Family structure a major factor in racial school conduct disparities

In what should be seen as common sense by everyone, a study has found a direct link between family structure and school conduct in relation to race. Black children statistically get into trouble in school at higher rates than white children. They're also more likely to come from homes with only one parent. Interestingly, however, the study also found that black children who come from homes with two parents are LESS LIKELY to get into trouble in school than white children who come from homes with only one parent, meaning that school conduct and the rates at which children get into trouble at school have far more to do with their family structure than their race. So, before anyone starts screaming "RACISM!" at the study, take some time to actually read it.
This is a perfect example of why screaming "RACISM!" at everything actually does far more harm than good. In this case, black students getting in trouble for school conduct is sometimes blamed on "institutional racism". The fact is, there are statistical differences between different groups of people that need to be honestly acknowledged. In this case, the higher rates of black students coming from single-parent homes is pointed out. For people who actually care about solving issues, these statistical realities need to be addressed instead of blamed on racism and brushed under the rug to serve leftist/Democrat agendas. And yes, that was a fair jab - the Democrats and leftists have historically and consistently enacted policies that harm minority communities so that they can run on the very issues they've created.

A new study affirms what many public policy analysts say is intuitive — that unstable family structure, including chaotic households and single-parent homes, is a primary factor in racial disparities in school behavior and suspensions.

in 2016, about 24 percent of black elementary and high school students had been suspended at least once, while eight percent of white students and only four percent of Asian students had the same experience

“black students are far more likely to be living apart from their married birth parents in the home (72%) compared to white students (37%) or Asian students (26%).”

among black students who do live with both married birth parents, suspension rates are less than half as large as those for black students living in other family types: 12% versus 28%. The suspension rate for black students living in intact families, 12%, is also less than the suspension rate for white students from non-intact families, 13%.
Sour ce
Link to study

The study comes as Obama-era holdovers and other progressives continue the narrative that racial disparities in school suspensions and discipline are due to systemic factors such as institutional racism.

The policy, however, essentially blamed systemic racism for the fact that black and other minority students have been punished and suspended more than white and Asian students. Recommended remedies for the problem included eliminating suspensions for unacceptable behavior by minority students

a reply to: trollz

While I don't doubt that children from broken families (of all races, creeds and colors) have higher rates of bad behavior, and since statistics seem to bear out that minority children are more likely to come from a broken home and exhibit bad behavior, the problem I have is that this article does not address the differences (if any) in punishments for the bad behavior between races.

In other words, are Black kids disciplined more harshly than White kids for the same bad behavior? Does the Black child receive in-school suspension more often than the White child for the same bad behavior?

The next question to ask is if the methods of punishment are serving a practical purpose... or just a way to hurt the child for inconveniencing the teacher? (Something I saw far too often when my kids were in school.) Obviously, what the schools are doing is not having a positive effect and changing these kids for the better. It's important to understand root causes in order to find genuine solutions, I'm just concerned that this is a way for the so-called adults to say, "See? It's all the parents fault! It's them -- not us!"

I live in an uber liberal community. They've been lamenting and crying about the overall under performance of black students at our high school for decades. They throw around terms like restorative justice and equity.

What they wont do is address the boogeyman in the room and actually look at family structure, etc and that relationship with performance.

originally posted by: Edumakated
I live in an uber liberal community. They've been lamenting and crying about the overall under performance of black students at our high school for decades. They throw around terms like restorative justice and equity.

What they wont do is address the boogeyman in the room and actually look at family structure, etc and that relationship with performance.

What do you think the uber liberals should do to address the boogeyman of single-parent homes?

2nd

a reply to: trollz

I know a couple teachers that work in the type of schools in this article. Basically within the first week of school they know which kids are going to preform poorly in their classes. The majority are being raised by single mothers.

The big "but" in the room is that culture is not mentioned as the biggest factor. Being successful in school is a big no no in the inner city schools.

Teachers can't flunk kids.
Doubly so star athletes.

Stop incentivizing having kids. If you are on welfare and have one kid already, you need proof of a depo shot before you can receive the money. I live in the central city and so many times when I get chatted up by a black man and tell them I don't have kids, they are flabbergasted. Black women have kids they can't afford and their baby daddies don't have income on paper, so they get a free ride from baby momma's checks and crash at her Section 8 pad. So there is no incentive to be a father on paper whatsoever. That's a good first step. As of now, society feeds these little paychecks three meals a day even in summer, give them winter coats, and now an organization in our state is actually building beds for these kids!
If you can't afford them, don't have them! Stop rewarding mindless baby-making.

originally posted by: Gryphon66

originally posted by: Edumakated
I live in an uber liberal community. They've been lamenting and crying about the overall under performance of black students at our high school for decades. They throw around terms like restorative justice and equity.

What they wont do is address the boogeyman in the room and actually look at family structure, etc and that relationship with performance.

What do you think the uber liberals should do to address the boogeyman of single-parent homes?

2nd

Stop trying to replace it with social media,film,television, and maybe look in to creating a big 'dad' or 'Mom' program like Big brothers.

I seem to remember reading something long time ago and haven't seen it since...

But once upon a time before it was decided they needed saving blacks in the states were well educated (for the time) and had a very strong family group that was slowly broken down over the decades since.

a reply to: Boadicea

When did it become the job of schools to raise children? Schools should be for learning. Having to deal with this lack of basic social education impairs the ability of all to learn.

Disparity in punishment and method should not matter.

so 72% of black children with single parents and 28% is the suspension rate...


I'll flip the script and say those single black parents with 72 % of their kids not being suspended for being troublesome, are to be praised. use them as examples to the rest of the parents with kids getting in trouble.

maximize the good instead of maximizing and using what is a relatively small proportion (28%), as some eurika racial equivalency for all blacks, and making that small portion some sort of benchmark or marker against races with smaller percentage of kids getting in trouble.


pointing the finger at the bad, while diminishing the good is classic *********

praise Asian students for their discipline, praise intact black families for a 12% rate* of suspension vise 5% for whites?

28% is also considerably less than from a few years ago...?

originally posted by: Irishhaf
I seem to remember reading something long time ago and haven't seen it since...

But once upon a time before it was decided they needed saving blacks in the states were well educated (for the time) and had a very strong family group that was slowly broken down over the decades since.

One of the side effects of the ugliness of racism and Jim Crow was that blacks became strong and resilient and built their own communities complete with entrepreneurs, artisans, etc., everything white society denied them, and in many cases it was quite good. Then The Great Society undermined it with handouts, killing that independent spirit.

Shame really. Imagine that fully integrated into American society.

a reply to: odzeandennz

It is, but how much of that is due to Obama era social justice policies on school discipline that instituted discipline on a quota system. Are the kidsbetter behaved or just not being disciplined?

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Boadicea

When did it become the job of schools to raise children?

Apparently the same time it became the job of schools to punish kids, eh? If it's not the school's job to teach them proper behavior, then it sure isn't their job to punish them for improper behavior. Can't have it both ways.

Schools should be for learning.

Yup. And what the kids are taught can be limited or expanded as the adults see fit. We can draw the line at the three "R's" of course. And we can expand on it to teach proper manners and values and basic common courtesy and respect for others. Or not.

The goal should be the best education for the kids, and the methods should promote and facilitate that goal. If kids are having trouble learning the three "R's" because of home/family issues, how do we address those home/family issues in order to better educate the kids?

Having to deal with this lack of basic social education impairs the ability of all to learn."

I would say that class disruptions impairs the ability of the teacher to teach, and it impairs the opportunity for all to learn, but one child's bad behavior does not affect another child's ability to learn. They are just as able to learn elsewhere or from someone else.

So the problem would be due to keeping the troublemakers in the classroom. Back in my day, kids with behavior problems were schooled separately.

Disparity in punishment and method should not matter.

That reads as you saying it "should not matter" if Black children receive harsher punishments than White kids for the same bad behavior. Please tell me I'm misunderstanding...

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Boadicea

When did it become the job of schools to raise children?

Apropos of nothing in particular, when parents quit the job and handed their kids minds over to the government.

originally posted by: Edumakated

What they wont do is address the boogeyman in the room and actually look at family structure, etc and that relationship with performance.

They would also have to look at housing, including lead poisoning, and actually address the systemic poisoning of too many kids, predominantly in the inner cities. Reverse osmosis and Vitamin C -- both relatively cheap -- would go a long way towards addressing that problem.

But they won't do it. That's our first clue they just don't want to.

a reply to: Boadicea

I would say that class disruptions impairs the ability of the teacher to teach, and it impairs the opportunity for all to learn, but one child's bad behavior does not affect another child's ability to learn. They are just as able to learn elsewhere or from someone else.

For as thoughtful and smart as you seem to be, I cannot believe you wrote this.

I watched my son damn near self-destruct his way through an entire school year last year thanks to the bullying behavior of other kids in his classroom. The constant stress had no impact on his ability to learn at all!

But I'm sure it was all a good experience for him and he learned loads as iopposed to being in a classroom where he was able to be calm and focused on the subjects at hand, amirite?

a reply to: Boadicea

It shouldn't matter because kuds not ready to learn shouldn't be in the classroom to notice the disparity if one were to exist which is the easy assumption to maker because it's the one we get fed
; Dontravius isn't failing because his momma never taught him how to sit down and sit still and show rtespect and he has no daddy to do it, so he runs all over and screams and hits other kuds, nope ... he's failing because his teacher and school suspend him cause he's black.

That's what they're convinced of so it HAS to be true, right?

a reply to: ketsuko

I watched my son damn near self-destruct his way through an entire school year last year thanks to the bullying behavior of other kids in his classroom. The constant stress had no impact on his ability to learn at all!

But I'm sure it was all a good experience for him and he learned loads as iopposed to being in a classroom where he was able to be calm and focused on the subjects at hand, amirite?

Um... you're making my point for me. Obviously, bullies disrupting the class are going to make it impossible for the teacher to teach. Without bullies disrupting the class, he would be able to be calm and focused on the subjects at hand...

If you're son is personally being bullied, then the problem would be compounded on steroids. But the root problem remains the same. No child's opportunity to learn should be impaired by troublermakers.

So, we either remove the troublemakers or we find a way to stop their troublemaking.

a reply to: Boadicea

So that was my point. I can't type much left-handed.

Kids not socially ready shouldn't be in a learning classroom, so those deeper questions shouldn't matter.

originally posted by: Gryphon66

originally posted by: Edumakated
I live in an uber liberal community. They've been lamenting and crying about the overall under performance of black students at our high school for decades. They throw around terms like restorative justice and equity.

What they wont do is address the boogeyman in the room and actually look at family structure, etc and that relationship with performance.

What do you think the uber liberals should do to address the boogeyman of single-parent homes?

2nd

The first step is actually acknowledging the root cause. You cant solve a problem if you are misdiagnosing what is actually going on.

Instead of directing resources for bs loke restorative justice and blaming whitey we can actually direct those resources where they can have some impact like remedial tutoring etc..