[speaker001:] Okay, what do you think is the biggest problem?
[speaker002:] The biggest problem, well, like in this part of town seems to be the attitude and the atmosphere in the schools
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] that, uh, you know, you can throw money at it, but it's, I don't know, to me it seems like the schools are reflecting society in a bigger way
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] you know, because, I mean, the general values that we're teaching
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] kind of conflict with what we expect out of people in school, I mean,
[speaker001:] Is it the, do you think it's the values that they're teaching in school or the values they get from home.
[speaker002:] Uh, well, the values, more or less at home and the T V, just a general, I mean, learning is not a revered endeavor, really, I mean, it's a lot more, it's socially, well I won't say socially unacceptable, but whereas like in, uh, a person that, uh, stud-, they put a lot more emphasis on athletics and things like that are a lot more glorified generally in society, and I think that carries over to school
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] a lot. So.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I, I, I, I think that the biggest problem is, uh, with the, uh, with the home environment being part of it. You know, if, I think too many parents expect, uh, the school to teach, uh, the moral aspects of, of things to the st-, to the kids and, you know, while we're not going to worry about, uh, teaching you manners or teaching you respect for anyone or anything like that, you know, and then expect them to pick it up at school, you're not going to do that, you know, you're going to carry, carry with, carry to school, uh, out into the world, you know, what you learned at home, and, uh
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] uh, I think that that part of that showing up now, you know, with, with things because kids I think have probably less respect than for, for people than in, in other things, than we may have seen in the past, uh, and part of it's the, the family, I think, and part of it's, uh, the living conditions of certain people are subjected too, drugs is a big problem now, and I think that's, that's, that's another root problem.
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah, you know, I wonder if that's a root problem or not, because I think about that a lot, and it's just like, everybody likes to blame everything on drugs now, but I wonder, you know, do you get the, oh, that's kind of side tracked, but, uh, I just remember seeing on the news the other night, they had the thing about how Catholic schools are doing so much better
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I thought, well, you know, of course they're doing better, and not so much when I was growing up, Catholic schools are generally considered a little bit easier than the public schools, but, uh, they still had a, a better success rate, simply because they started with a lot better raw material. I mean everybody that went to a Catholic school had, uh, at least the parents did, at least, had education as a priority
[speaker001:] Right,
[speaker002:] like you said
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] and kind of had a whole conducive atmosphere to it. And I wonder if, not so much that, uh,
[speaker001:] Well, I think it's, like you say, it's, it's the socioeconomic mix there, you know, the, they're, you look at the schools like that where you've got a lot of kids who are basically, uh, that might be more well to-, well off, you know, going to a private Catholic school or whatever, uh, and, and they're not all that way, but, you know, some that are
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] um, that, they're, they're not quite the same as the kids that are going to the inner city, uh, you know, public schools.
[speaker002:] Yeah, this is interesting because in my mind I don't have the stereotype of a Catholic school being a suburban kind of environment, but, uh, this, this was actually inner city
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] people were sending, I mean, just because their kids had the ability and the, and the drive to do, try and get an education, they didn't send him to a public school, you know, like you said, you have the drug problem and just the general atmosphere where you're pressured not to learn in instance,
[speaker001:] Yeah, well, you know, in a lot of cases like that, where, you know, if kids are going to a public parochial school like that, it's, it's because the parents are more interested in them receiving an education. It shows, I think it shows that the parents have some, uh, desire for, for the kid to do, do well, you know, and that may be passed on down to the kid as well, and, uh, maybe they pick up on that.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And then from the other aspect, um, maybe the, uh, school itself has, has, has more emphasis on, uh, trying to do a good job because the classes may be smaller, uh, they may be able to, to give the resources that's needed to, uh, to do a good job.
[speaker002:] Yeah, I mean, and what do you, what would you do to fix the school systems?
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] Uh, that's a tough question
[speaker002:] Yeah,
[speaker001:] how to fix the school system. Uh, with, uh, I would try to, I guess, to see about getting parents more involved, with, try to, to come up with more ways to do that. Uh, uh, uh, stress the importance of education to both both the parents and the students, and, uh, more, more classes that I think that are, and I think this is happening some around the country in terms of, um, morals, trying to teach the kinds of things that, that aren't getting taught at home, and, uh, and, and respect for other people. Uh, I think that's a big part of it. You know, people, you know, if you don't care about property and people, you know, you're not going to care about, uh, about learning, I think.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] You know, you're not going to really care about yourself.
[speaker002:] Yeah. That's what I was going to say. It's the chicken and the egg thing. I wonder, a lot of times, you know, people, I mean, a lot of times people literally tear apart their own schools
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] vandalism wise, and you get, I mean, it's been a while since I been in high school. They're even in grade school when they do that. But I can't remember exactly what goes through their head when they're doing that. But you got to think in a way it's kind of a outward showing of that they don't think they have a chance of doing anything, and take it out on the school.
[speaker001:] Well, you know, and I, that's not an ea-, but that's not an easy task, you know, that's why I say, it's, it's a tough question what would you do, because, you know, even trying to instill those values is kind of hard when, uh, when, when you're growing up in, you know, in a home which may be, uh, just the pits, and uh, you don't have any, any kind of a good environment to live in, you know, it's kind of hard to say, well, you need to take care of other people's stuff as well, when you're, when you barely have anything yourself. So.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I could see where that would be a problem, and I think that's, I think it's...