With education under the microscope, we should not look just at educators and school administrators.

After all, as educators and administrators go, they are just people with jobs doing the best they can. Many of them are parents as well, and all of them help make up our American culture. And as we continue to dissect what measures need to be undertaken to improve education in our state and nation, let us not forget to put the majority of the responsibility where it belongs: on parents and society as a whole.

Clean up our language

Every time most Americans open our mouths, the British cringe. We have successfully taken their beautiful language and decimated it with words like &8220;ain’t&8221; and &8220;crunk.&8221;

&8220;Y’all&8221; is a favorite Southern slang, and many dictionaries have now included it. For some reason, we in the South have been unable to grasp that &8220;you&8221; is the appropriate pronoun whether we are talking about &8220;you&8221; the individual or &8220;you&8221; the group.

Now don’t y’all think I’ve gone casting stones over Southern speech. I ain’t done no such thang. I butcher my share of the language myself.

That makes me just as guilty as the next person when it comes to using improper grammar and English.

I remember growing up my parents would correct me when I mispronounced something or used improper grammar. Today, that does not seem to be the case.

We’ve allowed slang to become our native tongue. It infects every aspect of popular culture from music to movies to video games. And, as it has done so, it has found its way into mainstream communication.

True story: A Mississippi English teacher is teaching her juniors about the Puritans. She asks if anyone knows who John Smith is. One young lady raises her hand. When called upon by the teacher, the student replies, &8220;Ain’t that Pocahontas’ baby-daddy?&8221;

While the moment is comical, the reality is sad. That student was not going for laughs. She was answering in the way she communicates: slang and street phrases.

The sins of the father

In searching for persons with poor communication skills &045; that includes the use of slang as proper English &045; then the majority can be found among minority populations and low-income populations.

Why? Because these two populations share something in common: lack of education.

Do not misconstrue this to mean that lower-income and minority populations are dumber than others. It is simply that these populations in general have not been given the educational opportunities others have. Therefore, many in these populations are behind on the learning curve.

Let’s take the African American community. This population of people is most closely associated with street slang. If you look at recent test scores, many black children scored in the lower percentiles. Is it because they are not as smart as other students? Of course not. (The &8220;baby-daddy&8221; student knew who John Smith was. It was that her chosen means of communication lacked something to be desired.) It’s because in most cases the socioeconomic status of many of these underperforming minorities is low.

Look at history. If you are not an Anglo, then in America you were – and still are &045; a minority. African Americans were brought to this land as slaves. Native Americans were treated as a subculture. Other ethnic groups came here looking for a better life but did not start on equal footing.

Today, we brag of equal rights. In many ways, opportunity is equal for all. However, we have to look not at where we are but from where we started.

Look at the South and its agricultural economy. As soon as a child was old enough to work, they did. School came second. Along the way, some prospered but others did not &045; many others did not. So can we blame educators for all our educational ills? Of course not. We as a society must focus on better communication and demanding more from our fellow man. And we must all realize history has not been on everyone’s side.

Sam R. Hall

can be reached by

e-mail to

shall@sctonline.net

.