Amazing Grace By Jonathan Kozol FNED346 Assignment Talking Point 1

Amazing Grace By Jonathan Kozol

Reflection:

When reading Jonathan Kozol's article, Amazing Grace, I began to realize how much we all, including myself, take our lives for granted. Growing up as a child I attended Catholic school all my life so I was very sheltered from the problems of the "outside world." In my mind I believed that all children had parents, went to school every day and ate dinner every night. I was not aware of people, especially children, who were homeless and did not have the things that I had. When reading about the emotional and mental problems that children develop while living in The South Bronx, it reminded me of the class discussion we had about teaching in schools that have diverse students. What we often do not take into consideration when dealing with a conflict whether it be a friend, co-worker, teacher, or student, is that the problems and situations that they live and deal with outside of the environment you encounter them in. When meeting someone new we do not know the struggles and hardships they encounter each and every day that effect their attitude, performance, character and view points.

For teachers, this is something that one must take into consideration. Teachers deal with 25-30 children each day who all come from different backgrounds, social classes, atmospheres and other aspects that differentiate one from the other. These aspects greatly impact a child more than one realizes. Reading about the anxiety, depression and breathing problems the children from The Bronx developed made me realize that we as teachers need to be aware and educated in how to properly teach those who suffer from such hardships. I am a big fan of The No Child Left Behind Program because I believe each child is entitled to a proper education regardless of their financial hardships, disabilities or ethnic background. I believe as teachers, we should never give up on a child and do everything in our power to help them move forward within their learning. It is unfortunate that children have to undergo the hardships discussed in Jonathan Kozol's article, however as teachers we can help educate these students and encourage them to learn. By getting a good education these children are able to get well paying jobs and improve their lives but this can not occure if we as teachers do not try our hardest to properly educate them and never give up on them.