Discrimination and social justice

I did think to much about this topic as I read the article Rethinkin Schools, I didnt really grasp what the whole social justice thing was. I then did some reearch online and realized that it really hit home, its about equality and fairness and not being prejudice and cruel. There are many schools that still have inequality and prejudice happening everyday, some caused by students and parents and sadly sometimes caused by teachers. This world will never ever EVER be perfect, but as a future teacher I can tell you that with out a doubt ALL teachers should love and accept and nurture ALL students, black, white, smart, poor, rich, clean, dirty, all students should step into their classrooms as equal and they should all be given the same oppurtunities in life. I think sadly that students who have parents involved in the community and schools get more attention then say the students who may live in a foster system and dont have active parents, I find this sad and unfair. I actually see it happen all the time at my daughters school, the same parents and students involved in activities and then the same students left out,

Do you notice any inequality in your childs school
or
Did you see injustice in your own schools growing u.

I can honestly say that I will be a huge advocate for social justice and equality in my classroom and school and I will be a great role model for all my students starting from this day on.

Integrated classrooms

Who do Integrated classrooms help? I beleive that they help everyone involved, the teachers, the special needs students, the so-called "regular" need students, as well as the parents of all students. My daughter was in an intergrated classroom in kindergarten as a "regular" needs student and it helped her in many ways. It taught her that not everyone is the same and that not everyone learns the same way. It also taught her compassion and sympathy. It also helped the students that had special needs, it taught them that just because they have different learning needs they are the same as all the other children, it allows them to be treated like everyone else. I also think that it gives the teachers a chance to learn more about special needs and what it takes to teach in that type of environment. I thinkt that inclusion could be a good idea in the right type of situations, if there are not severe physical or mental handicaps that wouldnt allow for it I think that it could work in a lot of school systems. I would love for my child to have the oppurtunity to be in another intergrated classroom if not in a full inclusion school system. Does anyone think that intergrated classrooms is a bad idea?

Violence in Schools

Violence in schools is scary, especially as a mother of two little girls. I actually found statistics from the National crime victimization survey that showed since 1993 school violence and school homicides have declined, however that shows violence and murders on school grounds, I beleive that alot of violence is now taking place off of school grounds, I myself live in a city that has had 9 shootings in about a weeks timeframe, and most of the shootings involved school age children. How does a 14 year old get a gun? How does a child learn violence such as this? I beleive it is the family structure, gangs grow in families, If a father is in a gang it is natural for him to pass his violent behavior onto his sons or even daughters. I think that teachers and principals do what they can to try to stop and prevent violence and negative activity, however if a child is learning violence from family and friends it is not going to matter what the school does. HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS,. has anyone heard that phrase? well its true, the heart, the soul, the mind all of it is formed and shaped at home, and then it is built up more at school. No matter how much violence decreases or increases in school, 1 violent act is to much for a child to encounter, I think or shall I say I know that the answer is for the legal system to get tougher on the parents of young students who get into trouble and treat 14 year olds that shoot and murder someone automatically as an adult, until that happens all this pain and violence is going to continue.