I would like to bestow on everyone an absolutely happy Thursday. What a beautiful day. I love life, and I thank God for my family, reasonably good health and a kind spirit. I love my family, and I love you too. Moving forward.
Do you know what expectations are?
Expect-to look forward to; regard as likely to happen; anticipate the occurrence or the coming of: to look for with reason or justification.
Expectations-an expectant mental attitude;the act or the state of expecting.
We all have expectations of one another. We have expectations of our children, our spouse and/or significant other, our superiors, and our leaders. It is well established that we all have some level of expectations. The primary question for today is what are the expectations for our children?
Do you expect greatness from your children? Do you expect them to attend school, come home, complete their homework prior to participating in extracurriculars activities? Or do you expect them to attend school, and neglect their school work? Do you expect the teachers and school administrators to acquiesce and rear your children? Or do you accept responsibility for your children and expect your children to follow school rules because they are reared in your home?
These are some poignant questions. Let analyze them.
Children are primarily like sponges. They soak up whatever they learn and wherever the indoctrination is taught. Whether good or bad. There are, of course, some exceptions to this general rule. Some children have various disabilities, which may prevent them from learning in traditional settings. But in general, children will learn what they are taught. It is natural. The only question is what will children learn and who will teach them? The Bible speaks of a how a child should be reared:
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.(Proverbs 22:6 ESV)
Children must be trained.
Train-to develop or form the habits, thoughts, or behavior of (a child or other person) by discipline and instruction: to make proficient by instruction and practice.
Who are teaching the children? Who is the very first teacher of our children? Anyone want to take a stab at this one? Of course, it is the parents. We are our children's first and most important teacher. We should have the most influence on our children. We should have the greatest expectations for our children. More than anyone else in the world. Do we?
When I visit libraries, I usually notice children and what they are engaged in. I usually see the African American children on the computers either listening to music, playing u-tube videos, or games. Seldom, if at all, do I see these children reading books. On the other hand, most of the Caucasian and Hispanic children are reading or researching. Then I think to myself, no wonder most of the A.A. schools produce F grades. If the children spend the majority of their time listening to music and playing games. What else can you expect? There is that word again. Expect. What do most African Amercan parents expect from their children? Do most of these parents help their children with homework? Do they listen to their children read? Do they expect their children to properly sit in their chairs? Do most of them really care? Do they capitulate? It is not about words, it is about action that is produced. I believed this was clearly established on my blog yesterday. In other words, someone can say that I love my children and will do anything for them. But what does the action of this person produce?
What I see is a generation of children basically rearing themselves, with very little, if any, love. These children are growing up learning to be very hard and mean spirited. But what else do we expect? If the children are in a primarily A.A. school, the expectations are very low. Why? It is as though because they are black, we automatically lower the bar and expect failure. Why do we expect these Black children to fail? I see a generation of Black children failing because the expectation has been set very low. These children are lost. Just visit libraries in inner cities. Observe the Black children using the computers to play games and watch videos. Most of these Black children can not speak in complete sentences, nor can most of them read on their grade level, if they can read at all.
My heart breaks. When some of these children hear my daughter speak, they say she sound "white". What? Do you mean to tell me that because my daughter can speak in complete sentences, and properly enuciate her words, she sounds white? So intelligence is associated with being Caucasian and unitelligence is associated with being Black. This is insane. My daughter and I practice on her reading skills daily. It takes alot of work. My daughter wants to play games on the computer but I expect her to complete her studies first then she can play later. Prioritize.
What are your expectations for your children? Teach them what you want them to learn. Do not capitulate and depend on the school system to educate them. Do not depend on the school to rear your children. Expect the best from your children and help them to soar like an eagle. Children do what is expected of them. We must raise the bar for our children. Let them know that we love and expect the best and we will NOT expect anything less. EXPECT GREATNESS.
Teacher-a person who teaches or instructs.
Have a wonderful day.
L. for Love
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It is definitely up to US, the parents to raise our kids, teacher them proper morals and study habits (like doing the homework before the extracurriculars). Teachers are there to teach new subject matter, not babysit and raise our kids. I work at a school, I see this problem all the time.
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