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Originally Posted by mixedmedia
They were disrespectful and unmoved by her passion for writing and literature. Like you, there were only a handful of students that she felt like she touched. What were most of them concerned with? Clothing, music, images, lifestyles, material possessions, being cool, being tough. What did most of them want to be when they "grew up"? In anything that made them a lot of money. So what are the differences really, between the kids that you see everyday, shesus, and these kids that my sister saw everyday? Environment and opportunity, as far as I can tell. The white kids want to get MBAs or MDs. The black kids want to deal drugs or be rappers.
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This was my initial thought as well. I taught high school English and History in Seattle Public Schools, as well a public school in the Seattle suburbs where I grew up (both regular and Honors classes). I also taught ESL to elementary and junior-high school kids in Iceland and Thailand.
Nearly ALL of them fit the profile above. Very few of them, no matter how rich or poor, no matter how well-funded the school or not, no matter the color of their skin, gave a damn about school. I "reached" maybe 5% of them, on a good day, but probably less overall. Most of the ones I reached were dorky/nerdy kids like I used to be in school, and were the ones who didn't care about fashion or music or whatever. The rest were just biding their time, hoping to graduate, and go out and do whatever they wanted in the world... or maybe do nothing.
Aside from class, environment, and opportunity (all valid reasons), I just wanted to add that sometimes, kids just DON'T LIKE SCHOOL, no matter where they came from or what their parents are like. I would think this is true for the majority of students, wherever they are. Now, if kids don't like school but their parents still force them to study and do well... then we're back to class and environment again.