanic students failing is in itself suspect. This applies to a punishment approach which results into more black and Hispanic students getting suspended or expelled should also be considered suspect (Sian, Law & Sayyid, 2013). Racism in school does not only take the form of policies adopted by the government in schools but also the treatment of minority students by their colleagues. In most instances, bullying adopts a racist approach in which blacks and Hispanics are subjected to mistreatment and abuse by their fellow students. This affects the performance of the students and their attitude towards academic work due to the poor learning environment that they are exposed to. To mitigate this level of racism, schools and teachers must work together to ensure that students does not bully each other based on their race and religious affiliation (Ani, 2013). Conclusion Racism is a cancer that has continued to affect the growth of students in high schools across the United States due to the hostile environment that it creates which hampers learning. Racism takes a number of forms and different people in high school are involved in its perpetuation including teachers, policy makers and students. The high number of suspension and expulsion of students with black origin has been attributed to increased crime and sensitivity to negative racial comments. School dropouts have also increased among students from the black community as the negative treatment they receive at school discourages them from working towards attaining their dreams (Kohli, 2008). References Resmovits, J. (2014). American schools are still racists, government report finds. Huffington post Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/schools-discrimination_n_5002954.html. Klein, R. (2014). Minority students don’t only get less experienced teachers; they also get less effective ones. Huffington post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/11/minority-students-worse-teachers_n_5135153.html. Kohli, R. (2008). Breaking the cycle of racism in the classroom: Critical race reflections from future teachers of color. Teacher education quarterly. Perez, L., Johnson, R. & Kohli, R. (2007). Naming racism: A conceptual look at racism in U.S. schools. Chicana/o-Latina/o Law Review, 26 Ani, A. (2013). In Spite of Racism, Inequality, and School Failure: Defining Hope with Achieving Black Children. Journal of Negro Education, 82(4), 408-421. Brooks, J. S. (2012). Black School White School: Racism and Educational (Mis) Leadership. New York: Teachers College Press. Parrett, W., & Budge, K. M. (2011). Turning High-poverty Schools into High-performing Schools. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Rosenbloom, S. R. (2010). The multiracial urban high school: Fearing peers and trusting friends. Oxford: Palgrave Macmillan. Sian, K., Law, I., & Sayyid, S. (2013). Racism, governance, and public policy: Beyond human rights. New York: Routledge. Read More