North Omaha’s Youth Are Destined To Fail
The above statement, framed as a title, is true.
There is a significant portion of the youth living in the North Omaha community that is beyond hope of anything better in life than what you see on the news on a nightly basis. Shooting, robberies, thefts, beatings, killings, car chases.
What’s worse, everyone reading this who is familiar with the situation in North Omaha would probably agree. We don’t expect anything better, because we see what’s going on. Nobody with any real choice in the matter would live in those areas with those kids. Why live somewhere where bullets are flying? Why live somewhere where if you have something nice, the odds are that someone else will just try to take it?
As a little mental exercise, let’s make a parallel statement, such as: “Elkhorn’s youth are destined to fail” or “Millard’s youth are destined to fail” or even “South Omaha’s youth are destined to fail.” Do any of those statements resonate with the ring of truth? Do those statements make someone nod in agreement?
Nope. It’s North Omaha.
Some people would like to blame Omaha Public Schools for North Omaha’s problems. After all, 52 schools in the Omaha Public School system have been labeled as low achieving schools. Those darn teachers and administrators are doing it all wrong! They’re not teaching our kids! They’re not leading them by the hand towards success! No child should be left behind! Let’s shuffle around the principals and see if that solves the problem!
Level the worst high school in OPS. Take the best high school in Millard and rip it out of the ground. Shake out all the students while keeping the entire staff down to the janitor. Keep all the books, all the programs, all the equipment and drop the whole thing right in the middle of North Omaha. All the advantages that the Millard students get are now the same advantages enjoyed by Omaha Public School students.
Wait a year and test again. Compare the data for the two years and I’ll bet that you won’t see a single change in test scores or graduation rates. You will still have at least half the student population in the school dropping out or being transferred to the “alternative” high school. You’ll have another sizable portion of the students biding their time until graduation. And then you’ll have your last 20-25% or so who will succeed.
The problem with North Omaha youth isn’t the schools. The problem isn’t the teachers, the principals, the programs, the buildings or the parking.
The problem with North Omaha youth can be boiled down to one thing: the community’s acceptance of thug culture.
What can a teacher do when her thug students just don’t want to learn?
Teacher:
D’Angelo, I’d like to give you a grade for this assignment, but you didn’t finish it. If you finish it, I can give you a grade. Can you finish it, please?
Student in North O:
Fuck no. It’s a stupid assignment. I ain’t gonna do it.
At this point, what tools does a teacher have? Does the teacher go to the parents? What if the parents don’t care?
Teacher:
Mrs. Love, I’ve been trying to get hold of you for a few weeks now, because we need to talk about D’Angelo’s progress in class. He isn’t completing his assignments and because of that, I’m unable to give him the grades necessary for him to pass. Is there something we can do to help motivate him?
Mrs. Love:
I can’t help you. He doesn’t listen to me. He’s the school’s problem.
The kids in North Omaha are destined to fail until the parents and community in North Omaha decide otherwise. It should be a very simple concept, but too many people want to confuse the issue and throw racial politics into the mix.
This is not an impossible problem. There are solutions. It all depends on how badly the community wants things to change. Right now, it doesn’t. It may never get to that point.
If they’d like some ideas to get them started, however, here are some possible ideas for change:
Uniforms – Make everyone dress the same
Get em young – It’s far too late to try to fix high school students
Dorms – Give the students a place of their own to live and eat
Sexually segregated schools – The fewer distractions the better
Vocational Programs – College isn’t the best choice for everyone. An electrician or carpenter who has been working for 5 years makes more than a teacher, degreed journalist, or public service worker.
Filter out the bad kids and concentrate on the good ones – Take the real troublemakers and kick them out. School should be for those who want to learn.
