Post #3: The Evolution of "Bad and Cool" in Impoverished Schools

Hi Readers!

As my next blog post was quickly approaching, I felt today would be a great time to discuss my free choice topic, which is focused around a thought that I’ve pondered about even before I started reading Pushout. Today I wish to expand upon the reasons why, even in 2019, there is a mentality for many students to act “bad and cool” and to get in trouble than to be perceived as a smart “dork”. This mentality is present to some degree in most every school system around the country, but I am not surprised that according to Morris’ research expressed throughout her book, that this mindset would be more common in impoverished areas. While any race can fall victim to the expectations of the environment around them, Morris’ data suggests that it is often black students who are pressured to fit this mold of “bad and cool” more than their white counterparts. This being because sadly, the black population are the ones who as a whole occupy the more destitute areas of cities. “Bad and cool” doesn't just come from having a reputation, it doesnt emerge because you somehow summonded it,“bad and cool” is a dangerous standard that most black students from more difficult type backgrounds will envietably face during their lifetime.

One of the main reasons this mentality still exists in impoverished schools, is because it is believed that it is inherent with culture. Morris herself even states, “that we must look to American slavery as the source of every imperfection that mars the colored American.” (115) Morris in this quote is elaborating on how our society has impaired the appearance of the black American. We have taught ourselves and themselves to act and behave a certain way, and many of these conformations we can trace back to earlier times. For decades ever since the enslavement of African Americans, toughness was associated with survival. In the 1800s if you were a slave and couldn't do the work that was expected of you, you would face intense physical consequences and mistreatment. This mindset in a school setting means that street smarts are more admirable than book smarts. Especially in lower class neighborhoods, where street survival is an actuality, where in Hopkinton this is what we would only experience by watching a movie.

Street smarts are not what many of us perceive them to be. They're not just striking up small drug deals or knowing where the good and bad parts of town are, street smarts for those unfortunate enough to have to use them, mean protecting the lives of their family, friends and themselves.

Now one might say, but they are in school, there is no need to face school with the same attitude you use in the streets. In reality, this is not much of a choice. School is just one part of your day, just like waking up, eating, showering, etc. For someone who depends on their street smarts for safety, it's very naive to think that they can simply switch this mindset and replace it with an academic one for a few hours. This is very similar to the effects PTSD has on the mind. Personally from my experiences in watching members of my family, even after years away from war and violence, I witness them first hand living day to day in fear and corruption of the mind as a result of their past experiences. The violence and resistance street smarts gives you, is the same unreasonable fear and traumatic stress PTSD gives you. When you change the way your brain views the world, this changes how you decide to move within it.

It also doesn't help that those around you in these environments expect this standard of you. Your peers in lower class neighborhoods are subjected to this environment as well, and expect you to live up to the conventional image that is expected from “someone like you.”  This expectation often manifests into students trying to get attention in negative ways, to achieve this “coolness.” There are multiple ways in which a student could achieve this image deemed acceptable by society, and none of which that are good for fostering educational growth.

What can we do to change this? How can we go into impoverished schools and reverse the effects that street smarts carry into the classroom. You may not be able to reverse the effects, but you can show these students new opportunities for success, a new way to move about the world. There are many organizations tackling this issue right now, the main goal being that if these poorer black children see school more as an escape from poverty and less of a dorky environment that limits their survival, they will want to improve. This is a very important cause that should not be ignored, and with the help of communities around the country, in 10 or 20 years, street smarts will no longer be a necessity for millions of lower income black highschool kids to live up to. They will be free of an ideal that does nothing but set them up to fail later in life.