
I’ve worked for my local school district on and off for the past twenty years. To say I’ve seen a few disturbing things is an understatement.
A few years ago, I finally earned my degree in education, but I’ve been a paraprofessional, a substitute, and a long-term sub. I’ve worked with gifted kids, troubled kids, and kids who face learning disabilities or behavior disorders. But yesterday, I realized I haven’t seen it all. Not even close.
My kids attend a high school that probably has between 450 and 500 students. Every time I’ve worked on their campus, I see the principals roaming the halls, poking their heads in and out of classrooms. I see teachers working to keep the kids in the classroom and out of the hallways. And although tragedy can strike anyone, anywhere, at any time, I rest assured that my children are safe and protected all day long.
That’s definitely not the kind of school Kevin Jackson recently walked into. Education is one of our passions here at the Kevin Jackson Network. That’s why we created SEE (Seeking Educational Excellence), a foundation committed to helping at-risk youth make it to college. Kevin was an orphan; yet he rose up to be quite successful, writing three best-sellers, producing an award-winning documentary, and headlining other projects such as the Unapologetically American Comedy Tour. Once he “made it” in life, Jackson knew he wanted to inspire kids to blaze their own trails.
If this is starting to sound like a sales pitch, I assure you, it is not. My intention is to just give a little background that explains why a teacher would reach out to Kevin Jackson, of all people, and ask him to speak to her classes. This woman is some kind of saint, looking to inspire the young lives in front of her.
When Kevin told me about his experience at this high school in Phoenix, I literally could not pick my chin up off the floor. All I could think is “I hope this is the absolute worst school in America,” but unfortunately, I know it gets even worse.
Jaw-Dropping Observations
The first thing Jackson noticed were the dozens of kids loitering in the hallways during class times. It seems these students had no intentions of participating in their educations– at least not that day. He looked all around, but didn’t see any principals, administrators, or security officers herding students to their classrooms. Instead, they just wandered aimlessly down the hall during instruction times.
The students inside the classroom weren’t that different. They may have been physically present, but they were mentally checked out. Many of them seemed like zombies.
The gifted class only had one student who was willing to share their PSAT score, which was a dismal 1100. That’s not too terribly bad, but a good score is between 1210 and 1520. There were also 3 known Mexican nationals, aka “illegals” in one of the classes. Clearly run by the cartel, one of these students was actually a very engaging young man. He took an interest in the college prep program and even wanted to pass on the information to friends. But his classmates didn’t seem to share in his cartel-financed indulgent lifestyle.
Tragically, one 14-year-old pregnant student was known to be the victim of sex-traffickers. Her mother came over illegally, and seemed to be pimping her daughter at night to work off their travel expenses. That’s quite a high price to pay for freedom.
Another student was homeless, living alone in shelters. His mother was in jail, and since her son has no phone, she has no way to contact him to check on him. Thus, the teacher is accepting collect calls from the jail at her own expense. And it’s not just phone calls this educator provides.
In her classroom, she keeps boxes full of small shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, toothpaste, and other hygiene items. She has a closet with clothing for those in need. She knows she has more than just a few homeless students. This teacher is clearly a godsend, but not all educators have the same personal passion to make a real difference.
Turbulent Times
To say these students are living on a roller coaster is only half of it. There is violence everywhere you look. A fight the week before Jackson’s visit left approximately 100 students SUSPENDED! Further, cops chased an armed student across the campus who bolted out the door and over the fence. And in these days of leftism-overrun education systems, it takes a lot to suspend a student. If you’ve ever wondered why this generation thinks they have it so bad, well this might possibly be the answer! Unfortunately, this kind of climate isn’t limited to Phoenix, or to Arizona. These problems run rampant nationwide.
I recall reading that at some point, in Chicago public schools, one out of every eight girls was pregnant. The high schools were creating full-fledged daycare centers. In Louisiana, a school was put on lockdown because the PARENTS were bringing weapons!
Schools are plagued by class size, poverty, bullying, language barriers, technology (or the lack thereof), fading parental involvement, and misguided government interference such as No Child Left Behind, or it’s replacement, ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act). But the absolute biggest threat to our kids is LEFTISM.
We have schools pushing progressive agendas that do nothing but brainwash children.
There is no need for tampon machines in the men’s locker room. A gender unicorn shouldn’t be passed around to five years olds so they can choose their gender, sexual preference, and pronouns. We don’t need to teach sex education to kindergarteners. And schools should never ever help a student undergo gender reassignment surgery without a parent’s consent.
Further, Critical race theory and other leftist-ideals don’t hold water. Yet, they are crammed down our children’s necks. From where I sit in Small Town, Texas, these situations seem to be the exception, and not the norm. But, I’ll be honest, I don’t travel much. So I can only hope that these situations are exceptions in your neck of the woods as well. But I have seen the results of leftist parenting: spoiled, entitled brats who refuse to adhere to any semblance of moral standards. I’ve had a child put their mom on the phone so that I could be told to give her daughter a hall pass or else. I’ve been hit, bit, and spit on. These behaviors are unacceptable. Yet, as long as progressive leftists are in charge, we will continue down this path of destruction until eventually, education is nothing more than institutionalization. If a mind is a terrible thing to waste, what will come of wasting a generation of would-be thinkers? Mark my words, that’s exactly where we’re headed.