Marita was a 12 year old girl living in the poor area of the Bronx. She was given an opportunity to leave her old school and attend the KIPP academy. They went to school from 7:25 am to 5 pm, 9 and a half hours a day.They covered every topic under the sun. They even went to school on weekends and summer breaks, but for a shorter time. The rest of her day usually consisted of about 3-5 hours of homework.
I don't see it as much of a bargain as a trade. She got to go to this great school to get the top education around, which she knew would help down the road, but she had to pretty much give up a large part of her childhood for this opprotunity. She even said, "all my friends now are at KIPP," which her old friends were pretty much her last connection to "the old her"
Basically she had to give up her childhood and grow up on the spot. When I hear a daily schedule of wake up at 5:45, go to school 7:25 to 5, go home and do homework until you pass out around midnight, I don't think of a twelve year old, I think, that was literally my schedule last year (okay, so really school ended at 2:15 but extracurricular stuff kept me until 5 pretty much every day). I think of 12 year olds and its recess and fun, with maybe a little spelling homework on the side.
So basically she gave up her childhood pretty much as an insurance policy on her future, so that she could have a good education and go on to bigger things in life.
Random thought, I wonder how long thier recess was....
I think the way you described it as more of a trade than a bargain is a lot more fitting. She traded her friends, free time, and basically her childhood, for a better education, a chance at getting into a more prestigious college, and just a brighter future in general.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that it was a lot like a trade. A lot of people these days would not give up their childhood in order to assure themselves a great career in the future. But that is the difference between our society and other countries' societies. In a country like China, working this hard, and for this long is normal, but in the United States, we find it bizarre.
ReplyDeleteLike Lindsey and Kelsi, I like how you said that it was more like a bargain than a trade. I also liked your last sentence about recess haha. What you said about her friends being the last connection to her "old self" was really clever. I also thought the same thing about when I think of twelve year olds. Nice post.
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