It’s not a secret that there is a breakdown in our nation’s educational system at the primary (elementary) and secondary (high school) levels. This was discussed as early as the 1980s when news reporter Tom Brokaw/ NBC aired the program “A Nation At Risk”. There were the usual round of congressional hearings and promises to the minority community and then …nothing. Fast forward 2007 and the problems have only gotten worse. The problem wasn’t created by any one group and it won’t be resolved by any single group. Parents, politicians, community leaders and others have a fair share of concern.
Real Everyday Living Magazine believes that the primary issue is one of encouragement for young people. I’m JD Cartwright the blogger for the magazine and I can tell you personally that students will rise to the level of expectation. Our youth particularly minority youth are caught up in the middle of a very dangerous political game played by the news media and in many cases nationally recognized minority leadership. When was the last time you heard positive news about say the Black or Latino communities? I know. A couple of months ago MSNBC and the United States Department of Education did a story detailing that for the first time in American history Blacks in the South were attending college on par with their percentages of the population. This was a major achievement for a minority community, did it get the recognition it deserved? Of course not. Young people are caught up in a “if it bleeds it leads” news mentality. I can tell you as a minority (Black Male-Houston Texas) that although the situation is dire, we can recover from this with the effective leadership within our cities. Real Everyday Living has declared WAR ON HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATES!!!We are hoping to work with the City of Houston’s leadership to raise an army of volunteers to work with our youth and encourage them to not only stay in school but rather to go on to college. Our Magazine will be dedicated to profiling the stories of teens and young adults, featuring education, careers, music, art, dance and so much more.
