孩子需要结构.docx

孩子需要结构.docx

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孩子需要结构

鲍威尔：

孩子需要结构

WhatIwanttodothisafternoonissomethingalittledifferentthanwhat'sscheduled.Foreignpolicy,youcanfigurethatoutbywatching,Idon'tknow,RachelMaddoworsomebody,but—（Laughter）—

Iwanttotalkaboutyoungpeopleandstructure,youngpeopleandstructure.ThiswaslastWednesdayafternoonataschoolinBrooklyn,NewYork,atCristoReyHighSchool,runbytheJesuits.AndIwastalkingtothisgroupofstudents,andtakealookatthem.Theywerearoundmeinthreedirections.You'llnoticedthatalmostallofthemareminority.You'llnoticethatthebuildingisratheraustere.It'sanoldNewYorkschoolbuilding,nothingfancy.Theystillhaveoldblackboardsandwhatnot.Andthereareabout300kidsinthisschool,andtheschool'sbeengoingnowforfouryears,andthey'reabouttograduatetheirfirstclass.Twenty-twopeoplearegraduating,andall22aregoingtocollege.Theyallcomefromhomeswherethereis,forthemostpart,justonepersoninthehome,usuallythemotherorthegrandmother,andthat'sit,andtheycomeherefortheireducationandfortheirstructure.

NowIhadthispicturetaken,anditwasputuponmyFacebookpagelastweek,andsomebodywrotein,"Huh,whydoeshehavehimstandingatattentionlikethat?

"Andthentheysaid,"Buthelooksgood."（Laughter）

Hedoeslookgood,becausekidsneedstructure,andthetrickIplayinallofmyschoolappearancesisthatwhenIgetthroughwithmylittlehomilytothekids,Itheninvitethemtoaskquestions,andwhentheyraisetheirhands,Isay,"Comeup,"andImakethemcomeupandstandinfrontofme.Imakethemstandatattentionlikeasoldier.Putyourarmsstraightdownatyourside,lookup,openyoureyes,starestraightahead,andspeakoutyourquestionloudlysoeverybodycanhear.Noslouching,nopantshangingdown,noneofthatstuff.（Laughter）Andthisyoungman,hisnameis--hislastnameCruz--helovedit.That'salloverhisFacebookpageandit'sgoneviral.（Laughter）SopeoplethinkI'mbeingunkindtothiskid.No,we'rehavingalittlefun.Andthethingaboutit,I'vedonethisforyears,theyoungertheyare,themorefunitis.

WhenIgetsix-andseven-year-oldsinagroup,Ihavetofigureouthowtokeepthemquiet.Youknowthatthey'llalwaysstartyakking.AndsoIplayalittlegamewiththembeforeImakethemstandatattention.

Isay,"Nowlisten.Inthearmy,whenwewantyoutopayattention,wehaveacommand.It'scalled'atease.'Itmeanseverybodybequietandpayattention.Listenup.Doyouunderstand?

"

"Uh-huh,uh-huh,uh-huh.""Let'spractice.Everybodystartchatting."AndIletthemgoforabout10seconds,thenIgo,"Atease!

"

"Huh!

"（Laughter）

"Yes,General.Yes,General."

Tryitwithyourkids.Seeifitworks.（Laughter）Idon'tthinkso.

Butanyway,it'sagameIplay,anditcomesobviouslyfrommymilitaryexperience.Becauseforthemajorityofmyadultlife,Iworkedwithyoungkids,teenagerswithguns,Icallthem.Andwewouldbringthemintothearmy,andthefirstthingwewoulddoistoputtheminanenvironmentofstructure,puttheminranks,makethemallwearthesameclothes,cutalltheirhairoffsotheylookalike,makesurethattheyarestandinginranks.Weteachthemhowtogorightface,leftface,sotheycanobeyinstructionsandknowtheconsequencesofnotobeyinginstructions.Itgivesthemstructure.Andthenweintroducethemtosomebodywhotheycometohateimmediately,thedrillsergeant.Andtheyhatehim.Andthedrillsergeantstartsscreamingatthem,andtellingthemtodoallkindsofawfulthings.Butthenthemostamazingthinghappensovertime.Oncethatstructureisdeveloped,oncetheyunderstandthereasonforsomething,oncetheyunderstand,"Mamaain'there,son.I'myourworstnightmare.I'myourdaddyandyourmommy.Andthat'sjustthewayitis.Yougotthat,son?

Yeah,andthenwhenIaskyouaquestion,thereareonlythreepossibleanswers:

yes,sir;no,sir;andnoexcuse,sir.Don'tstarttellingmewhyyoudidn'tdosomething.It'syes,sir;no,sir;noexcuse,sir."

"Youdidn'tshave.""Butsir—"

"No,don'ttellmehowoftenyouscrapedyourfacethismorning.I'mtellingyouyoudidn'tshave."

"Noexcuse,sir.""Attaboy,you'relearningfast."

Butyou'dbeamazedatwhatyoucandowiththemonceyouputtheminthatstructure.In18weeks,theyhaveaskill.Theyaremature.Andyouknowwhat,theycometoadmirethedrillsergeantandtheyneverforgetthedrillsergeant.Theycometorespecthim.Andsoweneedmoreofthiskindofstructureandrespectinthelivesofourchildren.

Ispendalotoftimewithyouthgroups,andIsaytopeople,"Whendoestheeducationprocessbegin?

"We'realwaystalkingabout,"Let'sfixtheschools.Let'sdomoreforourteachers.Let'sputmorecomputersinourschools.Let'sgetitallonline."

Thatisn'tthewholeanswer.It'spartoftheanswer.Buttherealanswerbeginswithbringingachildtotheschoolwithstructureinthatchild'sheartandsoultobeginwith.

Whendoesthelearningprocessbegin?

Doesitbegininfirstgrade?

No,no,itbeginsthefirsttimeachildinamother'sarmslooksupatthemotherandsays,"Oh,thismustbemymother.She'stheonewhofeedsme.Ohyeah,whenIdon'tfeelsogooddownthere,shetakescareofme.It'sherlanguageIwilllearn."Andatthatmomenttheyshutoutalltheotherlanguagesthattheycouldbelearningatthatage,butbythreemonths,that'sher.Andifthepersondoingit,whetherit'sthemotherorgrandmother,whoever'sdoingit,thatiswhentheeducationprocessbegins.That'swhenlanguagebegins.That'swhenlovebegins.That'swhenstructurebegins.That'swhenyoustarttoimprintonthechildthat"youarespecial,youaredifferentfromeveryotherchildintheworld.Andwe'regoingtoreadtoyou."Achildwhohasnotbeenreadtoisindangerwhenthatchildgetstoschool.Achildwhodoesn'tknowhisorhercolorsordoesn'tknowhowtotelltime,doesn'tknowhowtotieshoes,doesn'tknowhowtodothosethings,anddoesn'tknowhowtodosomethingthatgoesbyawordthatwasdrilledintomeasakid:

mind.Mindyourmanners!

Mindyouradults!

Mindwhatyou'resaying!

Thisisthewaychildrenareraisedproperly.AndIwatchedmyownyounggrandchildrennowcomealongandthey're,muchtothedistressofmychildren,theyareactingjustlikewedid.Youknow?

Youimprintthem.

Andthat'swhatyouhavetodotopreparechildrenforeducationandforschool.AndI'mworkingatalltheenergyIhavetosortofcommunicatethismessagethatweneedpreschool,weneedHeadStart,weneedprenatalcare.Theeducationprocessbeginsevenbeforethechildisborn,andifyoudon'tdothat,you'regoingtohavedifficulty.Andwearehavingdifficultiesinsomanyofourcommunitiesandsomanyofourschoolswherekidsarecomingtofirstgradeandtheireyesareblazing,they'vegottheirlittleknapsackonandthey'rereadytogo,andthentheyrealizethey'renotliketheotherfirstgraderswhoknowbooks,havebeenreadto,candotheiralphabet.Andbythethirdgrade,thekidswhodidn'thavethatstructureandmindinginthebeginningstarttorealizethey'rebehind,andwhatdotheydo?

Theyactitout.Theyactitout,andthey'reontheirwaytojailorthey'reontheirwaytobeingdropouts.It'spredictable.Ifyou'renotattherightreadinglevelatthirdgrade,youareacandidateforjailatage18,andwehavethehighestincarcerationratebecausewe'renotgettingourkidstheproperstartinlife.

Thelastchapterinmybookiscalled"TheGiftofaGoodStart."Thegiftofagoodstart.Everychildoughttohaveagoodstartinlife.

Iwasprivilegedtohavethatkindofgoodstart.Iwasnotagreatstudent.IwasapublicschoolkidinNewYorkCity,andIdidn'tdowellatall.IhavemyentireNewYorkCityBoardofEducationtranscriptfromkindergartenthroughcollege.IwanteditwhenIwaswritingmyfirstbook.Iwantedtoseeifmymemorywascorrect,and,myGod,itwas.（Laughter）StraightCeverywhere.AndIfinallybouncedthroughhighschool,gotintotheCityCollegeofNewYorkwitha78.3average,whichIshouldn'thavebeenallowedinwith,andthenIstartedoutinengineering,andthatonlylastedsixmonths.（Laughter）AndthenIwentintogeology,"rocksforjocks."Thisiseasy.AndthenIfoundROTC.IfoundsomethingthatIdidwellandsomethingthatIloveddoing,andIfoundagroupofyoungsterslikemewhofeltthesameway.AndsomywholelifethenwasdedicatedtoROTCandthemilitary.AndIsaytoyoungkidseverywhere,asyou'regrowingupandasthisstructureisbeingdevelopedinsideofyou,alwaysbelookingforthatwhichyoudowellandthatwhichyoulovedoing,andwhenyoufindthosetwothingstogether,man,yougotit.That'swhat'sgoingon.Andthat'swhatIfound.

NowtheauthoritiesatCCNYweregettingtiredofmebeingthere.I'dbeentherefourandahalfgoingonfiveyears,andmygradeswerenotdoingparticularlywell,andIwasinoccasionaldifficultieswiththeadministration.Andsotheysaid,"ButhedoessowellinROTC.Look,hegetsstraightA'sinthatbutnotinanythingelse."Andsotheysaid,"Look,let'stakehisROTCgradesandrollthemintohisoverallGPAandseewhathappens."Andtheydid,anditbroughtmeupto2.0.（Laughter）Yep.（Laughter）（Applause）Theysaid,"It'sgoodenoughforgovernmentwork.Givehimtothearmy.We'llneverseehimagain.We'llneverseehimagain."Sotheyshippedmeofftothearmy,andloandbehold,manyyearslater,I'mconsideredoneofthegreatestsonstheCityCollegeofNewYorkhaseverhad.（Laughter）So,Itellyoungpeopleeverywhere,itain'twhereyoustartinlife,it'swhatyoud