Crisis In American Education

The crisis in American education
Every American is required to attend and complete public school education. A person needs to be literate and properly educated to progress in life. However, there are many things that can impact a person’s education and personal life. These issues include illiteracy, drug abuse and violence at school. These issues combined with others create the crisis of American education. Getting an education today is very important because jobs are demanding in their criteria for job applicants. It is vital to survival that everyone knows and understands the English language. We have all gone to public school at one point or another, so we have all seen the dangers lurking about in our public schools. School violence is an issue that plagues each
and every high school in the world.
Teens are sometimes so afraid that they will skip school. Drug abuse is also getting to be a terrible problem in public schools as it affects the education of the student. As we have seen through Columbine and the Virginia tech massacre, there are some issues surrounding safety of schools and their children. There is a question of “who’s next?” It’s very important that we recognize the warning signs in our students early on so that we can stop the violence before it ever happens. There are many solutions to the issues that affect our public schools ranging from gathering volunteers to just loving your child. In this essay, we will examine three main issues in public schools along with the causes, effects and solutions of each issue. There is a multitude of problems facing the public schools today including teen violence, drug abuse, and illiteracy and we need to find the tools necessary to rebuild a
more positive learning environment.
Illiteracy is the inability to use language, read, write, listen and speak. Illiteracy is one of the main problems facing our public schools today. It has only been getting worse over the years. In the colonial days, parents were responsible for teaching their kids how to read. If they failed to teach them, they were fined by the state. Boy, have times changed. The three main causes of illiteracy are poverty, learning disabilities, and lack of family literacy. These problems have contributed to the whopping 32 million Americans who are illiterate today. Children in every public school are affected by illiteracy, sometimes because of a learning disability, like dyslexia. Between 1992 and 2003, there were 23 million people added to the population. 3.6 million of those people were illiterate (enotalon.com). People have been illiterate for as long as the earth has been around. An incredible 75% of unemployed adults cannot read and write at a basic level. There was an organization formed called ProLiteracy. It is a group that teaches adults to read and write. It also distributes materials used to help teach the adults reading and writing. Illiteracy costs about $60 billion in lost productivity due to illiteracy. The U.S . has not made any progress in changing the illiteracy rates. Illiteracy affects every aspect of a person’s life. They may be ashamed or feel inadequate in life due to their literacy problem. There are solutions to the literacy problem in America. A first solution can be training our teachers better so they can better teach our children. A second solution can be to offer after school help for children. A third solution would be to change the environment at home. In 1985, Six Flags Marine World designed “read to succeed”. Read to succeed is a three unit program for third through eighth graders. It has grown to 209,000 students from 166,000 students in the year 1989. Read to succeed is designed to introduce youngsters to a lifetime of fun through reading independently. The program presents kids with interesting and fun topics. Each and every one of these solutions will be a definite help in solving the literacy problem. They will work together to create a working educational system comprised of adults and children. Children will no longer suffer from shame of being illiterate. Adults can gain the tools they need to survive in the real world. Illiteracy is an international problem that affects the student, family, community and the economy. With these solutions, we can learn to successfully combat the war against illiteracy.
Bullying and school violence is a very scary, but real part of our everyday lives. Bullying is when kids use their power to control or harm others intentionally. Bullying includes making threats, name-calling, spreading rumors, or attacking someone verbally or physically. 1 in 4 kids are bullied every year. It has been proven that bullying affects a child’s ability to learn because they become so preoccupied with escaping a bully or feeling depressed about an incident that they cannot focus on their schoolwork. There are many causes to bullying, most dealing with outside influences. A first cause of bullying could be a history of family violence. Another cause could be learned racial, social, or religious prejudice. Another factor could be the violence portrayed in the media. Substance abuse is another cause of bullying. Bullying has many causes and many effects, so what can we do about it? We can assess bullying by participating in surveys that help determine the frequency and locations of bullying. First, you choose the survey you want, then, you obtain consent to take the survey. After you gain consent, you will administer the survey. When it is done, you will analyze and distribute your findings. You should always have a clear plan ready. Surveys can also gauge the effectiveness of a current prevention or intervention effort. Surveys also ask the schools and their communities about their experience and thoughts on bullying. This is a great way to understand the underlying causes and effects of bullying and who its victims are. Engaging the youth and parents can make a student feel safer, focus more on learning, and have the parent worrying less. Ways that a student can help is to contribute their experiences or views on bullying. They can promote respect and communicate regularly with their peers about the dangers of bullying. Parents can contribute by volunteering at school improvement events. School staff can keep parents informed about bullying and set up meetings convenient for the parent and child. School safety committees are groups of people focused on the concerns of school safety; where teachers can give their insights and administrators can answer questions. School safety committees plan prevention programs, develop communicate, and enforce bullying prevention policies and rules. They educate the public on bullying and evaluate bullying prevention efforts. It is very important that we build a comfortable environment for our students everywhere. We need to establish a culture of positivity and safety. We need to promote respect in every classroom. To make sure that our bullying prevention efforts are working, our school staff needs to be trained on what bullying is, what the school’s policies are, and how to enforce the rules. Training is most successful when a teacher feels their voice has been heard. I think that everyone would feel successful if they felt their voice was heard.