The ridiculous violence in N.O.
This post is for Oye...
<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ZW87AcaVcI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ZW87AcaVcI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
The above video is one of hundreds or thousands on youtube. Ghetto fights. Trailer park fights. What I want to point out is the kids around the fight. This is their daily life. There is a school in the poor part of Lafayette. I went there on a regular basis for a while. In front of the school, while school was in session, I witnessed a street fight and a prostitute yelling at me as I drove by asking me if I wanted a blowjob for $10.00. ( I was able to get her down to five bucks but that is another story)
I know you are big into education. I am curious to hear your thoughts on this. How would or how could education overcome these obstacles faced by these kids? I know that there will be a small percentage of the kids that get beyond this life but it is a small percentage.
I feel that we can spend a gazillion dollars on programs but when these kids leave the campus and are faced with the ghetto life, eduction will not help most of them.
Two years ago this same school went through a major change. After years of failing, the entire staff was let go. The School Board offered substantially higher pay for the new staff which were required to apply for every position at the campus. The thought was that by bringing in the best of best and offering huge incentives, the results would improve. Two years later, it is actually doing worse.
So my question is how can education overcome the environment? What else could be done? One thought I had was to possibly incorporate a low income housing project with schools and police substations all in one complex. If we are going to get these kids out of the vicious cycle they are stuck in, they have to be exposed to more than drug deals, prostitution and fighting when they are out of school.
We can not make people be good parents but we can perhaps substitute poor parenting with a stable and positive environment. Or even do away with the current system of low income housing where we have hundreds of people living in apartment style complexes. I do not have the answers but the direction we are heading must be changed. It will require more than just money being thrown around on pet projects.