Cultural Issues Within Public Schools

Western society has many cultural markers which make up the society as a whole. Due to rapid expansion by both native residents and those who migrate here, the cultures temperature has changed and is still evolving. Change is not always easy and there is a constant attempt to gain balance.

Racial divide is a longstanding cultural norm within the public school system. It is a ugly mark on our culture both in and out the school system. Racial tensions begun with the segregation of “whites” and “black”; this also included other races grouped in the minority category. Eventually schools were integrated but not without disproportionate education levels among the races. White students were known to have both better quality books and educators, even within the same school, than “minority” students. Today the racial culture has simmered a bit, however, disparities are still present among both the races and economic classes. This creates a dynamic that goes beyond the school system and effects every other aspect of our society. The unequal education levels creates a huge divide within the job markets, thus directly impacting the economic pulse and furthering the class divide.

In addition to the impending economic divide, race plays a huge part in classroom relations among both students and teachers. Students have always had to find a way to relate to those of different races, which has not been so easy throughout the years. Each racial group has certain stereotypes that they are subject to, and other races teeter the line of racial sensitivity and playing into the stereotype. Teachers also have a hard time adjusting to the different races groups they are given and often times do not recognizance that there is indeed a cultural difference in how information may be received. The “culture gap” that exists between students and teachers may in fact lend to the achievement gap among racial groups. Teachers aren't really taught how to relate and interact with different racial groups. This can unintentionally reenforce unwanted stereotypes on both sides.

Among the ever present diversity rooted in race relations, there is now a larger presence of cultural shift within the schools. Violence. This is an issue that has begun to plague the societies children at even the youngest levels, over that last twenty plus years. This is far more than ever reported. Inner city schools across the country have long had a reputation for violence, although these occurrence haven't been wide spread at all. Even going as far as installing medal detectors and law enforcement personnel in select schools. With the coincidence being that this was mostly enforced within inner city schools with a predominately minority student base. This is yet another example of the ongoing racial divide within the public school culture. During the 1990's violence in schools began to be more widespread volatile and expanded to suburban schools. As noted in Deadly Lessons:Understanding Lethal School ,there were 35 reported occurrences of school shooting from 1992-2001. One of the most memorable incidents will forever be remembered as “Columbine”, in Littleton, Colorado, were 53 people were killed and 144 injured, by none other then a pair of students. This situation sparked public outrage and massive panic among parents. Ripping the security blanket off those living in suburbia. Gone were the days were children went to school and felt safe. This is really the starting point of the shift into a new public school system. Medal detectors bean being installed in some suburban schools also. These incidents happened even at colleges and most recently at a elementary school in Connecticut, where 20 first and second graders along with 6 staff members were killed by a gunman. Once again the new culture of public school was reiterated.

Although we as a society have come very far our culture however, has forever been altered within our public schools. There are still many things that compromise our cultural make up, these are merely two aspects of it. In order to make any changes, it must begin with a hard look at to ugly truths that currently exist.

Works Cited:
National Research Council. Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003.

http://www.nea.org/home/43098.htm – “2011 closing the gap”