Are The Kids of Philadelphia Alright?

Currently I am working as a substitute teacher in the Philadelphia school district. That means I spend 8 hours daily with classrooms of Philadelphia elementary students.

If you were wondering, my professional life feels nothing like an episode of the popularized TV show, Abott Elementary.

Image from Abott Elementary, a sitcom following the life of educators at an elementary school in Philadelphia. Image from Gilles Mingasson/ ABC. 

Daily, I witness children that have severe anger issues. No matter the age group or class type I am assigned, there is always a physical altercation between students. In any given classroom, several students need special accommodations. Lastly most of the students just seem… off, unable to concentrate.

At least once a day I think to myself, I do not remember school being like this when I was growing up.

To be frank, it simply was not. For starters, I did not go through the Philadelphia school system myself. I grew up in rural New Jersey, where there seemed to be more cows than teachers.

There are other direct differences too. Technology was not as advanced or accessible. Sure there were Chromebooks, but students didn’t have personal devices until late middle school.

Lastly, I believe a main difference was the sociopolitical climate of the nation.

When I went through school, the nation was gleaming with hope having achieved the first Black American President. Now, students are surviving an extremely polarized country with a lot of political uncertainty.

When I went through school, I was privileged enough to have access to an open grassy field for recess. Now, students I teach play on concrete.

When I went through school, I read full articles to find information and cited them. Now, students find a summarized paragraph at the top of a search engine.

These different factors and elements are sadly very apparent in the children that I teach.

The Philadelphia Asthma prevalence rate is 21 percent, more than triple of the national rate of 5.8 percent. The rate of children with Autism in Philadelphia is rapidly increasing with time. These are a a few of many health metrics that disproportionately effect Philadelphia youth, and even more so the Black children of Philadelphia .

If a large percentage of my students are struggling to breathe, or with other health associated issues, by middle school they are already at a massive disadvantage.

I have noticed a lot students have a one to one or a paraprofessional. A one to one or a paraprofessional is an adult staff member who accompanies a child, or children, in need of special assistance throughout the school day.

I am thrilled to see so many students getting more personal and specialized care. As great of a resource as it is, I am reflecting on the high quantity of need. It is concerning that so many students cannot function independently in a classroom setting.

As I have very new involvement on this side of education, I want to acknowledge the incredible work that is and has been done to support students. I am freshly awakening to the shortcomings and complications of the city’s education system. However, there are many change makers who have been braving this reality for decades.

Philadelphia educators, administrators and social workers are doing amazing work everyday to create a new future for the city. As I grow more into this position, I hope to contribute a percentage of positive change.