troubles v. issues: schools

Social Problems. Why did I take this class? The other day when Gillian asked that question the first answer that came to my mind was because it interested me. But when thinking of that answer critically what comes to mind is, well what interests me? In fact, after taking SOCI 387: Race, Gender & Schools last semester with Professor Gregson and realizing how depressing that was I can only imagine how this class will be examining even more social problems. What fascinates me about sociology courses is how unaware we are, myself included. During Gregson's course I found out how absolutely backward our schools and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) are and how much I didn't even know. Things that are commonly thought to be abolished and part of the past are still present and thriving in our present day society. And I didn't know; I naively thought segregation was illegal and therefore didn't exist, and since I wasn't exposed to systems that perpetuated resegregation in my Spokane school district my thoughts were affirmed. I didn't know that it just means that officials, administrators, teachers and parents even are finding ways to segregate beyond separate schools. That's why this course interested me, because I believe we must be aware in order to begin to resolve issues in our world. And if for some reason you miss something or your environment doesn't expose you to something then why miss an opportunity to be a consumer of such knowledge? So I guess that's why I am here and why I love taking sociology courses beyond my minor requirement. They make me think in totally different ways and views, and help me be more aware so that I can be more informed and proactive even if it is just being able to make another more aware.

Reading Mills and thinking of the issues that plague our schools such as drop out rates, poor resources, resegregation, teaching to the test, etc. makes me think of how the privileged can label such issues as troubles in order to deny responsibility and thus contribute to solutions. Defining failing schools and the structure as a trouble places the blame on the school, and cause for a solution on the school. When many U.S. schools fail and it begins to affect students nationwide in their learning environment and our achievement levels compared to other nations it then becomes an issue. If a school has poor resources, old books and no extracurricular opportunities than no parent wants to send their child there. We watched a video in which a family in NYC was moving to a suburb in order to give their children a better chance at educational achievements since the state of New York was not doing anything to improve poor conditions at its schools in NYC. The father said that he felt kind of bad for just leaving since he knew there are families that don't have that option, but he wouldn't stay and fight the system for better schools at the expense of his daughter's education. In this case he knows that it is an issue, but he treated it as a trouble because he created a solution as an individual. However most low achieving schools with poor resources cannot create a solution because the entire system and No Child Left Behind Act need to be revised, which makes it an issue. But when it is their own children or a school that is high achieving in a wealthy area the problem is labeled as the school's own because they are low-achieving, even though it is hard to catch up to high achieving schools with the best resources when you don't have books and materials or keep firing teachers as a result of standardized test results. It's a trickle down effect, but by blaming the schools the privileged can maintain the status and population of its school and stay away from any conversation of change. Thinking of privilege in regard to troubles and issues, I now see how privilege can shape how we define a social problem, as it dictates how that social problem will essentially affect us or society. Depending on which way we construct it, it can hold an entirely different action or inaction in our world, and can be the difference between consideration and disregard. If you have time or are interested in education or our nation's schools, NCLB and the corrupt structure I recommend watching 'Beyond Brown' and/or reading Jonathan Kozol's 'The Shame of The Nation.'