SRA-1
Task 608.2.2

Essay - Death at an Early Age

In this book, written by Johnathan Kohl, we are given a rare and candid glimpse inside the educational system in the city of Boston in the 1960’s. As Kohl describes the treatment that minority students endured at the hands of their teachers, it becomes clear that the title of the book is an accurate depiction of the times. As we read about teachers calling students terrible names and treating minority students with contempt and disgust, it is apparent how the spirit of the students were slowly dying inside. Although this was over fifty years ago, this type of treatment still occurs everyday in schools all over the nation. Whether a child be a minority race, have a learning disability
I have heard many teachers complain about this because it is impossible to accomplish the stated goals with classes that contain poor behaved students, ELL students and students who just aren’t motivated to learn. I agree that with the traditional methods of teaching, they will not be able to meet the standards. The teaching methods that we have been using for the past fifty years needs to change. This is why the future of education is shifting to a more student centered approach to teaching. Allowing students to experience discovery for themselves has proven to be a method that is effective. I believe this will become more prominent as newly educated teachers begin to enter the system. The educational content of teachers is evolving and changing into less of a “lecture and test” approach into one that addresses the students self esteem, culture AND their mind. I believe that this “trend” will be what will make a difference in the future of education.

As Johnathan Kohl’s account depicts, students will never reach their full potential if teachers don’t take the time to cultivate them personally. In fact, by treating them as “less” than other students, teachers have a negative effect that harms instead of helps them. Since the incidents that took place in this book were documented, there have been national standards implemented to ensure that students are mastering the basic skills necessary to function in the coming years, reading, writing, math and