So, I moved to Harlem in early May. And school was still in session for young kids, of course, so didn't notice this until a month or so later, when it got real hot, and I would come home from the gym or work every day to see the kids playing in the fire hydrant. Now, it's a waste of water and it's plain dangerous to be running around in the street, but I went about my business and they didn't wet me.

But I got to thinking after a few weeks. It wasn't just that the kids were outside every day. It was that it was the same kids in the same places doing the same things with the same adults standing nearby. And sometimes, when I'm definitely not in the mood to be bothered and I almost get soaked while carrying my phone or something, I want to shout, “Go do something!”

But I don't. Because I remember reading about a study that was performed a few years back. Essentially, they tested higher- and middle-income students at the beginning of one year, the end of that same year, and then again at the beginning of the following school year, and compared said results to those from lower-income students.

I read about it originally in Malcolm Gladwell's book “Outliers,” and whatever you may think of him, he was merely reporting on the study and drawing conclusions from it. Here's a blogpost summarizing what was found:

“Despite class differences, the test scores were very similar from the beginning of the year to the end (there were some small leads by the low-income children). What changed, though, was that over the summer middle-class and wealthy children gained points, while low-income students’ scores remained static or even dropped. The raised scores for upper and middle-class students is attributed to their participation in enriching activities with their families during the summer, having more books around and less TV, and a style of parenting called “concerted cultivation” (p104). Gladwell writes, “Virtually all of the advantage that wealthy students have over poor students is the result of differences in the way privileged kids learn while they are not  in school” (p258). The cumulative gain in knowledge and subsequent test scores for the wealthy and middle-class students by the end of the fifth grade is significant, and crushing. Gladwell continues, “For its poorest students, America doesn’t have a school problem. It has a summer vacation problem” (p260).”

(And here's the link to the full website post this comes from.)

I found this interesting for a few reasons. Now, where I live isn't exactly dangerous these days (though it was about fifteen years ago), nor is most of this city. And I don't live in, or next to public assistance housing, which is to say that most of these kids live in apartments that their parents or guardians manage to pay the rent for. But they're still much less privileged than I was, and until living here and walking down 137th street every afternoon, I hadn't realized how different it must be to grow up not having your summers and non-school-time mapped out for you.

There's a part of me, the part of me that's still nine years old, that says, “Cool!” And I don't dare suggest that it would be better for them to be worked half to death (and sometimes all the way) like the Korean kids most of us taught or still teach.

But it's clear to me, from this study and just from looking at the situation recently, that these kids simply haven't been given the opportunity to continue growing at a time when they really ought to be. There's a lot to be said for letting kids be kids and having fun outside – healthier than sitting on the couch and eating all day I suppose – but as much as I may have whined at the time, the 8,000 camps I was sent to as a youngster (basketball, baseball, writing, math, computers... I'm making myself look so cool, I know) may have done me a great deal more benefit than I realized at the time. (Funny how parents often know more than we do...)

You interact with different groups of kids, you're forced to work with and socialize with people who may or may not be exactly like you (callback to “Echo Chambers!”) and usually it's fun. (Sometimes it sucks.)

Far be it for me to pity them, especially since I don't really know 'em, but I think this is sort of the flipside of what we know is troublesome over in the ROK. Instead of having no free time whatsoever, these kids have way too much. And it's real easy to get yourself into trouble that way.

What can be done, though? (Feel free to answer this.) A friend of mine – who I bet will read this – mentioned how prevalent youth organizations are, and I agree that, if marketed well, you could get a lot of these kids doing things with the environment or within education or sports that would be very appealing to them, so long as some of their friends were with them. A lot of these things cost more money than they can afford, though, and most extracurricular organizations are pretty stingy with financial assistance. Thus, the cycle remains that the privileged are enriched every summer and the rest are unfortunately left behind without even realizing it.

I don't really have any solutions or advice like I usually do. I just think it's an odd state of affairs that these kids are often missing out just by having fun.

I guess the ideal would be to make it seem like doing some form of organized summer activities was just as rewarding as splashing around in the hydrant.

I'm reminded of a Chris Rock quote, where a young man comes home from getting an advanced degree, saying, “Hey man I got my Masters,” and the response is, “Oh what, I’m supposed to call you master now?” And continues on to say, “Lemme ask ya dis, lemme ask ya dis. Can you kick MY ASS?”

But hey, not everyone needs a Master's or whatever. What's clear to me is that these kids need to at least be given a chance to get up, get out, and do something new when school is out. Because that water might feel good in this heat, but it's not doing all that much for them in the long run.

Enjoy the rest of your week, folks.

Peace and love,
JustinPBG