By Robert Stanley
Columnist
School is starting back up again in September. But do you really know how important education is—especially for children of color, and even more for persons of African descent?
There was a time when black people were not allowed to be educated, so we should press our children to recognize how important it is for them to take reading and learning seriously, especially in this high-technology society of the 21st Century. Young people these days have so much to do as far as being entertained, and learning by tv, cable, and internet, that they are not in tune to reading, writing, and arithmetic, which is still the basis for technology.
For instance, young people play with computers, but do they know what the binary code is? Or hexidecimals—that which makes a computer function? These are examples of why education is so important, especially to minority youth who spend so much time on the internet and chat rooms that provide entertainment but not education. Education will help young people understand events locally and globally, and how these events affect them personally in their lives; socially as well as financially.
In addition, education—as we all know—is very important for us to get ahead. This is especially crucial for people of African descent, because we came to the Americas under different conditions that were not advantageous to us. So studying and learning should be a priority to us. It’s not that I believe education or studying is not important to people of all ages, races, and backgrounds, but it should be even more important to blacks in America to lift ourselves out of the deprivation that we find ourselves in.
Studying, research, and education should not be viewed as a chore, but as a comfort. Learning is vital in order to expand one’s mind, horizons, and understanding of the world.
As youth journey back to school, they are our future. We put in our time already, and we are depending on their generation to excel academically, in order to be productive young people in America.
So, young people: Keep studying, keep learning, and keep furthering your education.
Peace,
Robert Stanley
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