Happy Black History Month!

In honour of Black History Month, I thought that I would briefly speak about an issue that has been getting a lot of attention—Black focused schools.

Although I don’t have children, I am very much concerned about the ridiculously high dropout rate among black children. Forty per cent of black students drop out of high school!? I find that number unfathomable.

Like most kids, I hated school when I was younger. I didn’t like elementary school and I was counting down the seconds until I got out of high school. But even though I hated every second of school, I knew that I had to at least finish high school in order to have a chance at a future, as I didn’t want to work retail for the rest of my life. It also helped that my mother was and is a positive role model and stressed the importance of school. I eventually finished high school and graduated from university.

That being said, there are many factors concerning the dropout rate among black students. I know that having black focused schools will not solve the problem of the astronomically high dropout rate, but I see it as a part of the solution—a step in the right direction. Getting young people excited about school and education will only help them in the long run. Especially if they learning material that speaks about their people and culture.

I don’t think that have a black focused school is a form of segregation, because it’s up to the individual to choose which school they want to go to. They have the choice to go to a black focused school or to a multi-racial school.

I have heard and read many opinions on this topic, but I would find it more valuable to find out what are youths really want out of their education.

Until my next entry…

peace & love,

michelle