What About The Children We Failed

 What About The Children We Failed

       As someone who as has always taken a keen eye to learning and education I must say that we have made many strides within the last decade alone, but we cannot forget those who where victims of the ignorance of those we elected as leaders. There are many different programs and initiatives aimed at helping our children to learn; The No Child Left Behind Act, Common Core State Standards, and the Race to the Top, are mostly known and publicized and while they all have their different purposes they were still put into place for the betterment of our children which is our future. But what has been bothering me dearly is not no one is thinking about those children who fell through the cracks; the students 'pushed out' of schools by educators who weren't willing to do what was necessary ( which could vary from talking to calling in parents or involving social services for the betterment of the family). They instead opted for the easy way out which was to either watch our students self destruct or give them a little push by showing them how little you actually care about their educations, well beings, and futures. On the mainland the 'school to prison pipeline' has raised questions and concerns all over the nation and has sparked nation wide controversies detailing the insignificant/ petty infractions that are being used to incarcerate our youths and keep our race and our children on the stagnant level and path of destruction that they've witnessed and come to know so well.

       Students shouldn't be allowed to make a rash decision and have that hinder their lives forever. School fights, while not encouraged, aren't uncommon so why should a fight in school lead to an arrest for assault? Why aren't there any school policies that dictate what should happen when such an incident takes place, and why would the police become involved in a matter that should be settled by those who have students best interest at heart, instead of those whose sole goal within their careers are to make arrests and incarcerate? Why are so many of our youths spending their precious lives wasting away on corners, in gutters, and back ally ways drinking, smoking, abusing drugs, and everything else nonconstructive? Because its the place we have left them to be. Its because we as society didn't demand that a program be set in place to detour these youths, teach them the right way, and give them the tools necessary to teach another. What we did demand was lower crime rates instead of more public schools and books for those already in place. We didn't demand a new education commissioner when our high school drop out rates where the highest and students tested the lowest, we demanded retroactive pay and tax returns ( of which many people are still waiting for). And in a time when education should be on the forefront seeing as to how our economy is steadily declining and our best hopes are through tourism and rum to some how magically make our ever rising deficit go away our elected officials, to be specific the Government House and The Legislature are too busy 'picking up and dropping words' at each other via press releases and comments made through the media as if the public doesn't know who it has to blame; THE PUBLIC.

      The public is to blame because we are the ones who has given every single one of those elected officials, all whom hold decision making authority or influence, the power that they harness and put to no good use. If we, the people of this territory whose lives and the lives of our children are those at stake, don't begin to let our voices be heard then we will never be able to relish celebrating the accomplishment of one of our fellow virgin islanders without having to resent the actions of another who could have done better, but was never afforded the opportunity because of his address or an infraction in high school that made him a criminal. Where are the programs to get these children off the streets and to keep them out of jail? What about the children that we as a community have already failed? Do we leave them out on the streets to declare 'another one bites the dust' when we hear of another shooting where a young man was left lifeless or a young lady? Do we sit back and watch as they abuse substances then become menaces in society? Do we shun them and talk about how they once where? Because none of these things are creating solutions within a society that is seemingly embellishing in these problems.