American Voice

If rap music influences our youth in a negative way, then so do movies or any other sort of entertainment. When parents blame the way that their child acts on music that is being played, this is simply a crutch.

Sure, there are many rap songs that have lyrics that are vulgar or downright perverse. But it is not rap music that necessarily needs to change. It is the way the community takes care of their youth.

It takes individuals to show these youth that listen to rap music or watch gangster movies that this is for entertainment only. It also should fall on the shoulders of these rappers or entertainers to speak out to the youth of the inner cities.

When parents or others berate rap music, in hopes that it will stop a child from listening to it, they are really only making the matter worse. The more controversial something seems to anyone, adult or child, the more you want to know what it is.


Parents and community leaders should be acutely aware of one thing: These rappers have young kids undivided attention. It is not the rap music we need to be attacking. We need these rappers to speak out and influence these young inner city kids to get an education and to succeed in life. Who better to tell these kids of how to succeed than someone who already has their undivided attention?

Unfortunately, many of the rappers today are cowards. Not all, but many. They are afraid to pause for a moment to tell their listeners that rap music is strictly entertainment. They are afraid of losing their BS "street cred." 

Indeed, there are some that have spoken out to the youth and still do. For example, Jay-Z, Nas, Common and quite a few others have done great work by reaching out to the inner youth. These rappers have shown that they are skilled at making the youth listen to what they have to say, but infiltrating knowledge within their lyrics at the same time. There are very few artists that do this.

But there are a multitude of rappers that basically spit in the face of these
inner city communities by not attempting to give back. The attitude is, "Screw you, Im about money."
In short, these individuals that think this way are not grown men or women at all. They are hilarious cowards. It takes an adult - a man or a woman- to stand and be a leader.

Now per the recent poll that I posted, I am showing that 75% of you believe that education is one main reason that would most likely help our inner city youth to succeed. 25% believe that parenting is the key.


So, let's begin with parenting. It is true that any child needs the love and attention that only a parent can give. When there is no parenting or supervision, the results can be catastrophic. Teenage pregnancies, contracting STD's, hanging with the wrong crowd, drug dealing, drug using, robbing, fighting, gangs, murder...the list goes on.


There are any amount of situations or predicaments that a child may find themselves placed into, if someone is not there to tell them, "That's not a good idea," or "Why don't you try this instead?" Any type of advise that can be given a child would certainly help them avoid drastic and tragic situations.


However, what if a child does not have the proper parenting? What happens to that child then? What if that child's parent didn't have proper parenting as they were growing up and had their child as a young teenager? These are a lot of "what if's" but these are very real scenarios.


Let's paint this picture. A mother has a child as a teenager. She knows who the baby's father is, but he has never claimed the child. The mother was running in the streets before she got pregnant, while she was pregnant, so after she had her child nothing changed. The mother does what she can to feed her child including holding drugs for some of the drug dealers on her block, selling sex, and running illegal scams.


Now, this child has no real parenting, being that the mother is rarely home with the child. And when the mother is home, she doesn't give the child the proper attention that a child needs. So, the child turns to the streets. The child becomes pregnant at age 15 and, well you know the rest. The cycle repeats itself.


Let's take education, our last option. With the previous example that was used of the basically parentless household, how would we keep this child from going down the same path as her mother?


This is how. We educate the child. With the proper education, the child will be opened to new worlds beside the tumultuous world in which they live. To get this proper education, there have to be teachers put into place that will take the time and passion to teach every kid that comes through the doors of their classroom. There needs to be extra staff on hand to assist with the monitoring and mentoring of these schoolchildren. This will give the child an almost definitive chance of being successful in their life.

This has been Part II of the poll results. Part III will be posted shortly, which will include a more detailed explanation of how education can save our inner city youth.    

What is it that contributes to the plight of the inner city youth? Why are these children using and selling drugs, committing petty thefts, and committing violent crimes?


Many of these youth have so much anger inside and have no care for anyone at all, not even themselves. Many of these kids have witnessed violent crimes ranging from domestic abuse to persons being beaten down in the streets to the horrific act of murder.


Some have lost family members to violent genocidal crime or have lost their loved ones to police crime. These children are sometimes void of emotion. They feel as if their situation is hopeless.


The reasons listed above may be considered as excuses to some. So, let's get to the root of the problem.


What contributes to this plight that these young kids find themselves in? There are a couple of reasons that have been tossed around and the reasons all appear to be valid.


One reason usually given is parenting. Where on earth are these kid's parents? Why don't the parents discipline their children or show their children how to love? Why are these girls becoming parents at such a young age? Why do these girls continue to have so many children, even when it is obvious that they cannot afford even one more child?


These are all honest questions that should be asked. And when all of the question asking has been done, what is left? Obviously asking questions change nothing. The parent is still no where in the child's life. The young kids are still having children of their own.


The glaring fact remains that the inner city youth are still in danger. There is no way to force these parents to to take care of their children. Sure, there are laws on the books that protect the child. But no law in the world will give a child the attention and love that he or she needs and craves.


Indeed, parenting would definitely help these children through the absurd lifestyle that they face on a daily, almost minute to minute basis. But if the parent doesn't step up, (as in 90% of the situations of kids in the inner city), what happens to the child?


Do we just write the parentless child off as a statistic? An extremely high amount of these kids who have no real guidance in their lives end up as either perpetrators of violent crimes, incarcerated, on government assistance, or a combination of all three. This means that every single taxpayer is affected by this inner city plight.


Another reason given regarding the damage of our inner city youth is the failure of the inner city education system. There is an incremental percentage of predominantly minority filled schools that are actually succeeding. For that matter, there is a small percentage of these schools that successfully graduate most of their students. A minimal amount of these schools are able to keep their students from dropping out or even deter young ladies from becoming pregnant.


Children in these schools are fighting amongst each other and fighting with the school staff. School staff have been known to abuse some of these kids, both mentally, physically, and sexually.


Many of the teachers have given up on trying to reach these kids and teach the kids properly. The morale amongst teachers is as low as the money that they are being paid. There are many teachers that actually took the job of teaching because they wanted to make a difference in a child's life.


Amongst all of this negativity, the children are learning absolutely nothing. Education is huge for a child that has nothing positive to face. Even when a child's situation is dire at home, education gives them something to look forward to. The proper education is tremendously beneficial to a child.


So, the situation and plight of the inner city can be detrimental to a kid. However, the revamping of our education system in these inner cities will save taxpayers money and save a child's life in the process.

It is obvious that our inner city children need education in order to improve their current living conditions and escape the unfortunate likelihood of failure. This is a glaring fact. So why is there not much being done to reform the inner city education system?

Firing a few teachers because of poor student test scores may suffice temporarily, but this is definitely not the permanent solution. Many times, when these kids go home there is no parent waiting. Often times, these children have to be parents to their younger siblings. These kids are raising themselves.

Sure, we can easily point to the fact that it is the parent's responsibility to raise their own child. Indeed, this is very true. However, if a parent is not there for a child, what happens then?

Do we simply write that child off as another statistic?

This is where education reform comes in. These kids in our inner cities need to a mentor as well as an educator. The children need to be treated on an individual basis. They need someone to listen to them when they speak. Even if the kid does not speak, someone still needs to be there.

Teachers will have to be put in place that will take the time and effort to deal with "troubled" kids. Remember that each child that does not get the proper education, that is another child that is likely to remain living in poverty. That is another child who is probably going to be in and out of the prison system. An uneducated child does not benefit society, instead that child could be considered an endangerment to others around them as well as an endangerment to themselves. 

Facts don't lie. Our inner city education system needs drastic reformation. 

Have you ever committed murder? Maybe not knowingly..
Today, a sixteen year old girl was sentenced to 25 years in state custody for the shooting and murder of her fifteen year old classmate.
My heart goes out to the deceased child’s family. No child should have to die in this fashion. My heart also goes out to the sixteen year old child sentenced to prison.
This entire situation and so many other similar situations that happen in our inner cities could have been easily avoided. How? It could have been avoided by parenting, communication, and giving the youth the attention that they desperately need and crave. Instead, we as an apathetic society would rather concern ourselves with trivial issues rather than reaching out to our youth.
Without a doubt, one child saved from despair and a seemingly hopeless situation is one less child who may commit atrocities in our society. Whenever we give the excuse “that’s not my child” or decide to let someone else handle a situation that has definitely gone out of hand, then you may as well be pulling the trigger and killing the child yourself.
Our inner city youth cannot grow without the proper nurturing and care that is needed for ANY child. Each child that does not get this proper attention or mentorship stands a great chance of committing any number of crimes, from drug selling, to sexual assaults, rape, and of course murder.
This is why education is a necessity in the inner city areas. Indeed, a special attention has to be given to education and schooling in our urban areas. Most of the children on school campus are never more subject to adult supervision than during school hours, as unfortunate as this is. The reason is many kids do not have the parenting that they need at home. I am not at all attempting to advocate that parents take care of their children, because I cannot force parent to take care of their child. We as a community have been stating for decades that there has to be more parenting, but to no avail. The real change that these children need has to be in the schools. There has to be strong leadership and mentorship in these schools. These teachers that are halfheartedly teaching lessons, if at all, should be fired immediately. These slothful teachers are assisting in the murder of our kids. So, have you ever committed murder?

Let's Save Our Youth!