You Don't Have to Go Home, But You Can't Stay Here by Phillip Heppe

           “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” A commonly associated phrase with last call at bars, this phrase is usually utilized by a witty bartender and given as a final quip to patrons as they leave the establishment for the night. The implication of the phrase is that the bar is not forcing the patrons to go home, but that services will no longer be rendered by this establishment till the following evening. This humorous little phrase is unfortunately an appropriate model for many after school programs in poor Chicago schools. While some programs such as athletics are prominent, other scholastic programs are either under-represented or completely absent in the lives of the students who attend these institutions.

 Many societal, political and educational problems meld into this problem and no one simple answer exists to combat the inequality in education, but I would like to have our focus rather on the problem itself and the effects it has on students. I firmly believe that a major problem such as this can only be solved if we understand the problem and the effect it has. To do this, we will compare two public high schools in the Chicago land area (Gage Park Academy and Oak Park River Forest High School) extra-curricular programs, delve further into the nature of how these schools are so different, and analyze the effects the lack of such activities can have on an adolescent.

Let’s begin our dive into analysis by listing the amount of school -sponsored extra-curricular programs available to students at Gage Park Academy. When one enters the school website, the list for athletic after-school activities include: boys and girls swimming, soccer, softball, basketball, volleyball, bowling, cross country, track, football, wrestling, bowling, cross country and cheerleading. Non-athletic activities include: Beta Club, buildOn, Gamma Pi, Guitar Club, JROTC, Mentor Moms Group, Model U.N., National Honor Society (NHS), Pre-Law / Youth Summit, Recycle Team, Student Council, Unity Group, VOYCE, Youth Summit. A close look into these programs reveals no art, theatre, music, poetry, literature, or any program involving math and the sciences. Further delving shows that many non-athletic programs are not a regularly meeting club, but are rather once a year summits or opportunities. The conclusion comes that students who attend Gage Park are offered little in terms of further academic or creative re-enforcement.

Compare this to Oak Park River Forest High School. This western suburban school provides numerous athletic, academic, creative, artistic, and social clubs and activities for its students. Its website marks down clubs ranging from video game club to Japanese club to student council each group meeting almost weekly and regularly. The disparity between the two schools is striking. Almost every student who goes to OPRF can find an activity to pursue whereas Gage Park students are provided with limited choices as well as limited resources.

Why does this happen? Free public education is available to all Americans, but why is it that some neighborhood schools are in abject poverty while others flourish? A simple answer for our discussion today lies with the way public schools are funded. The use of property taxes provides all members of the community with a mutual stake in the school, but wealthier neighborhoods are provided with more funding due to their ability to generate more income revenue. Poorer schools are subjected to making ends meet with the resources available and in many cases this is not enough to provide an equal educational opportunity to students.

Professors Greg J. Duncan and Richard J. Murnane’s 2011 article in the Chicago Tribune “Economic inequality: The real cause of the urban school problem” shows the reader that this system of funding made sense when the American economy relied heavily on domestic manufacturing. Manufacturing jobs in cities like Chicago meant money was available to more Americans regardless of race or ethnicity. Neighborhoods while not equal shared in the boom of economy. Our countries shift from manufacturing to service based industries has had a far-reaching impact. Jobs have left overseas to cheaper markets and many manufacturing neighborhoods are now in decay. Adolescents born into this are subject to a scene of rust, dilapidation and defeat in both their homes, their streets, and particularly in their schools.

What does this income inequality and lack of extra-curricular do to the developing adolescent mind? Resentment is certainly present. Resentment against those adolescents in the suburbs who are provided with more opportunities and resentment against a system which determines that where you are born becomes the factor in your education development makes many adolescents “stuck” in these situations angry. Despair at the situation they find themselves in is another possibility. The likely option of many is to turn away from the educational system which fails to support the adolescent growth and instead find prosperity in other forms be it legal or not.

The common reason given for after school programs is that adolescents will be given a place to go rather than be roaming out on the streets. While this is one benefit, extra-curricular activities are not simply a baby-sitting program. Athletics train an adolescents body to perform under pressure, to stick to discipline, and to make themselves part of a team. Arts programs provide adolescents with the opportunity to express emotion and tap into their creativeness. Academic programs provide a secondary setting to hone the knowledge learned in the classroom in a far more relaxed and engaging atmosphere. Social clubs and activities mingle the student body together and provide new opportunities for interactions and friendships. These activities service ever changing adolescent’s body, mind, and spirit. Seeing schools as a glorified eight hour day care center, gives the adolescent no incentive to care about education. Seeing school as a center for growth in all aspects of life places an adolescent’s education in context and makes it far more beneficial. This is the function of extra-curricular activities. They provide students with the opportunity to grow and to be part of something bigger.

The disparity between rich and poor schools sadly means that many adolescents are denied these extraordinary learning opportunities. In order for all students to share in success, equal opportunity must be provided to all regardless of the geographic location of their birth. Our society stands now at a crossroads. Will we take the necessary steps to reform our education so that all may benefit or will we continue to deny opportunity to all? Seeing schools in the same terms as a bar denies education the ability to fulfill its true purpose. It is not a commodity to be purchased by a customer in a certain building and during certain hours. It is the process of learning the skills to succeed whether this be writing essay, scoring a touchdown, or performing a monologue from Hamlet. Our future as a society can be brighter only when we allow our young people the opportunity to prove themselves.

References

Duncan Greg J. and Richard J. Murnane. (2011, October 6). Economic inequality: The real cause of the urban school problem. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-06/opinion/ct-perspec-1006-urban-20111006_1_poor-children-graduation-rate-gap.

Gage Park Academy. Clubs and Activities. Retrieved from: http://www.gageparkhs.org/apps/departments/clubs.jsp.

Oak Park River Forest High School. Clubs and Activities. Retrieved from: http://www.oprfhs.org/activities/Clubs-Activities.cfm.