What boys can become when they leave the 'hood

Another article about The Boys of Baraka, the documentary that will air tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 10pm on PBS.  It's also great to see a nationally syndicated African-American columnist writing things like this:

And there's another more controversial lesson the Baraka story offers: a powerful argument for more school choice, even if that means vouchers for private schools.

 

The earnest parents in this movie, mostly moms and grandparents, fighting hard to get their kids a better chance at life, illustrate why polls show growing support for private-school vouchers among African-American parents, as long as they do not take money from the public schools.

 

Housing vouchers have offered similar help to a fortunate few...

 

The result mostly has been win-win all around...

 

Environment matters. Responsible parents often do a better job than government agencies of deciding what schools and neighborhoods are best for their kids.

 

They deserve a chance to show it.

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Clarence Page 

 

What boys can become when they leave the 'hood

Chicago Tribune, September 6, 2006

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0609060043sep06,1,4843849.column?coll=chi-news-col

 

WASHINGTON -- What if you took junior high school-age boys, rated as "high risk" in their low-income, high-crime urban neighborhood, and plopped them down in a low-enrollment, high-quality school in rural Africa?

 

That's the premise behind the Baraka School, a project put together in Kenya, East Africa, by American volunteers and foundations for early teen boys from Baltimore. Why Kenya? Besides being less expensive than a lot of places, it is a place where "boys can live the lives of boys," spokesmen say. The kids can swim in natural streams, terrify each other with pet reptiles and watch real elephants parade through real forest instead of vegetating in front of video games.

 

A year in the lives of one group from Baltimore is chronicled in "The Boys of Baraka," a critically acclaimed documentary by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady that played briefly in theaters last year. Its broadcast debut is scheduled for 10 p.m. Tuesday as part of the "P.O.V." independent film series on PBS.