Hispanics’ Educational Attainment and Upward Mobility
- Categoría: Opiniones
- Publicado el Viernes, 03 Febrero 2012 22:12
- HispanosUnidos.us Editorial
- Visto: 474
The notion that if one works hard, one can achieve the American dream, which to some may mean a ticket to upward mobility, is elusive and seems more a myth than a reality, especially for Hispanics.
Hispanics are known for their strong work-ethic, many recent immigrants, work two jobs to make ends meet, under awful working conditions, yet their wages are dreadfully low and honestly they don’t seem to be moving up in the socio-economic ladder;
many remain poor and die poor, leaving their children with a clear message that working hard will not get you out of poverty. What we should be having is an honest conversation about the benefits of investing in the future---our children, without regard to color, race, ethnicity, disability and immigration status.
I specifically cite the immigration status of children because certain individuals enjoy politicizing the educational rights of this group to their advantage, targeting one of the most vulnerable groups, the poor immigrant child and promoting legislation and rhetoric against their right to an education.
The research demonstrates that it takes more than working hard to achieve upward social mobility and concomitantly a better quality of life, the number one predictor of upward social mobility is a parent’s educational achievement or lack thereof. In other words, the higher the educational level of the parents, the most likely their children can move up in the socio-economic strata. If this is a truism, the future for children whose parents dropped out of high school or have little education is dire. But it does not have to be. Armed with the knowledge that education is the key to a better life, parents, specifically Hispanics parents, should have a conversation with their children early on about the value of obtaining an education, making educating their children a priority and discouraging children from obtaining immediate monetary gains by obtaining a job to help the family financially. Sadly, this is one of the reasons many Hispanic teenagers drop out of high school. Hispanic parents should take heed that when they encourage their children to continue their education and push them to achieve higher academic levels, they are in essence contributing to a better quality of life on behalf of their potential grandchildren and their great grand-children; they are investing in the future.
The parents of today may or may not see the fruit of their hard work, and I am simply referring to their supporting and encouraging academic achievement. While Hispanic parents should encourage their children to set and strive for lofty goals, the mere fact that their children receive a high school diploma should be considered a great accomplishment and should be celebrated. In return, those high schools graduates will pass on the responsibility of promoting the value of education and naturally their own children will aim for higher educational goals. Putting it this way, it provides a new sense of responsibility on the part of the parents but also a sense of hope.
As parents of the future generation, it is not only our responsibility to provide for our children’s basic needs of food and shelter; we should hold ourselves morally responsible for the promotion of our children’s educational attainment. It should be expected as a Hispanic parent that we step up to the plate and do whatever it takes to promote the value of an education within the family. It should be our responsibility to ensure that future generations ask themselves, am I better off than my previous generation? The answer should be unequivocally an absolute.
If after reading this article Hispanic parents, and the Hispanic community, feel burdened, well we should. We all have a responsibility towards future generations. Some things parents can do today to promote the value of education are very simple. Parents and grandparents should incorporate the value of education in their child rearing, just as you teach religious, moral and cultural values, education should be up in the list. When it comes to educating young children, Hispanic parents must take a hard stand, keeping in mind that parents are investing in the future.
Many Hispanic immigrants are short-sighted because their only goal is to obtain a job and earn a living to support their family. While this is admirable, as a community we should be instilling, not only our strong work-ethic, but also the value of obtaining a higher education if we want a better quality of life for our grand-children and their respective children.
What is happening to Hispanic children is an epidemic of magnifying proportions. We as a Hispanic community are responsible for improving this situation. We should not tolerate the fact that 50% of Hispanic students are dropping out of school. What will be the future of the Hispanic community if we do not stop this epidemic? If this continues, our community will continue to be marginalized, discriminated, impoverished, poorly educated, criminalized and will continue to be subjected to police brutality and exploitation. Similarly, the Hispanic community will continue to lack any real political and economic power. As you can see, unless we act, the future from this point seems incredible pessimistic.
Because we all have a responsibility, I want you to join me and try to make a change to the future Hispanic generations. If we don’t take the lead, who will? .. Starting from today, what are you committed to do to make things better for our children and future generations. Would you at least have a conversation with your children about the value of education and what it means for the future? Would you have a conversation with extended family members and community members about this article? Would you go back and complete high school if you are a high school dropout? Would you post an article about the importance of educating Hispanic children? Would you in your position whatever that may be, advocate for the right to quality education for Hispanic children? If you are an educator, would you commit yourself regardless of parent’s cooperation to fervently educate these children without regard to family background or immigration status, or any biases you may have towards Hispanics? If you are one with spare time, would you become a tutor to some of these children? If you are a policy maker, would you ensure policies are created to promote Hispanic children’s education? If you are a social worker, would you write a grant or create a dropout prevention program, specifically targeted to Hispanic teenagers? If you are a politician, would you initiate, sponsor and support legislation that are geared to dropout prevention? If you are someone the cares, would you join HispanosUnidos.us and give us ideas on how we can make this a gigantic movement so that we can make a huge dent for future generations? If you are a dissident, would you outline your disagreement so that we can have a conversation about other ways to help the Hispanic children and our community? If you are a parent, would ensure that your kids attend school daily? We are in a state of emergency with regard to educating our children, undoubtedly we have failed miserably. What are you prepared to do?
