My experiences in Mississippi so far...

So far I'm still having a blast in Mississippi. Last week I worked at the school and it was pretty cool to see the first-years experiencing their first few days as teachers. Although I could do without the 5:45 AM wake-up times, working at the school was fun. Principle Joe Sweeney is the man. Possibly the most chill person ever and he still gets things done. He's actually really funny too, so it was great getting to work with him. It was interesting for me to work in a public school since I've been in private schools all my life. The class structure of the school and the way that the students are treated is so different from what i experience growing up. For instance, when I was at the school one of the things that was stressed to the students and the new teachers was that discipline and authority were huge components of maintaining a working classroom. The kids were told to be quiet and walk in straight lines to and from their classroom. They were also escorted to and from class and lunch, and in-between class periods teachers monitored the halls. Maybe this is common in most public schools, but it was really surprising to me how little freedom the students had within school. When I was in middle school and high school we were pretty much allowed to do whatever we wanted outside of the classroom as long as we weren't making too much noise in the hallways, and teachers never escorted us anywhere or monitored the halls. I don't think that its necessarily bad that the students don't have much freedom in school, but I think its interesting that this is not the case (at least in my experience) in predominately white private schools. I wouldn't go as far as to say that the discipline I observed at schools perpetuates negative stereotypes of black youth; but I think the fact that rich white students are put in institutions where they are allowed to do pretty much whatever they want whereas poor black students are not is reflective of society's view of these two communities. In general, in life, rich white people can do whatever they want, they have opportunities that other groups do not. Black students on the other hand, especially poor blacks, are expected to grow up and work within a national system which works against them, without ever questioning the system or their place in it; they're expected to behave. Ken talked about obedience when he came to talk to us, and I saw exactly what he was talking about when i was at the school last week.


I don't really know if there's a solution to what I see as a flaw in the educational and social structure of the nation. It's one of those things that you see and you just say "Damn" and shake your head and move on to doing something else, because its a moment when you realize how big so many of the issues in this country really are, and how they effect people daily and shape the way that children grow up and what they think and feel about themselves and others. I guess its juts something else to keep in mind in case I ever want to save the world some day...