I know, the title is a bit deceiving. But, sometimes, that is all it takes! You get angry about something and the cogwheels keep turning. Up until I started at Roosevelt, I tried to avoid writing because talking about issues seems a lot better, and it is! However, there is a lot to say that writing can help organize, when your mind is causing a ruckus.
So, what inspires my writing? Lately, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and discipline policies. I was especially upset today. It was my nephew's report card pick-up day today, and I could not believe the things I was hearing. His history teacher said that she spends the first few minutes of class "getting rid of" students who are being disruptive, and she was OK with that! His sixth and seventh period English teacher said that by that time of the day, there are as little as FIVE students! This is an achievement academy, but how are there so few students in class? What is being done with them? I'll tell you what, they are being suspended OUT OF SCHOOL. Now this really makes me want to rant. True enough, my research paper is all about discipline and possible alternatives.
So, is there a name for all this? Yes. It is called the school to prison pipeline. If you go to Roosevelt University you probably know, or have heard about this. I was very unhappy to hear that students are just pushed out of school. Now, why is it that this school is this way? For starters this is, again, an achievement academy. It is for those who did not pass the eighth grade and are past the age of being in an elementary school any longer. Second, it is the second worst school in the state of Illinois. Third, it is in the South side Bronzeville neighborhoods(Not far from the Greater Grand Boulevard). It is unbelievable that such policies to "deal" with students are being used to "help" other students. The whole school suffers and the student. In the long term, the students' future is lost. These policies do not engage parents or students into solving problems.
Now, I would much rather hold rallies and hunt down CPS representatives than write about it (as bad as that sounds in a blog about writing). I just feel like some ideas need to be HEARD, not written where only a professor will grade it. Nonetheless, I do understand the significance. I really hope one day to bring more people together to solve problems like this because our future depends on it.
And that is what inspires me, very passionately.
::Rebecca::
Ralph: "This is my mad face!"
