Education: The New Sexy

What if Education was the new sexy? What if the smartest women in the world were on the cover of Maxim Magazine? Would this change the attitude of the youth and their willingness to accept the fact that an education is what separates the “haves” and the “have-nots”? But that is not the case. Most young men and women would rather worry about their appearance and how popular they are instead of their GPA.

America, we have a huge problem in education. We are falling behind and the statistics are mind-blowing. I understand that there is a huge gap between young black males that are graduating compared to their white counterparts. I wanted to discuss just that issue alone, but I think it is deeper than that. I think that we now live in a society that is dependent on the lack of an education to separate individuals. America’s educational structure is archaic and can not meet the demands of the global marketplace.

Education should be the new sexy. Education needs to be more important than your friend count on Facebook. With our advances in technology you would imagine a country that would have some of the smartest students in the world. You would image a country with the fastest internet in the world. But this is not the case.

The funny thing is, this is all part of the plan. A capitalistic society is not fair- it is dependent on the weak and the uneducated in order to keep the power in the hands that be. And it’s not easy to keep up.

Two weeks ago the wife and I purchased enough materials to educate a small village in Africa. And most of these materials will not be used by my children, but others in the class as well. I never knew of a child that went through 8 bottles of glue in a year, and that is per child- which means we bought 16 bottles! Not only am I paying taxes yearly for the school but I am supposed to be involved in fundraisers and a whole host of other activities. I know that some teachers work their tails off to educate their students, and some even spend their own money to purchase class materials.

There needs to be a change in the systems. Tax dollars need to be distributed evenly throughout the state. Every child should have access to an outstanding education no matter if they live in the ghetto or the suburbs. The standards should be the same, the teachers should have the same drive, and the curriculum should meet the needs of today’s world- not the 50’s.

Parents, both black and white, need to play a role in the education of their children. It is a shame when an athlete is praised in the community with greater exuberance than an honor roll student. There should be a parade for the smart kids; they should be introduced during half-time at the homecoming game. But instead they are often the brunt of jokes and made fun of in movies. The importance of an education is often overlooked by plastic upgrades and the newest digital device and often overshadowed by how fast a child can run, or how cute they look with pom-poms.

Let us as parents and grandparents make education the new sport, the new popularity contest. Let us make being smart the new sexy. There is nothing sexier than spending time with the wife, and a nightcap of intellectual conversation.