urban schools problem

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Home : 2002 : November : 2

urban schools problem
By Jenn

I teach in an urban area in NJ and it was a culture shock when I first arrived. After student teaching in suburbia, I could not believe what went on in this area. Through my years of teaching though, I have realized that
these kids are not the same as suburban kids. I have several kids in my 4th grade class this year that were either born drug addicted or their parent is currently using. I was talking to one of the girls in my class one morning because she seemed a little upset and she told me she moved back in with her grandma because her mother was "usin' the crack again" Another girl in my class

is constantly brought to school in a police car because of domestic violence at home between her mother and her boyfriend. It's not that kids are bad, it's that they are exposed to things that at 27 years old, I had never even heard of until I started teaching. Kids (girls and boys) can recite for me all the gangs in the area and some even know their hand signs. They know about things that kids shouldn't know about.