Time For a Change

The Council of Great City Schools recently released a report entitled A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools.  The report details the state of black males in the United States.   The findings are familiar:  black males are more likely to drop out of school than white males, more white males have bachelor degrees than black males and white dropouts earn more than black dropouts. 

Sadly, none of this information sparks optimism when it comes to the state of black males in this country.  The same bleak picture has been painted for years. The question on the table now is what will we do to narrow the widening achievement gap?  

In my mind there is a simple solution. Begin placing less emphasis on little league sports and more on programs that develop math, science and critical thinking skills.  Don’t get me wrong, I love sports and participated in them as a child myself, but we have allowed sports to consume us. We invest entirely too much time and money into sports and the return is minimal at best.  Most parents will tell you their children participate in sports with hopes of gaining a college scholarship.  In reality very few kids receive athletic scholarships. According to the NCAA website a total of 145,000 Division I and Division II partial and full scholarships were awarded last year. Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships.   So the odds of sports opening the door to a free college education are not good.  

Which begs the question why so much emphasis on little league sports? They obviously aren’t making a big difference when it comes to creating opportunities for our children.  The arguments I hear most often in   favor of funneling our kids to the playing fields are “it teaches them character”, “they need to learn how to compete”, or “sports keeps kids off the street”.  I for one am not willing to rely on something that is filled with overzealous, egotistical, win-at-all cost parents and coaches to build character in my child. Maybe I’m being naïve, but I thought that’s what our churches, synagogues and mosques were charged with helping us do.  As for sports keeping kids off the streets, that's one of the biggest lies perpetuated on society.  The average practice lasts a couple of hours and then guess where a lot of  kids end up after that……..in the streets. 

We need to push our kids into programs like the African American Male Academic Bowl.  The AAMAB is an annual academic competition for boys in grades 4-7. Through this competition young boys experience the exhilaration of academic achievement and teamwork.  Another great opportunity that promotes competition in the classroom and teaches critical thinking is the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair.  The DRSEF is a research project competition. It is open to 6-12th graders with the best projects from public and private schools. Its programs like these that deserve the majority of our focus and enthusiasm.  

I realize sports play a major role in the lives of a lot of people, but if we’re serious about wanting to transform our communities our priorities have to change.  It’s time for a paradigm shift.