300 students, involving Somalis and AA's, start food fight/race riot in high school, 4 hospitalized

[Wadani]

Somalis and their almost inborn propensity to adopt extreme positions. Safferz position (systemic and institutionalized racism/obstacles leading to Somali problems) + Blackflash's position (failure of Somali community due to own shortcomings, coupled with a refusal to take responsibility) = something closer to the truth. Each on it's own represents a half truth, and when root causes r misdiagnosed we either get solutions to problems we aren't facing or ones that will only cover a wound as it festers and rots underneath.

[Haatu]

Can someone who is given free education, free resources and doesn't have to worry about their meals or their bed, drops out of school and becomes a failure of life, blame anyone apart from themselves and their parents for not motivating them (some still end up this way despite the parents hard work). I blame them for their failures and have absolutely no sympathy for them.

 

As for you lot talking about all the BS of systematic issues, what issues are you on about? Don't they have a teacher to teach them (I know some teachers are terrible but that doesn't stop them learning on their own at home, that's what most of us have to do anyway) and books to read? Don't they have access to internet to research future career paths so they know what they have to achieve? The funny thing is, in my sixth form/college the people that constantly moan about how rubbish the teachers are and the lack of support they receive are usually the ones failing through their own laziness and lack of effort.

[Alpha Blondy]

Safferz;932347 wrote:

^^

anecdotal evidence does not qualify as data

, and fortunately for Somali Canadians, what you "personally believe" has no effect whatsoever on policy. There are numerous reports and studies that show the SYSTEMIC issues in Canada negatively affecting communities like ours, regardless of what you believe.

from a quantitative point of view miyaa, research methodology-gaagu?

[oba hiloowlow]

Coofle;932337 wrote:

Personally I would like to cultivate the love and pride of

Soomaalinimada

inside children...they should believe that they are

Somalis

, a unique set of a nation..neither Arabs nor African Americans, even different from the Bantu counterparts in Africa...Waa dad soomaaliyeed..waa dad gooni ah...Love all Somalis no matter of clan affiliation simply because he is a fellow

Waryaa

...

its pretty much what nazism is about,,,But I would prefer a Somali with pride than a pity Somali..

+100000000000000000000000

[Safferz]

Wadani;932351 wrote:

Somalis and their almost inborn propensity to adopt extreme positions. Safferz position (systemic and institutionalized racism/obstacles leading to Somali problems) + Blackflash's position (failure of Somali community due to own shortcomings, coupled with a refusal to take responsibility) = something closer to the truth. Each on it's own represents a half truth, and when root causes r misdiagnosed we either get solutions to problems we aren't facing or ones that will only cover a wound as it festers and rots underneath.

Note that I said we also have internal issues, but that's often used to deny the existence of the broader structural conditions within which Somali families live. This thread is a good example of that personal failures/dysfunctional families discourse, which would be right at home with the political right.

 

Haatu;932372 wrote:

Can someone who is given free education, free resources and doesn't have to worry about their meals or their bed, drops out of school and becomes a failure of life, blame anyone apart from themselves and their parents for not motivating them (some still end up this way despite the parents hard work). I blame them for their failures and have absolutely no sympathy for them.

 

As for you lot talking about all the BS of systematic issues, what issues are you on about? Don't they have a teacher to teach them (I know some teachers are terrible but that doesn't stop them learning on their own at home, that's what most of us have to do anyway) and books to read? Don't they have access to internet to research future career paths so they know what they have to achieve? The funny thing is, in my sixth form/college the people that constantly moan about how rubbish the teachers are and the lack of support they receive are usually the ones failing through their own laziness and lack of effort.

Watch the documentary "Waiting for Superman" and get back to me. The education system fails poor students.

[Nin-Yaaban]

Wadani;932351 wrote:

Somalis and their almost inborn propensity to adopt extreme positions. Safferz position (systemic and institutionalized racism/obstacles leading to Somali problems) + Blackflash's position (failure of Somali community due to own shortcomings, coupled with a refusal to take responsibility) = something closer to the truth. Each on it's own represents a half truth, and when root causes r misdiagnosed we either get solutions to problems we aren't facing or ones that will only cover a wound as it festers and rots underneath.

+2

 

By and large, most Somalis are good people. People that just go about their life and their business without anyone noticing it. The bad ones stand out, because WAA DAD XUN. For every Qashin that we read about here, there are many more good Somalis you wont hear about or even know they exist. Kuwa fiic fiican, ma maqleesid, kuwa xun lee maqlee.

[Nin-Yaaban]

DP

[Safferz]

Blackflash;932348 wrote:

Why "ours" and not the Rwandan or Eritrean communities? I can't think of anything that makes Somalis stand out from any other immigrant in terms of obstacles.

 

TDSB Graduation Patterns 2009 cohort

 

TDSB Graduation Patterns 2002 cohort

 

Who's responsible for the atrocious numbers in the reports above? How can a group fail in several different nations (including their own) and still manage to blame everyone but themselves?

Every community is different and faces different challenges, but a few things come to mind here: education level of parents (studies show it's the mother's education level in particular that determines a child's wellbeing, in education and in health), immigration/migration history (displacement/civil war? or arriving in Canada as high income immigrants, like recent Chinese immigration to Canada?), household income (Somalis are one of the poorest ethnic communities in Toronto, and have the highest rate of child poverty in the city), residence (Somalis primarily live in "priority" or "high risk" neighbourhoods in Toronto, and schooling reflects this), language/cultural/religious barriers, etc.

[Alpha Blondy]

for goodness sakes, its like you can't get a word in edgeways these days at SOL....as pseudo-intellectual type like Al can't keep up the pace with these knowledge-endowed uppity-pseudo-intellectuals. naga daa dee.

[Nin-Yaaban]

Alpha Blondy;932516 wrote:

for goodness sakes, its like you can't get a word in edgeways these days at SOL....as pseudo-intellectual type like Al can't keep up the pace with these knowledge-endowed uppity-pseudo-intellectuals. naga daa dee.

LoL.

[GaraadMon]

Safferz;932486 wrote:

Watch the documentary "Waiting for Superman" and get back to me. The education system fails poor students.

My high school in Edmonton ranked second worst in the entire province. The issue was a significant portion of the student populace (Somalis), making life hell for the teachers and other students. They had no intention of passing school and instead saw it as another place to hang out.

 

Wasn't the proliferation of the internet in the lives of all students, rich and poor, touted as being the great equalizer. Yet rather than using it to further educate themselves, the impoverished would prefer to browse Worldstarhiphop for their daily consumption of trash. With the ease of attaining information in this generation, how could this issue be anything but cultural?

 

Here's are two interesting excerpts from an article on the topic of internet usage:

A greater percentage of whites than blacks and Latinos still have broadband access at home, but laptop ownership is now about even for all these groups, after black laptop ownership jumped from 34% in 2009 to 51% in 2010, according to Pew.

But now some see a new "digital divide" emerging — with Latinos and blacks being challenged by more, not less, access to technology. It's tough to fill out a job application on a cellphone, for example. Researchers have noticed signs of segregation online that perpetuate divisions in the physical world. And blacks and Latinos may be using their increased Web access more for entertainment than empowerment.

Source:USA TODAY

[Safferz]

^^ the internet is not a substitute for good teachers and a well resourced school in a decent neighbourhood, it should be a supplement to those fundamental things.

[Haatu]

Safferz;932547 wrote:

^^ the internet is not a substitute for good teachers and a well resourced school in a decent neighbourhood, it should be a supplement to those fundamental things.

I went to one of the worst schools in the area with the worst teachers. Those of us that cared about our education achieved the grades. The lazy good-for-nothing folks didn't even sit the exams. No one has an excuse for being a drop-out when given so many opportunities.

[Wadani]

Alpha Blondy;932516 wrote:

for goodness sakes, its like you can't get a word in edgeways these days at SOL....as pseudo-intellectual type like Al can't keep up the pace with these knowledge-endowed uppity-pseudo-intellectuals. naga daa dee.

Hahahaa

[Alpha Blondy]

Haatu;932618 wrote:

I went to one of the worst schools in the area with the worst teachers. Those of us that cared about our education achieved the grades. The lazy good-for-nothing folks didn't even sit the exams. No one has an excuse for being a drop-out when given so many opportunities.

inaar, if you think your case was bad....waar, anigu waxan ahaa the rose that grew from concrete. the odds were stacked against Al. it was divine intervention, there's no other way to explain my rise...........