HispanicVista Columnists
A Voice in The Desert
By Manuel Hernandez
April 21, 2006
copyrights 2006 @Manuel Hernandez
Last month, my sister’s daughter was on the
verge of dropping out of high school. Angela called me up and asked that I
talk to my precious teen niece. Gloria was thinking of quitting school just
months before her 2006 high school graduation. Angela and I grew up together
in New York’s El Barrio in the late 1960’s. She married Felipe, a
recently arrived Mexican and moved to California in 1985. Five years after
Gloria was born, they moved back to New York looking for job opportunities
and a better way of life.
Twelve years later, Gloria had turned into a lavishing hazel-eyed brunette. She had already eloped for a weekend once before with her boyfriend, Steve, and Angela feared the worst. Gloria started skipping classes to see Steven, a sign that she was at danger. On the other hand, Gloria worked at night to help out Angela with the bills, and she often did not wake up in time for her first period class. Falling behind led her to miss more classes. Her mother, Angela was on the edge. Her relationship with Felipe was disastrous, and Gloria witnessed the daily shouting and verbal outbreaks between her parents. As her oldest brother, I was worried.
While driving to the Spanish Harlem Projects, I reflected on my niece’s situation. She was not alone in her dilemma. According to statistics from the Department of Education, 27% of all Latino teens dropout of high school compared to 15% of African Americans and Caucasians. This was not the first time Gloria and I spoke about her problems with school. As the ESL teacher in the family, I was often called upon to share my words of wisdom with my beautiful niece.
I was working on a special educational-technological program to improve educational outcomes, and to provide the preparation and encouragement needed for minority students to enter, and succeed, in college. The program was designed with specific strategies and skills to prepare these students for the state high school exams and to get them ready for their city, national and state testing requirements. The project was a strategy to support Latino teens to have the opportunity that by grace has been granted to us all, a higher education. The project proposed to join forces (Internet, telecommunications, long-distance education and the department of education) with communications and technology to achieve the purpose as stated above.
I wanted to share my dream program with Angela and Gloria, but it needed polishing and revision. I was very enthusiastic about the program, but Gloria was a bit too late to benefit from it. She was at risk of earning lower earnings and working in menial jobs. Besides, her beauty could turn her into a target for potential predators in all walks of life. Almost 40 percent of Hispanic children are raised in families that are below the poverty line, a rate twice as high as that of Caucasian children. Language proficiency is a problem. Many immigrants in the United States are illiterate in Spanish, which makes learning English a monumental task. Gloria entered school speaking only Spanish and had to learn to speak and read English.
How do we even try to solve this problem? First, Latino parents must acknowledge the importance of reading and writing. Second, Parents must begin by reading to kids at an early age. Third, parents must get involved in their children’s education. Latino parents find themselves working around the clock with very little time to visit school and demand changes. There is no easy solution. It is a process, but we must be specific and spearhead ways in which to improve academic standards for Latinos. Standards that need to be enhanced with vision and knowledge on how to improve interest in reading and writing and other subjects as well.
- Sociologists predict that by the year 2050 half of the United States population will be Latino. These are huge numbers, but they do not mean anything in mainstream America. Education is the key to the salvation of Latinos. The Latino high school dropout rate is a national crisis, which must be viewed as serious by the Latino community. Macbeth’s “tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow” is our today. Gloria is just a voice in the desert.
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Hernandez lives in Naguabo, Puerto Rico and enjoys spending his free time with his beautiful wife, Maria and his seventeen-year old son, Jose Manuel and his newborn son, Josue Esteban. He is a disciple at Abundant Life Church in Fajardo. Also visit: http://www.puertoricans.com/
(Editor's note: Manuel Hernandez created a Yahoogroup for the discussion of literature and education. HispanicVista highly recommends this effort and urges its readers to join and participate. Write to Manuel at: mannyh32@yahoo.com or visit and join at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/latinoliterature