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I still think the parents still have a major role. I'm not talking about when they are 17, I am talking about when they are like 4 or 5...it needs to be started then...the parents need to be better role models. They need to encourage education and reward good work.
Hence the peer aspect. Socialization occurs REALLY young. At around age 3/4. This is when kids understand the concept of in group and out group. On the playground you see the "popular" kids already and the "unpopular" kids at this age. I do agree that there is a need for good parenting, but also a need for the change in mentality which is more attributed to peers. Most people with siblings recognize the differences between siblings. Each sibling is influenced differently from their peers. The hood mentality is less to do with parents (although there is a role for that, not discounting that) and more to do with economics and peer socialization. Economics since there are less advantages (Although I grew up in middle/upper middle areas, I went to high school in the ghetto and made friends in the ghetto). So, its more lucrative to steal, enter into the sex trade (pimp or prostitute) than it is to go to school (time is money, and money is tight). Socialization since the more "successful" individuals in the ghetto do have rougher backgrounds (the successful pimps and gansters) and thus in order to be successful, there is the thought to emulate them.
Stricter law enforcement? Are you serious? The police already behave like drill sargents. How do you think Rodney King came about and the L.A. riots? Stricter la enforcement will just **** off these people and make crime worse.
I already stated that developing life skills, character building, and proper acculturation in the kids in these neighborhoods through the education system is important.However, people have to get the message that there are laws to be obeyed. I'm also of the opinion that the prison system should be rigged to turn a profit. It's already been established that throwing money around won't fix this problem so you are left with two options... let the ghetto be the ghetto or take the hammer to it.
Today i went through the ghetto. It made me so sad
i want to know what can be done to help them. Is there anything at all? Or do you think they should be left alone?
There is helping the people in the ghetto, and helping the physical deterioration of the ghetto.
The latter is relatively easy. Let the city government (or a metropolitan government) expand the tax base that serves an area. Most ghettos are in cities that are physically confined. In the instance of Gary or East Saint Louis, they consume nearly the entire city. This prevents these areas from having the resources necessary to correct physical blight and encourage business development. It is also beneficial when large banks are willing to take a bigger risk and give microloans to entrepreneurs who can fill and renovate storefronts. Development should promote a mix of uses and incomes.
Helping the people in the ghettoes is exponentially harder. There have to be programs that make transportation and education more accessible. Ghettoes are almost exclusively in more urban areas (not to imply that more urban areas tend to become ghettoes). Most job growth is in suburban areas, and there are a good number of people without cars. Education is not only expensive, but time consuming. Good programs help ensure that those hinderances do not prohibit new possibilities.
Today i went through the ghetto. It made me so sad
i want to know what can be done to help them. Is there anything at all? Or do you think they should be left alone?
Here's visions of my father hometown, Tchula, Mississippi recently:
In all the ghettos I have been in, it is full of people that would much rather live off the government and blame society for their problems then actually doing something to help them better themselves.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 05-30-2010 at 12:58 PM..
Reason: Edited out quoted text, as that post has been deleted.
In all the ghettos I have been in, it is full of people that would much rather live off the government and blame society for their problems then actually doing something to help them better themselves.
..and that mentality stems from the house they live in? Brilliant. Usually when you tear something down, something else has to be rebuilt in its place. (Unless you demolish the house while the people are still inside, in which case rebuilding would be unnecessary.)
Until you change the fundamental aspect of a neighborhood (its people) it will become a ghetto if you build the Taj Mahal. Name a major city, and I will give you an example of a place where blind demolition hasn't worked. That way you can go and see it with your own eyes. It has been tried everywhere. Don't be shy, play along.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 05-30-2010 at 12:58 PM..
Reason: Edited quoted text
..and that mentality stems from the house they live in? Brilliant. Usually when you tear something down, something else has to be rebuilt in its place. (Unless you demolish the house while the people are still inside, in which case rebuilding would be unnecessary.)
Until you change the fundamental aspect of a neighborhood (its people) it will become a ghetto if you build the Taj Mahal. Name a major city, and I will give you an example of a place where blind demolition hasn't worked. That way you can go and see it with your own eyes. It has been tried everywhere. Don't be shy, play along.
Houston
Dallas
Denver
New Orleans
New York City
Hartford
Boston
True, but kids in the ghettos go to the same school systems that alot of non-ghettos kids do. So whats their excuse there? Honestly, alot of it starts at home! Parents need to encourage their children to GET AN EDUCATION instead of being another generation of welfare leeches!
In all the ghettos I have been in, it is full of people that would much rather live off the government and blame society for their problems then actually doing something to help them better themselves.
Yes, because people want to be so dependent on others. Oh, and people also like being poor. Actually, if given the choice, people would much rather work. Society created and perpetuated the ghetto. Deprivation of resources caused the ghetto. Look at the world's first "ghettos" in Germany. It was a place for Jews to live in squalor. That same model was applied to Blacks and other minorities. Deprive the undesirables. Now we live in a time with less racism. The economic scars of the previous generation have not healed. Schools are not sufficent to get out of the ghetto. I went to a ghetto high school (with a good IB program). I saw what can happen when people challenge, care, and give money to inner city schools. People that would not have gone to college, went to college. Though I have never lived in the ghetto (lived in an upper middle class area), I have had the experience of seeing the ghetto. The few kids that were in my situation (living in a nice part of town, but going to a ghetto high school for the academics) now know that the ghetto can be saved slowly, but surely.
We need more mental health services in the ghetto, better schools, more free clinics, a sense of community not based on gangs, a sense of integration with the rest of society, a sense of pride, more economic opps, more economic diversity (not blocks of rich, but a mixture of economic situations), police that build community rapport (not para-military), more vocational training, more AP/IB, more after school tutoring, more after school sports, more after school arts, micro-loans for neighborhood businesses, housing inspectors, more drug rehab centers, more job placement centers, more homeless shelters, more community colleges, more financial aid to poor students. Many of these things we take forgranted. These things are not there in the ghetto. Plus, welfare doesn't pay that much.
Also, one more thing. Ghetto kids typically DO NOT go the same school as upper middle class kids? Where did you hear that?
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 05-30-2010 at 12:59 PM..
Reason: Edited quoted text
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It's not just the urban ghettos either......
