more on education disparitites
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/04/05/two-alabama-districts-pandemic-learning/
This article presents itself as written about how kids in poor school districts have fallen further behind rich kids since COVID, but for me the real scandal described in the article was how far behind kids in poor school districts were already (before COVID).
The article says kids from the wealthiest school districts were, pre-COVID, FIVE YEARS ahead of the kids from the poorest school districts in math skills. More specifically, the article compares kids from a district with 34% poverty to one with 6% poverty. It's so sad :-(
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I'm 2/3 of the way through the Frontline documentary about transgender kids -- so far not one of the kids they've interviewed is living in poverty. The documentary makes it look like gender identity is only a problem affecting affluent kids, though I'm certain poor kids have gender identity problems also. But from watching this documentary I'd conclude that nobody gives a damn about poor kids anyway, they're off screen.
The documentary feels like an advertisement, in some ways, for giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to the kids who need them. But it doesn't talk about whether insurance covers these drugs, it doesn't talk about how poor kids might access the medical care needed to recieve these drugs.
The classism inherent in this documentary isn't mentioned at all. At least not during the first hour, we'll see whether they mention it later, but I'm falling asleep.
I presume that the families stuck with inadequate schools know they can't afford better, know the raw deal they're getting. I feel that the families attending rich schools either have little idea what their selectivity is doing to poor kids, or they know but don't give a damn. You just try to get your own kids into the best school you can, that's how the system works.
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The transgender kids in this documentary cry a lot on screen, it does make me feel for what they're going through. I'm certainly supportive of however they want to perform gender. But I also feel the shock and uncertainty of their parents, and I see how it can take time for parents to figure out what is happening, to get over their anger or denial. After growing up in a world of men-are-men and women-are-women, it's tough for people to figure out genderqueer stuff.
But the kids in this documentary make it look easy -- they've all already made their decisions regarding gender identity and making the transition. This set of kids is not confused or experimenting. Perhaps a documentary cannot do otherwise yet, how would you catch on film those children who are still struggling internally to figure out their own gender issues, and who haven't told anybody anything yet.
I think documentaries about gays and lesbians have the same population constriction -- how would you openly portray people who are still in the closet? You can get out people to talk about what it had been like to be in the closet. But you're not going to get closeted people to give interviews for a Frontline documentary that will be shown on PBS and streamed on the Internet.
This article presents itself as written about how kids in poor school districts have fallen further behind rich kids since COVID, but for me the real scandal described in the article was how far behind kids in poor school districts were already (before COVID).
The article says kids from the wealthiest school districts were, pre-COVID, FIVE YEARS ahead of the kids from the poorest school districts in math skills. More specifically, the article compares kids from a district with 34% poverty to one with 6% poverty. It's so sad :-(
-----
I'm 2/3 of the way through the Frontline documentary about transgender kids -- so far not one of the kids they've interviewed is living in poverty. The documentary makes it look like gender identity is only a problem affecting affluent kids, though I'm certain poor kids have gender identity problems also. But from watching this documentary I'd conclude that nobody gives a damn about poor kids anyway, they're off screen.
The documentary feels like an advertisement, in some ways, for giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to the kids who need them. But it doesn't talk about whether insurance covers these drugs, it doesn't talk about how poor kids might access the medical care needed to recieve these drugs.
The classism inherent in this documentary isn't mentioned at all. At least not during the first hour, we'll see whether they mention it later, but I'm falling asleep.
I presume that the families stuck with inadequate schools know they can't afford better, know the raw deal they're getting. I feel that the families attending rich schools either have little idea what their selectivity is doing to poor kids, or they know but don't give a damn. You just try to get your own kids into the best school you can, that's how the system works.
-----
The transgender kids in this documentary cry a lot on screen, it does make me feel for what they're going through. I'm certainly supportive of however they want to perform gender. But I also feel the shock and uncertainty of their parents, and I see how it can take time for parents to figure out what is happening, to get over their anger or denial. After growing up in a world of men-are-men and women-are-women, it's tough for people to figure out genderqueer stuff.
But the kids in this documentary make it look easy -- they've all already made their decisions regarding gender identity and making the transition. This set of kids is not confused or experimenting. Perhaps a documentary cannot do otherwise yet, how would you catch on film those children who are still struggling internally to figure out their own gender issues, and who haven't told anybody anything yet.
I think documentaries about gays and lesbians have the same population constriction -- how would you openly portray people who are still in the closet? You can get out people to talk about what it had been like to be in the closet. But you're not going to get closeted people to give interviews for a Frontline documentary that will be shown on PBS and streamed on the Internet.