“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” --Charles R. Swindell
DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT AFFLIATED IN ANY WAY WITH CITY YEAR DETROIT. THIS IS SIMPLY ME STATING MY OWN OPINIONS/OBSERVATIONS.
Hey everyone!
Today I was talking to some of my 9th graders about a college night event that my City Year team is in the process of planning. As I was asking about registration forms, one student said "No one in here is going to go to college anyway...". That comment bugged me...not only did the student make the assumption that no one in the class wanted to go to college, he also said (indirectly) that no one in the class will be able to make it into college. People, I ask this simple question:
When did we get here as a community?
Why is it that students are more willing to fight/kill one another over practically nothing?Students spend more time writing their "hood" on the walls of the school than they do writing a ONE paragraph response to an instructor posed question. If you ask a student to recite their favorite rapper's lyrics, they can drop a rhyme on a dime. However, if you ask those same students to READ those same lyrics aloud, the have so much difficulty. Girls are willingly allowing boys to use and abuse them, while at the same time, calling these little boys "boo" or "baby". Even worse, is that these same guys, who were scum to begin with, impregnate these girls and then don't want to help raise the children. We've got babies on the block selling rocks to support their ENTIRE family!
What is going on here people?!?! Have we lost so much love for our commuity that we have let it turn to shambles?! Looking at pictures of my old Detroit neighborhood in the 70s, the area was thriving! The high school (where I am currently placed for my service term) looked beautiful. The neighborhood looked beautiful. what has happened between then and now? Our streets are covered in trash and litter. There are more abandoned buildings on some blocks than there are actual filled homes! Our children walk through the neighborhood and see nothing but struggle and strife. Most of them think that the only way to make money is to sell drugs. The sad part about it is that most of the affluent people in the neighborhood ARE the drug dealers. Those who get out of the neighborhood tend not to come back because they want to escape.
The only way that Detroit can become the thriving city that it once was, is if all the neighborhoods come together as one. We need to stop all of these rivalries and EDUCATE our children!!!! The community is a major influence on the path that students end up. The community sometimes lends itself to be a success deterrant. Our students can do anything that they set their mind to, and we need to instill that idea into them. We need to stop worrying about the superficial and worry more about their FUTURE! It is truly the only way to save our kids...
Stay blessed,
nNb :)
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