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Effects of African American Family Structure Effects of African American Family Structure on School Attitudes and Performance In today's world, there is such a big emphasis on education and its importance. And there should be an emphasis. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same attitude about receiving a good education. This article attempts to discuss the attitudes of African American's towards education when a stable family structure is absent. Given, not all homes are the Cleaver family, but if a person really wants an education, they should try to concentrate on just that-their education. Parents have a huge responsibility in that if they have children in a single-parent home, the parents attitude must be encouraging for the child. If the parents have a bad attitude or let their children stay home from school, that is when the children start to think that they don't have to worry about school, and that's not right. The article says that socio-economic factors may play a part in single-family homes. For example, single-mothers often have lower incomes, forcing them to move into poorer neighborhoods with inferior schools. When the mother has nothing to provide for the children, these conditions are thought to stifle ambition, lower educational aspirations and set up barriers to doing well and remaining in school. Stress is also mentioned as another possible factor; suggesting that "the trauma of parental confl! ict and divorce can have lasting, adverse psychological consequences for children that reduce their ability to succeed." A study was done comparing family structure between whites and blacks to determine how important of a role family structure plays in education. Not to my surprise, most of the percentages were higher among whites, but not by very much in any category. More single mothers who were black were more involved in school planning than white mothers. More black mothers told their children what was educationally expected from them; more talked with their kids daily, and checked their schoolwork. There was a higher percentage for single black mothers for task-orientation; their children always had books, pencils, and homework complete. So family structure may have an effect on students education, but it is only a small percent. We know that parental involvement is important for children, but I don't think a child's attitude has anything to do with their race. There are plenty of poor white children who probably have the same attitude as some blacks. The article states that while some of the effects for these uncaring attitudes may be socio-economic, they would like to link it to the effectiveness of discipline in the home. Of course a two-parent home would be more stable for children, however, not all cases allow that. Therefore, we must stay active in our children's lives and keep a positive attitude. Let them know it's okay to be the best, and allow them to live their dreams. This essay is only for research purposes. If used, be sure to cite it properly! |
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