"A New Wave of Segregation?"

Driving to school this morning, I was listening to the radio. For any of you who have ever listened to the radio at 8:00 in the morning, the mainstream radio stations provide a plethora of "sleaze" radio, with contests to win concert tickets, news about what celebrities have recently checked into rehab, and other useless news stories. There was one story, however, that really caught my attention and got me thinking. The DJs on Hot 97 were discussing how McCaskey East High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania has recently implemented a new mentor program in which students are assigned mentors in an attempt to improve standardized test scores. There's a catch though...students are being segregated not only by skin color but also by gender. Black boys and black girls are in separate classrooms, not only from their white peers but also from each other. According to an article posted on LancasterOnline.com, the McCaskey East teacher who developed this program, Angela Tilghman, found research indicating that "grouping black students by gender with a strong role model can help boost their academic achievement and self-esteem." From what I have read about East McCaskey High, reading proficiency test scores are an issue, but not only for black students. While only 1/3 of black students scored proficient or advanced on last years PSSAs, 60% of white students scored proficient or above and only 40% of all students scored proficiently. Math scores were worse, showing that only 27% of black students were up to par. There was, however, no segregation of white students; the only other group affected by segregation were those in the English language learners program. Aside from "academic achievement," these homeroom programs, which last 6 minutes per day and 20 minutes twice a month, are supposed to make students interact better with their peers, break down common stereotypes of both their ethnicity and gender, and think about their plans for the future.

I can't help but have an overwhelming feeling that this school's program is doing more harm than it intended. While the research this teacher found regarding black students performing better together may have some validity (I would like to see an actual study before making any definite conclusions of my own) I strongly feel that segregating students, not just from a racial standpoint, is detrimental. Making any one group of students feel alienated from their peers can severely affect social skills and further strengthen stereotypes. In fact, after the program first started, many of the students expressed desires to return back to their original homerooms. While school administrators and the teachers involved in the program are attempting to improve the students' learning, I do not think they fully understand the effect this segregation will have on the students from a social aspect.

What do you think??

Pregnant Women are "worthless"?

As much as there is great progress in Women’s Rights, there’s always something or someone that would challenge those progress. Recently, as I have read in Jezebel, a Board of Education member said that hiring pregnant women are “worthless”. I don’t even know where to start and how to express my feelings about that statement. Rozell said, "If she has that child in April and takes off six weeks, she's worthless to us. She won't be able to keep up." How would you feel if that statement was said to your wife, sister, cousin or any loved one you have that is pregnant. Would you defend them? Well, in this case one person defended that statement and said that if she was offended, she must have a really thin skin because the guy was clearly joking. There’s always a thin line between jokes that come off as really insulting, at this point during the meeting, the woman that was pregnant was absolutely insulted. I am really disappointed by the fact that even in these times people still have naïve and stupid comments like that.

I don’t know how the school board operates but really now, what makes this man say that the woman is incapable of keeping up if she gives birth during April, its going to be summer for crying out loud and she will be able to get back on her feet by the time school starts again. I still cannot believe that people are able to say “jokes” like these. I thought we have made really great progress against sexism, and I feel that there will always be people who would say stupid comments about women.

Read more on Jezebel!

How young is too young?

I was reading a post on Feministing.com today that talked about two reports of some second graders were taking their clothes off, several engaging in oral sex. The teacher apparently didn't know this occurred in his class on two separate occasions. Here's a news story on the matter.

First of all, these kids are in SECOND GRADE...they're 7 or 8 years old. I don't know what their curriculum is, but when I was in 2nd grade, we had to actually learn and do work. We didn't have any play time (except for a short recess). So how were these kids able to do this in the classroom under the teacher's nose? What was he doing that he wasn't paying attention?

In my opinion, second graders or any elementary school-age kids are too young to be engaging in sexual acts. I've heard other perspectives where people think it is ok for kids to explore, but you have to ask yourself when that should begin. And what is prompting these kids to explore? Is it random curiosity, or did they see something on TV that was intriguing?

I think it goes back to the parents/guardians. They should be monitoring what their children watch, say, or do. There is so much more promiscuity on TV and in movies in today's society because our culture is progressing, which is partially the reason for kids "growing up" faster.

Remember the days when shows and movies that were considered inappropriate for children and teens were not aired until late at night? Not anymore. With HBO and Showtime now built into cable packages, TV series episodes and movies that are rated "R" or "MA" can be accessed through "On Demand" or can just be airing at any point during the day.

So, now that we know sexual activity is starting at such a young age, shouldn't we be able to educate kids on sex, and teach them how to be safe? Would you want your child, younger sibling or cousin to contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI) before they become a teenager? Think about it.

Lillian Wald was Kick-Ass

Yesterday, my nursing classes proved they were good for something...teaching me about awesome nurses in history.

Public health nursing was practically brought into existence because of the work of Lillian Wald.. hell, she invented the term "public health nursing". This woman literally jumped from roof-top to roof-top in New York to get to underprivileged families and provide them with the health care services they desperately needed but couldn't afford. This woman should have gotten a cape..a really long excellent cape.

She even worked with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) to start the first insurance payment plan for nursing services. Her stance was that if poorer people could get access to quality health care (or in this case, health care at all), they would be more productive in society and would be overall healthier for longer (crazy concept, i know...). And guess what happened? MetLife found that they actually SAVED money by insuring that these people received nursing care because it helped to prevent diseases, injuries, and mortality.

She also worked with the American Red Cross, fought for better tenement living conditions in the city, believed in women's suffrage, supported various efforts to improve race relations and solve racial injustices, and wrote two books: The House on Henry Street and Windows on Henry Street. So, like I said....KICK ASS.

Welcome Back, Ramapo!

Welcome back to a new semester at the Women's Center! From now until the end of the semester this blog will be updated regularly Monday-Friday by the Women's Center staff and volunteers so get ready for a semester of interesting content. If you want to be involved with writing the blog, or helping out around the Center in another way consider coming to our Volunteer Training!

This Sunday, January 30th from 7PM-9:30PM will by Volunteer Training. Volunteers are a very important part of the Women's Center, they are involved in almost every aspect of our daily functioning. Volunteers help to make and post posters for events, maintain our library, update this blog, run events, and more! Volunteer experience can often be used as experiential for classes, looks great on your resume, plus its just fun. Send an e-mail to women@ramapo.edu if you're interested in attending the training.

In addition, anyone who has a suggestion for a post or a fully written post that they'd like to see up here is free to e-mail jgrimald@ramapo.edu. In the e-mail be sure to specify how you'd like the post titled, and how you'd like to be credited.

We're all looking forward to a great semester!