As far as television shows go, in my humble opinion NO show has adequetely illustrated life in an urban public school. Usually, the struggles of the staff, the peer pressure the students face to sell drugs, the poverty and family dysfunction the kids have to endure while trying to come to school everyday are glossed over in an attempt to make audiences comfortable. Any and every school-based show I have ever tried to watch fell drastically short of my real-life experience. In fact, as a teacher in an inner-city school, they were nothing short of insulting.
And then there's Season 4 of the "The Wire."
As they would say in Baltimore, "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit...." this is right on target. As we watch it, Adam continuously turns to me and says, "Is that what happens?" and I reply with a nod, mouth agape. From Prez finding a unused computer in the school's basement to the student whose parents sell his school uniform for drugs, EVERY scenario they depict is 100% true from my measley eight years of teaching.
I am in awe and thankful for the 4th season of "The Wire." Finally, someone has the courage to examine the REAL issues involved in urban teaching: the small joys of getting to know the students, the crap they have to deal with at home that inevitably trickles into the classroom, the creative and desperate measures teachers will take to get students to learn, the ludicrousness of political posturing in the name of education reform, and the frightening power that the street has over many urban youth of today.
Any/every teacher in an inner-city school needs to watch this season of "The Wire."
Buy it and write it off on your taxes as educational research. Fo' real, yo.
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