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School is a vital necessity for kids all around the world, it challenges them, gives them a place to learn, and offers them social interaction with kids their own age. Along with that, it can also be a place where students experience a feeling of love and care from their teachers, which in some cases, is a feeling that they don’t receive at home. Situations similar to this are exemplified in the essay “The Sanctuary of School,” which was written by Linda Barry with the intent to make the readers aware of child negligence. Barry describes this as an issue that doesn’t get enough attention, and she believes if it doesn’t garner more then neglected kids are going to get left behind. School is also a place where one can gain many valuable opportunities. …show more content…
In “The First Day” author Edward P. Jones showcases the struggle that a little girl faced on her first day of school. In this essay, Jones highlights the importance of education as the mother of the girl was uneducated and was determined for her daughter to gain the knowledge that she didn’t as a child. These two essays show many differences and similarities through the attitude of the parents, and reasoning of attending school. In particular, the two essays are similar by the fact that school offers them both opportunities to advance themselves, and they both include a social message; the essays are also significantly different by the parent styles that are exemplified in the text. In “The Sanctuary of School,” author and cartoonist Linda Barry recalls her dismal experiences growing up in an overcrowded, neglectful home. These experiences pushed her to sneak out of her home, which she explains by stating that “my anxiety was so fierce that I just got dressed, walked quietly across the kitchen, and let myself out of the back door” (69). This anxiety and frustration followed her until she got to her safe haven— her school. Barry informs the reader that “for the steadily increasing number of neglected children in this country, the only place where we could count on being noticed was at school” (70). Barry explains to the reader the special treatment that she received from the school’s staff, such as helping the janitor push the garbage can and carrying her teacher’s pocketbook which she described as being the “honor above all honors” (70). After completing her helpful deeds, Barry’s teacher Mrs. LeSane invited her to paint, which was her method of helping troubled children. Moving forward, Barry goes on to explain to the reader how vital after-school programs are to the lives of neglected children, and that without them those kids are left to fall through the cracks. To conclude, Barry tells the reader that “I wonder now when the country will face its children and say a pledge right back” (71). In the essay “The First Day,” novelist Edward P.
Jones creates a fictional tale in which he describes the events that occurred on a little girl’s first day of school. To begin his essay, Jones uses vivid detail by having the girl describe the color of her clothes, the amount of time her mother spent on her hair, and what she ate on that particular morning. The girl suspects that something isn’t right when she doesn’t see any of her friends on the way to school that morning. The girl and her mother then arrive at Seaton Elementary School, which is where the mother wants her child to attend because it’s right across the street from the church they attend. When they enter the building, they are greeted by a woman who the girl explains by saying that “she acts as if she had known me all my life, touching her hand under my chin” (110). When this woman finds out that where the mother and daughter live she gives them the unfortunate news that they’re at the wrong school. After receiving this news, the girl describes something that she learned about her mother, saying that “the higher up on the scale of respectability a person is— and teachers are rather high up in her eyes— the less she is liable to let them push her around” (110). After these events, they arrive at the girl’s new school and start to register her. The mother soon has to admit her flaws—not being able to read and write— to another parent to ensure everything is done in the appropriate manner for her daughter. She pays the other parent fifty cents for helping her fill out the forms, and then her daughter is sent class. The mother is obviously shaken about leaving her daughter, and Jones concludes the essay by having the little girl describe being able to hear her mother’s footsteps over everything else that
day. Although the two articles show clear difference with the parenting styles in the two text, a careful reading of their text shows that they were alike in a couple of ways. These two essays exemplify just how important school is to all children. In “The First Day,” it’s important not only to the girl, but to her mother also. Jones makes this evident in many ways, but none more apparent than when he says that “as the questions go on, she takes from her pocketbook document after document, as if she has been saving them up for just this moment” (111). This mother is shown as one who values an education, and wants her daughter to obtain all the knowledge that she can. In “The Sanctuary of School,” school offers the girl opportunities to get the compassion and attention she doesn’t receive at home. Barry makes it clear to the reader that school is the girl’s safe haven as it gives her the opportunity to make connections with others outside of her neglectful family. A second way these two articles are similar is highlighted by the fact that they both have strong social messages. In “The First Day,” Jones is relaying to the reader the importance of an education. He uses appeal to pathos by having the mom be illiterate, but passionate. This makes the reader realize how much an education means to those who can’t afford it or aren’t lucky enough to receive it. Jones’ work shows the mother as being a loving and devoted to her children, and as someone who does her best for her children, despite being uneducated. One can assume that since she’s without a husband and uneducated that they struggle from week to week; therefore, she wants her daughter to not experience the agony that she endures and gain as much as she can from her education. In “The Sanctuary of School,” Barry shows the reader the importance of programs for neglected children. Being that she grew up in a neglectful situation, she uses her personal experience to become an advocate for children all over the world. She lets the reader know that without these programs these kids will fall into a world of trouble, one that is hard for them to come out of. She develops a serious mood at the end of her piece to convince the reader that we all must come together and find a solution for this problem. However, the differences between the two articles ends when one examines the parenting styles displayed in the two texts. In “The Sanctuary of School,” Barry exemplifies a family who is more concerned with their less-than-stellar financial state than the well-being of their children. She exemplifies this by stating that “In a perfect world my absence at home would not have gone unnoticed. I would have had two parents in a panic to locate me, instead of two parents in a panic to locate an answer to the hard question of survival during a deep financial and emotional crisis” (70). The stress in her home combined with the lack of attention she receives from her parents pushes her to escape the dismal situation, and run away to a place where she will find the love she desires— school. Contrastingly, “The First Day” highlights a mother’s love. This mom wants her daughter to gain the best education possible and will do whatever it takes for her to obtain it. It’s evident that she loves her daughter, as she is willing to admit her own flaws—not being able to read or write— to another parent so that she can ensure that everything is done in a proper fashion and that her daughter will gain the opportunities that she didn’t as a child. In conclusion, I agree with the points that these two authors are relaying to their readers. Education is important to all children, and both authors successfully evoke this to their reader with appeals to logos and pathos. Along with that, Jones uses a strategic angle of vision by making the reader see everything from the girl’s point of view, while Barry uses anecdotes to make the reader feel the emotional struggle that she went through at such a young age. While there are some similarities and differences in these essays, the messages in both have very symbolic meanings, thus leading them both to make a heavy impact on the reader, making them want to make a difference in the lives of children and the condition of today’s education system.
We dread the thought of school because to us it is a chore, it’s a hassle, it’s something that messes with our sleep schedule, it is something that gets in the way of lounging around and binge watching Netflix. Pashtana doesn’t take her school and education for granted because she does not have the same liberties we do. While we enjoy driving into the city and shopping over the weekend, Pashtana unwillingly makes wedding arrangements with her cousin. While we complain about our mom nagging us to clean our room, Pashtana is getting beaten by her father because she wants to learn more about the world. While we have stocked fridges and pantries and
This decision makes it clear the most important thing for a school to do is to protect the students. It also states that the board of education, whose role is to oversee the schools, must make sure that the staff of the schools is protecting those children. This case highlights that long-term abuse can happen in schools if there are not clear policies or, if there are, that there is no one ensuring that those policies are
Parental involvement often acts as a buffer for poor education as it leads to higher elementary school achievement, lower high school dropout rates, and more time time spent on homework (Morris, class lecture, May 3, 2016). While it is true that MacDonald’s mother Helen allowed her children to boycott school for a period of time, she was quite involved in her children’s education and lives as a whole. From the time they were young, Helen MacDonald instilled the importance of education upon her many children. When Michael Patrick MacDonald was five years old, his mother began to take classes at Suffolk University where she was studying with the help of financial aid from the government (MacDonald, 41). Helen MacDonald did not have a babysitter but continued to attend class despite this challenge, bringing Michael along with her. In doing so, Helen MacDonald not only furthered her own education but also demonstrated to her young children that school is important. Furthermore, in the face of busing riots, Helen MacDonald paid to send her children to private school despite the crippling poverty she was facing. Because Helen MacDonald paid for education rather than several necessities for herself, it is clear that she not only cared deeply about her children, but that she cared deeply for their
As American’s we place a high level of importance on attending school and receiving a certain level of education. Across the world, the recommendations for attending school vastly differ based on the culture of the society. In America, we require our children to attend school until they are almost of legal age, push high school graduates to attend college and we constantly emphasize structured learning. Many children in today’s world lack many skills that would allow them to “teach” themselves outside of school leading to an increased interest in televisions, computers, and phones. Technology has taken away society’s attention away from independent learning such as reading, writing, and outside experiences. John Taylor Gatto’s emotional voice in his writing “Against School” has allowed me reveal my psychological voice regarding the educational system.
The story begins with Jodee’s description of how she was victimized in a 4th grade Catholic grammar school; coming to the defense of deaf children that were being treated cruelly. She supplied the school officials with names and was labeled a “tattletale.” No one would talk to her, recess was spent in anguish, and she would find garbage and spoiled food in her book bag. As she progressed into 5th grade some of the social atmosphere began to shift in subtle but profound ways. Being accepted into a clique was all that mattered. Instead of being admired for class participation, as in earlier years she was laughed at and labeled as “teacher’s pet.” She said the rules were simple “shun or be shunned—if you weren’t willing to go along with the crowd, you would become the reject.”
There are many kids in this country that face a very difficult challenge each and every day. These are kids that live in dysfunctional families that sadly do not have the resources to manage a child. Instead they are more busy with getting food on the table and not losing all of what little they have already. Sadly for these kids school is their only thing they can count on to always be there. Sanctuary of School by Lynda Barry is a wonderful personal experience of what these kids go through on a daily basis. In this personal narrative she writes about the hard times she and her brother went through when they were children. She wrote of an experience where she snuck out of the house in the early morning with a feeling of panic that was relinquished
In modern society, the rules for school are simple and straightforward. To do well in school means to do well later in all aspects of life and guaranteed success will come. Sadly however, this is not the case for Ken Harvey or Mike Rose. Author Mike Rose goes to Our Lady of Mercy, a small school located deep in Southern Los Angeles where he meets other troubled students. Being accidentally placed in the vocational track for the school, Rose scuttles the deep pond with other troubled youths. Dealt with incompetent, lazy and often uninvolved teachers, the mix of different students ‘s attention and imagination run wild. Rose then describes his classmates, most of them trying to gasp for air in the dead school environment. On a normal day in religion
Mrs. Dubose was sitting on her porch when Jem and Scout went by. She stopped them on their way for playing hooky. “It is noon and hot outside, so both of you go inside your house otherwise I will call you principle” # said, Mrs. Dubose. Jem and Scout told that they have been alone to town, but she never believed them. In a sense, Mrs. Dubose worried for the children and at the same time, she was angry at them. She came to know in the morning that Jem broke down Ms. Maudie’s
My life story began when I was born on June 18, 1990 in the United States. Lived in the U.S.A for about two years and my parents decided to go back to their county and continue living there due to their business. But after 10 years living in Egypt my parents again decided to come to the U.S. for a better future for my siblings and I. However I was blessed to be in a family of Christian. Throughout 10 years being in a Muslim country was something completely different than being in the United States. At the time neither me nor my parents were feeling weird about it because my parents brought me up in churches and placed us in Christian schools that were very stricked about our behaviors and living the Godly life. But in general just never had a problem living in Egypt, I loved everyone around me and didn’t have any problems at all being around different types of religions.
Thereby, institutions that were intended to nurture youth (schools) have been collapsed into the practice of surveillance and criminalization, often acting as the behest of police and probation officers. In the case of Spider, he was isolated from “regular” school and sent to EOCS, which was a school for students who had already been officially labeled as deviants and delinquents by the school district. There, many of the teachers had a common practice that whenever any student misbehaved, the teachers would threaten either to call the police, to send them to jail, or call their P.O. (sometimes, even for students that weren’t on probation). In the schools attempt to main social order, it used the full force of criminal justice institutions to regulate students’ behaviors with constant threats. Also, Rios accounts that Slick’s beating, a student at an EOC, was the result of the schools impeccable communication between a security officer, the administrators, and police officer Miles. At these types of teaching facilities, stigma, labeling, detention, harassment, and humiliation are just about the only consistent experience that adolescents could count on as they entered the school. If students attempted to resist criminalization by acting up, a police officer lurked nearby ready to pounce. In essence, school was simply an extension where young people were criminalized for their style and culture. As a matter of fact, many of the boys Rios describes, saw no distinction between the school and police officers who constantly lurked around them, like a “zookeeper watching over animals at all times.” Police officers played a crafty “cat and mouse game” in which adolescent boys remained in steady trepidation of being humiliated, brutalized, or detained. Hence, this sort of control is created by a
P encourages Arnold to be better in life. Mr. P is responsible for Junior’s fight against hopelessness and his wish of not giving up hope and realizing dreams. Mr. P, at first, appears to be your average teacher who hates their job, stuck in the middle, and can’t achieve a higher level job. Everyone thought that Mr. P looked really weird. He was only 4 feet tall, had no hair, but had dandruff, there would be food stains on his shirt, visible nose hair, and weighed maybe 50 pounds but only when he’s carrying his 15 pound briefcase. But the strangest thing about Mr. P is that sometimes he forgot to come to school. He tried to start a reservation Shakespeare Theatre Company, but failed miserably. Oftentimes, students would have to be sent down to the housing compound behind the school to wake Mr. P, who is always napping in front of his television. He sometimes teaches classes in his pajamas. He is fairly popular among the students, as not much is asked out of the students. On Junior’s first day back to school, he is given a Geometry book. But on the first page of the book, he sees the words “This book belongs to Agnes Adams.” Agnes Adams is his mother, which meant that the book was over 30 years old. Enraged by this thought, he threw his book at Mr. P. Consequently, Arnold is suspended for a week. Mr. P goes to talk to him. He talks to him about his sister, and how she used to write romance novels, but then suddenly stopped, and telling Junior things about
Schools are where we spend half of our lives at, our kids are spending time and energy in these places to become better people in the future. There is absolutely no reason why budget cuts should ever happen in a school. If the country is taking taxes from all of the citizens than they should be conscious to spend that money on things that matter like our children. Making budget cuts takes away programs for kids to excel in and makes a child harder to express himself. Arts are usually the first programs to be cut.
In the articles “The Sanctuary of School” and “Why College Shower Their Students with A’s”, Barry and Staples talk about their experience with economics affecting the education system. Staples, argues that in the past couple years, the university’s grading policy has been extremely lenient to the point that the schools are giving students free A’s even though they do not deserve it. Also, Barry talking about the impotence of funding classes that can help students find peace in a chaotic world. Therefore, Barry and Staples, show readers the importance of student’s education are starting to fade away.
Though the stories may seem “out of place” at first transitioning to the present and past, the style shows how the narrator has learned from his experiences. When the narrator mentions the founder of his school, Mr. Norton, a wealthy and intelligent man, the author praises him as if he were a god. He explains how Mr. Norton’s opening the school affected the entire Negro race in a positive way. Giving them opportunities to better themselves and show they are just as capable as any other.
The issue of school safety has become a controversial topic in the United States, due to tragic acts of violence occurring on a daily basis. American citizens should never have to cope with the negative impact of school violence, no matter how often they hear about the tragedies (Jones, "Parents" 1). In the past, schools were viewed as a safe place for children to get an education. Recently, the concern over violence in schools has taken a toll on many parents, school administrators, and legislatures (Eckland 1). Studies have shown that there are over 3 million acts of violence in American public schools each year. Not all occurrences are serious and deadly, but they occur on a daily basis throughout our country (Jones, “School” 6). This has caused many parents to worry about the well-being of their children while they are in class. This has also led to an increase in questions and concerns by parents and guardians. Many people have asked, “What are you doing about safety and security on my child’s campus” (Schimke 2). School violence is the cause of elevated worry and fear for their children, and school districts should enforce better security.