School behavior:
A new view

by Anthony L. Sutton

This past school year, from September 2001 to June 2002, I had the privilege and pleasure to work as a substitute teacher in the Minneapolis public school system. I would like to share with you some of what I learned from this experience.
First of all, success in school benefits not only the student but the families, the communities, and our very society itself. Success in school is not just the responsibility of the teachers, however; it is the responsibility of all who benefit from the success of each student. We all win when each and every student succeeds. Many factors—including families, communities, history and society—strongly influence the receptiveness of students to what they learn.
In order to be receptive in an academic setting, some form of structure should be maintained. The behavior of all participants should be cooperative. In other words, all participants should know clearly why they are in school, and must understand and know what is expected of them.
I found that when I asked students to write down why they come to school, most of the responses were like one of the following: 
My mama makes me come
The truant officer will get me
I don’t know why I come to school
I come because all of my friends are here
I come because I can eat
I come because I can play
As you can see, many students do not know why they come to school.
The goal, or mission statement, of each and every school should be clearly stated at eye level and at a language level so that the least literate student will understand why he or she comes to school day after day, and year after year.
Whenever the appropriate situation presented itself, I tried to help the students understand the relationship between the fact that the more they learned, the more they will earn! I emphasized to them that knowledge is power; power is freedom and freedom is happiness. To take this one step further, I emphasized to the students that happiness is peace of mind, and peace of mind is true success.
A number of students have difficulties focusing on the lesson at hand. For these students, in particular, it is important that all forms of disruptive behavior be controlled. 
I was not surprised to learn that the prevailing violent behavior of a few students disturbs the receptiveness of others. The disruptive and inappropriate behavior of a few students was keeping themselves—as well as others—from learning.
The number of students of Americans of African descent who were disruptive was larger than it should have been, given the proportion they represent in the general population. Americans of African descent represent approximately 44 percent of the total school enrollment; they accounted, however, for about 74 percent of the total number of suspensions for the 1998-99 school year. This has not changed substantially or noticeably in the last two years. The most prevalent reason for suspension is fighting; the most prevalent reason for fighting was a disrespectful remark by one student to another student.
Respect, as a human being, has been hard to achieve for Americans of African descent. Therefore, each individual tries to gain individuality by looking to the achievements of such people as secretary of state Colin Powell and others.
Why is “respect” so important that it is worth fighting over? In most cases, students bring to school the behaviors they have learned at home, in their families, and in community life. For Americans of African descent this behavior was learned during slavery, and passed down from one generation to the next, until we come to the present generation.
Take fighting, for example: most fighters or boxers have been and still are Americans of African descent. Fighting between plantation boxing champions started during slavery!
The Minneapolis Public School District is faced with student behavior issues that society is hard-pressed to fix or address. While some of the behavior problems may stem from insufficient leadership and/or inexperienced teachers, the vast majority of problems stem directly from behaviors arising from situations and circumstances over which teachers and district staff have no control. 
The schools cannot solve the problems of misbehavior without the assistance of all who benefit from the success of the student. This includes the families, community, and society itself.
The ultimate solution to the American school behavioral dilemma lies in the fact that psychological slavery has never been brought to closure. The slave mentality was created during the time of slavery in order to control the slaves. This mentality still exists in the subconscious behaviors of many Americans of African descent. Until there is psychological closure to slavery, these behaviors will endure. This period of closure and healing should be a period of transition from a slave mentality to a citizen mentality—on a group level rather than an individual level.
Until we recognize, acknowledge, and understand the root cause of the behavior problems exhibited by students in our school systems, we cannot employ the wisdom needed to resolve it.
Anthony Sutton is the author of “Breaking Chains,” a serious analysis of how slave mentality affects the daily lives of African Americans.