Passin’ Time at West Side High
T.J. Seitz
Copyright 2013 by T.J. Seitz
Introduction – Reflecting on Poverty, Students and School
The world we are born into basically works like a lottery ticket. Babies have no control over their assumed family’s wealth or social status. I believe that most children who are cursed by poverty are statistically condemned to follow in their forefathers’ footsteps.
Since graduating from college back in the early 1980’s I’ve wondered many times if inner city schools are just another form of imperialism. To me, they appear to work like a foreign power that establishes itself within another culture, country or society then imposes its policies, practices and belief systems onto the native peoples under the expectation that those inhabitants will simply understand, embrace and follow them without a hassle.
There is an old saying that I’ve heard many times throughout my tenure, “You can’t teach philosophy to a starving man.” It’s very applicable to urban schools that are filled to the brim with students who endure the effects of poverty and deprivation daily.
How can one realistically expect a besieged child to effectively learn or have a desire to learn about stuff that is irrelevant to their immediate circumstances?
Students who attend inner city schools that serve predominantly low income populations are often hungry, underdressed for weather conditions, and live in marginal housing arrangements. To complicate matters more, add parents or guardians who don’t embrace a formal education and/or are not prepared to provide the necessary support for their children’s academic needs.
Another rhetorical question I frequently ask myself is, “Does the environment of inner city schools shape student behaviors or do the behaviors of students shape the inner city school environment?” It’s a Heidegger-ian conundrum that makes more sense for me to just think about rather than answer, sort of like a Zen Buddhist koan.
Bad test scores and high dropout rates are what you get when the majority of a community does not support its school system. For that cross-section of Society spending the day at school is not about learning new knowledge and skills, it’s a place to hang out with friends and pass time until they are allowed to graduate or drop out.
I know my students are smart, just not in the ways that education leaders and politicians want them to be. They can figure out how to pass a class without doing any meaningful work. They are natural entrepreneurs and know how to quickly establish a highly profitable, low overhead, cash only business, in the hallways at school.
I remember one student, William Meyers, who purchased a second hand 2-way radio transceiver at a pawn shop. He smuggled it into the building then calibrated it to the channel signals used by school personnel. Willie and his friends used the device for several years to listen to radio traffic when skipping classes. It helped them avoid getting caught.
Many people, who are unfamiliar with the workings of urban schools and poverty, will find a lot of the things I’m aware of unbelievable, offensive, racist or sexist.
There are very few positive male role models. Frontin’ (false appearances), drillin’ (teasing) and fighting, the real and play kinds, are a way of life for most students, including girls.
When talking amongst themselves, nearly every other word out of kids’ mouths is a swear word, even when adults are present. Students openly acknowledge skin color. They regularly use slurs such as ‘boy’, ‘nigga,’ ‘bitch,’ ‘cunt,’ ‘loop,’ ‘thot,’ ‘flo’ or ‘ho’ amongst themselves.
School sponsored breakfasts and lunches are the only regular meals eaten by many of the children. A concerning number of students come to their classes high on illegal and over-the-counter substances.
Over 50% of the teens at my school are sexually active. 75% have experienced or witnesses some form of physical abuse or neglect at home. Many of the kids who do not show up for school daily are just home watching their younger siblings and/or cousins while their parents sleep or work.
I could go on but I think you get the idea.
It makes me sick to read the news every day. Just in the last week alone I’ve seen internet headlines about a kid lighting their teacher’s hair on fire at a Knoxville Tennessee high school, groups of boys playing a game called ‘knockout’ in cities up and down the East Coast, and a murder on Genesee Street involving two feuding teens who were former Rochester City School District students.
I gave up on idealism years ago. There is a major disconnect between the way things are and the way things should be. To be more effective, despite my race, gender, social class and college education I had to drop it all and just focus on the moment because nothing else really matters.
As a school social worker I learned the hard way that there are lots of things I have no control over. People will make bad choices for themselves and others even when they know better and are offered better alternatives.
I can’t solve the big problems in life, like fixing someone’s dysfunctional home life or stopping gang violence. However, I can take care of the little stuff that will make a tangible difference for my kids, such as offering someone a pair gloves on a cold day, giving a granola bar to a hungry teen, or a loaning a dollar for bus fare home at the end of the day because a student forgot or lost their school issued pass.
I also have a tendency to pick and choose my battles here. There is a grey area between students and staff that I like to function within. Appearing neutral and finding balance is important for the kind of work I do.
A lot of what I know is classified as confidential. I document everything but do not report the majority of what I learn because I don’t want my supervisors to misinterpret and use my data out of context. The kids respect that quality and feel safe around me. Since I’m not considered a ‘snitch,’ they will open up and talk to me, and treat me differently.
Despite appearances, I still have a job to perform (I’m obligated by law to report maltreatment or abuse) and I’m not a pushover. My attitude has been heavily tempered after being lied to and taken advantage of so many times, by students AND my employer.
In a lot of instances I’m admittedly prejudice and consider a kid guilty before proven innocent. I have to do it to protect myself and make sure the detained child is held accountable for their actions even when they may be justified.
Many negative behaviors, such as lying and stealing, are tolerated within their world (poverty). Those individuals also need to understand that acting that way does not transpose outside that realm and can have serious consequences elsewhere.
The nature and volume of my caseload is always daunting. I feel overwhelmed most of the time.
There are numerous scholarly articles out there that equate attending and working at inner city schools with combat. I’ve been cut, poked and hit by angry students. I guess that might count as enduring conflict.
My documentation process works similar to creating a character for a story. Unfortunately for me and my file reviewers those characters are usually incomplete, and not well rounded.
My transcripts frequently come across as flat and stereotypical caricatures which make many readers uncomfortable. They want more particulars to help them connect or make the circumstances appear more appropriate. I don’t think those individuals understand that facts are facts, and that there are no more details to add. Fabricating more information to make a person’s situation seem more plausible, politically correct, or complete would be unethical, especially with the most troublesome of my cases.
Believe it or not, not everyone can have a fairy tale ending to their life story. My roster of students is skew
ed. However, kids who have happy, well-adjusted families and are doing well at school generally don’t spend a lot of time meeting with social workers.
West Side High Demographics
Total of 1156 students are enrolled at school
74% African American
16% Hispanic/Latino
5% Asian
3% White
2% Other
23% of students are officially categorized as having special needs
88% of students are eligible for free/reduced school breakfasts and lunches
On any given day between 23%-31% or the school’ students are absent
West Side High’s graduation rate is about 44%
Only 41% of freshmen who start at West Side complete their senior year there
Only 36% of West Side freshman graduate from High School in 4 years
During the 2013-14 school year 93% of incoming freshman to West Side scored at level 2 or below on the New York State 8th grade Common Core Math and ELA tests from last spring.
Kwinton Jones
Kwinton ‘Two-Tun’ Jones is one of my most thoroughly documented students.
During the last year or so I’ve spent many hours meeting with Kwinton, his guardians and teachers. I also try to reserve time throughout the week to observe him and make sure he’s where he’s supposed to be.
I know it