SOC 220 Week 7 Benchmark – Social Problems in Education and the Family

Benchmark – Social Problems in Education and the Family

GCU 220

Whether through standards set by the government for testing or through segregation, cultural differences and social status in income our education system has drastically changed over the last 50 years.  In the article Brown v. Board of Ed: 50 Years Later, the author mentions that 50 years ago we had segregation, and now we don’t while this is true I have found through my research that different forms of segregation are continuing today.  Personally, I think the issue of segregated schools shouldn’t matter as long as all the schools have equal opportunity. However, that would rarely be the case.

Social values started changing fifty years ago with segregation in schools, this was soon deemed illegal and had to change.  According to Wikipedia, “Legal segregation of schools was stopped in America by federal enforcement of a series of Supreme Court decisions in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.”  This, in my opinion, was the start of a correct move for the US government. However, it has not been followed up with significant social reforms to manage our growing country.    As the “face” of our country and along with our education system changes over time, there need to be further government alterations to social laws for the benefit of the masses.  Our Government in all its wisdom doesn’t adjust for the multicultural and ethnic issues our schools might face.  The author Angela Pascopella offers a solution to our ever-growing segregation needs that diversity is essential along with afterschool programs (American Psychological Assoc.).  While I think that is a good start, I think more American children need to be educated on the different cultures of other students so they can understand and have no bias.

Other social problems currently affecting schools are; school funding, time available to curriculum beyond math and English, constant changes to curriculum, drugs and alcohol, the economy, and a new one locally where schools are canceling recess. I mentioned a few that I am aware of and for our children’s benefit we need to address these issues, locally a few of our schools have been canceling recess to spend more time educating our children. However, I feel that this isn’t fair or helpful to most students as they will not be able to pay attention for such extended periods of study.  Beyond this teachers get no break time to eat lunch or take a few minutes to gather thoughts.  Our education system was never designed to be a factory line just pumping out students as fast as possible.  More importantly, school funding and the economy play a huge role in the social change of our class rooms and education system over the last fifty years.  During a bad economy such as the fresh oil, fall outs the cost of housing, fuel, and food may increase. However, the schools still need to feed and get students to class and parents need to do the same with many families working more hours than should be reasonable.  This puts undue stress on children and families.  Some research I found says that substance abuse according to the US CDC is major issues for parents and students. (Social problems)  I believe this is partially a result of weak economies and lower classes, however, there a few good ways we knew to fix this situation. 

From modern segregation issues to financial funding and the economy the face of American education has changed drastically over the last fifty years, we have made some great strides in providing a better education for everyone. However, we still lack in some key areas.  I believe equal funding to all schools or funding to schools based on need would be a critical area to start.  I also think offering incentives for quality teachers to move to less desirable schools might help.  We can’t all control the economy and funding, but we can make changes in how that funding is spent and where.  The curriculum is changing every day in some schools some purchase thousands of new books and supplies on a yearly basis, rather than working the flaws out of a current system or using more technology to assist. 

References

Pascopella, A. (2006). Brown v. Board of Ed: 50 Years Later. District Administration,

 (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation_in_the_United_States

Social Problems Affecting Students & Schools. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2016, from http://education.seattlepi.com/social-problems-affecting-students-schools-2169.html