I have some questions I'd like to ask all of us in an open and strictly rhetorical kind of way:
1) Is it normal for our kids to sit and watch TV for 10 hours a day on a Saturday?
2) How normal is it for a child to sit around and do almost nothing all summer long, when it wouldn't take much effort to pick up a book for a couple of hours a day?
3) Why are many of our kids willing to work at McDonald's for 8 hours a day, but not willing to study for 3 hours a day to build a financially rewarding future?
4) Why does it seem that we are more likely to get excited over a boy who plays basketball than one who can do Calculus?
We need to have that conversation.
In the video below, I discuss some facts that may alarm you. The laziness of our kids in America is not just something that affects African American youth, it is something that plagues our nation. The economic consequences are expected to be very real, as the education level of a nation's young workforce defines that nation's productivity and economic growth.
Celeb Dads and Their Kids
Kobe Bryant, #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers, snaps a pic with f his daughters Natalia and Gianna.
Andrew D. Bernstein, Getty Images
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama get their daughters Sasha and Malia ready for their first day of school in their new city -- Washington, DC.
Callie Shell, Change.gov
Happy dad Usher at the park in Beverly Hills with his oldest son, Usher Raymond V in September of 2008. Usher also has a younger son, Nayvid, with Tameka Foster. The two just announced they were getting a divorce.
X-17
Lil Wayne cuddles up to his daughter, Reginae, on the red carpet at the BET Awards. The rapper recently became a daddy to a little boy and is rumored to have more on the way.
Arnold Turner, WireImage
Bobby Brown poses with his daughter with Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina. Brown is also dad to three older children from a previous relationship and a brand new baby boy with girlfriend Alicia Etheridge.
Sandra Rose/Getty Images
LL Cool J and his daughters attend UniverSoul on April 19, 2008 in New York. UniverSoul Circus saluted LL Cool J and Senator Malcolm Smith.
Johnny Nunez, WireImage
Rapper Jermaine Dupri and his daughter Shaniah arrive to the BET Hip Hop Awards 2007 at the Atlanta Civic Center.
Getty Images
Sean Combs with his twins D'Lila Star and Jessie James. In addition to the twins, the busy dad has two sons and a daughter.
Soul Brother, FilmMagic
Blair Underwood and family at EA's 'Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix' video game launch in LA.
Rebecca Sapp, WireImage
Actor Cuba Gooding, with his sons Cube Gooding, Jr. and Omar Gooding, poses at the premiere screenings of Showtime's 'Weeds' and 'Barbershop.'
Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Not only are our young people less qualified than they should be, they are also fewer in number. The baby boomers changed our society, but they certainly did not boom out a lot of babies. In a nation where there were once 16 young people to support every senior citizen, there are now only 3.3 for every 1. Also, all indicators show that American children go to school for fewer days in the year, for fewer hours in the day and get less homework than children in Asian countries and other OECD nations. An aging population, mixed with a reduction in per capita productivity is a recipe for economic disaster.
It's time for a revolution in education. We need to make our kids get serious. You hear that BET?
In the conversation below, I speak with my buddy, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill. Marc is a professor at Columbia University and one of the leading educational experts in the world. We talk about our kids, our economy and America's future. Most importantly, we discuss ways in which your children can be sucked out of the intellectual gluttony which may end up undermining our nation's progress. Click below to listen!
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About College." To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered directly to your email, please click here.
Comments: (26)
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By: dizzydijap on 7/11/2009 11:43AM
yeah he's right compared to kids in Japan, and all oover the world we rank extremly low in the area of education.
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By: kahuokaloni Crenshaw on 7/11/2009 11:50AM
Get rid of all televisions and those held hand games. Many parents are struggling to pay bills and keep a roof over thier childrens heads. Most parents are working by the time they get off work they are too tired to entertain their children. So, child sits in front of idiot box playing idiotic games. Inner city schools are struggling to keep qualified teachers futhermore, most of our schools are being dominated by children who speak little to no english or children who's families move around alot wheather they are here legal or not. Inner city schools are given a bad reputation maybe because of gang violence, drugs, or the area the school is located. However, I do believe education start at home from the crib up no matter what environment you live in. I am an educator for young children and I see to often parents who are uneducated,speak little or no english depending soley on the teacher to provided their child with the basic fundamentals to move on to the next level. Personally I find myself dicipining or teaching the child self control with little help from the parents. I also see a change in the ethnographical environment as a whole. Parents younger in age. Although, our economics play a role in affecting our families however parents need to take more responsibility when it comes to educating thier children and find ways in teaching thier child self dicipline when it comes to thier personal lives. The bottom line is education start at home no matter what is said. This is a watered down version of what I want to say because there is not enough time or space for me to say all of what I've experince and learned at this time.
thank you for reading
Live, Laugh, Love Praying always
Kahu
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By: d. young on 7/13/2009 2:53AM
After reading your commit I felt I had to reply. Instead of removing tv and other media items...try using those things to enhance their learning. I am a parent of two wonderful, school aged children. One is going to be a junior in high school,the other is on his way to college in the fall. When they were growing up I watched tv with my kids as well as took them on outings. We as parents are our kids first teachers, we are their first line of defence against a stereotyping society. I realized a long time ago, they I will not always listen to my GREAT advice. So as they grew and develop, I was on the PTA, help out in little league, etc. I determined who will be in my “ Village”. The adults in my kids lives were saying the same thing about character. Now my kids are happy about their futures, they know they are not rich in $$$ but in love and fight to get them what they want.
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By: Sammy on 7/11/2009 10:29PM
Finally, you are addressing an issue that is long overdue.
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By: Evelyn Robinson on 7/12/2009 2:28PM
As a retired educator, I feel like crying when I see a good many of our African American children on the streets of the large city where I live: Young girls with raspberry-pink crap woven through their hair, filthy, foot-long fingernails, and boobs and butts hanging out all over the place while they crack gum and cuss loudly over cell phones. The young men are not much better with their gangsta strolls and butt-baring pants, etc. The boob tube has done a great job of teaching our children materialism, and guilt-ridden parents, who have to work long hours to make ends meet, spend more time at the malls giving in to the materialistic demands of their offspring, but spend pathetically little time checking out the quality (or lack of same) of the schools their children attend. Often, the home with a wall-sized TV screen dominating the room has precious little in the way of bookshelves or any educational materials. Wake up, Black America! The civil rights leaders of the previous generation did not sacrifice their financial security and even their lives for succeeding generations to waste their lives in a mindless pursuit of meaningless pleasures. Trying to outdo one another in looking ridiculous and talking and acting dumb is a desecration of the heritage bequeathed to us by the ancestors!
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By: jazzygurl97 on 7/12/2009 7:51PM
I totally agree. My husband and I are trying to have a baby and I have my mind made up that I am gonna to raise my child to respect knowledge and let him or her know that knowledge is the key to success. I refuse to let my child be glued to the TV 24-7 and watch some of these programs and listen to music that degrades our community. I see our youth now, and it brings tears to my eyes. All I can think about is how hard we fought in the past, especially in the civil rights era to break down walls and boundaries so our children can have a better future. It is starting to look like that the future that was fought for is being overtaken by immorality, ignorance, materialism, and selfishness. I believe it is time to take a stand and stamp out whatever is hindering our youth's positive future. Even though I don't have kids yet, but BET gets no play in my house nor our black radio station (it plays Lil' Wayne, T-Pain, R-Kelly all day long and very little r & b). I refuse to support anything that contributes to the oppression of the black community's progess.
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By: louis on 7/12/2009 9:18PM
I taught my son to work at an early age, same as I
was taught, education came first for me, I taught
my son the same, I am proud to said my grandson is
being taught the same at 12 years old!! My son has
his own business, my grandson is working this summer with him!!!
We will need engineers, scientists, chemists,
doctors, lawyers, computer science majors!!!
Education comes first, then the entertainment!!!
Parents need to start early in a child's life
teaching them to learn, things they will need
before they start school!! It doesn't take much
time each day!!!
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By: justmythoughts on 7/12/2009 10:08PM
In response to "Why do we get excited over a boy who plays basketball rather than one who can do calculus", it is all about the image. To children these days, they feel as if the only way to reach success is through sports, music etc... It makes our youth look worthless. If a child doesn't have the hottest gear of the year or doesn't display a talent in music or sports, then somewhere along the line they become unattractive. Me personally, I would choose the guy who knows calculus. Men who use their time to become more educated and stand for something more powerfull than materialistics are more attractive in my eye.
HOW WILL WE TEACH OUR YOUTH TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL EDUCATED LEADERS without THE WANNABE PLAYER, HOOCHIE MAMMA IMAGE?
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By: gayle on 7/13/2009 6:48PM
Turn off the TV's, take the video games away, make them go outside and play. Back in the day we did our chores and outside playing until it was time for dinner. Only stayed in the house if we were sick. I rode my bike with my brothers, played softball, dodge ball, all the games and only came in the house to eat. Kids should be outside, not stuck in the house glued to the TV. I know times are different, but the kids are overweight and can hardly run to the corner and back.
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By: aamilah9 on 7/14/2009 8:48PM
i was raised the same way, gayle. i grew up poor, and we didn't have a lot of toys - we had a lot of cousins. we were each others' entertainment. but sadly, my own kids don't even know the names of the other kids on our block. firstly, because of the open drug transactions at all hours of the day & night, and secondly, because i don't want my 4 year old droppin it like it's hot because she saw the little girl next door do it to thunderous applause from her mama.
but my kids are physically active and in shape because i have exercise equipment in my house, and when i can on the weekends, i take them to the park. there's also PAL, Big Brothers, YMCA and other organizations.
i am a teacher and my schedule is full, but as parents, we have to make that time with our children no matter how tired we are. i may be exausted sometimes when my children need my attention, but if i don't give it to them, they will find other ways to occupy their time. and we all know what those other ways could be.
on the topic of the original thread, as a teacher i've told my parents that if they want to punish their children for bad grades, take away the xbox ans ps3, not their love and attention. as ridiculous as it sounds, parents nowadays seem to forget that they control the tv, not the kids. and i also challenge my parents to have as many, preferably more, books as they do video games in their house.
parents have to sacrfice that extra half hour of sleep and read to their kids every night. and if the tv is on, make sure it's pbs. when i was little, i was allowed to watch tv only if it was something educational. again, parents, you control what is watched in your own home when you are there.
i know that it's harder when you can't be home, but another thing i notice is parents busting their behinds working more than 1 job to give their kids what they want, not what they need. your kids don't need to eat out every night, no matter what domino's and papa john's and olive garden say (it makes them fat anyway). your kids don't need $200 jeans ans $300 phones and $150 sneakers. i wish i would feel guilty about busting my behind to give my kids food, clothing and shelter, while telling them no to the materialistic things. here's $20 for a book. $15 for a museum ticket. $50 for a gym membership. you want a $80 polo shirt? get a job. we can work together, and spend some quality time with each other.
i know this comment is wayyyy long, but my point is that kids' priorities won't change until parents' priorities change. praise your children for the right reasons. encourage them to do the right thing. do everything in your power to be the most important person in their lives. and above all, be a model yourself. go back to school. turn off the tv and work out. read homework assignments together. teach your kids how to cook. pray together instead of playing video games together. our children will value what we as parents value.
if we don't show our kids the right way ourselves, who else will?
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