The value of parents

As mentioned in my previous post, Abby's National Honor Society induction ceremony was tonight. Abby (along with her Junior classmates) was called to the stage to receive her membership card and to recite the pledge of the NHS. There were also approximately 90 Seniors recognized. Each Senior was called to the stage where a short bio was read. The bio included the names of the parents, the extracurricular activities the student was involved in, the scholarships he/she had received and the college he/she will be attending. Aside from some VERY impressive bios, one thing stood out above all else. When the names of the parents were read, almost without fail the student had two parents and those parents had the same last name as the student. I mention this because of the contrast of these students with those students I teach. Completely opposite of what I experienced tonight, my students almost without fail come from single parent homes, have different last names than their parents and often have siblings with different last names as well. Do you think it's a coincidence that the students from two parent homes are the ones going to places like Purdue and Indiana University? One student also received a full ride to Princeton and another a full ride to MIT. I don't think this is coincidental at all. My students on the other hand will mostly follow a completely different path. My students come from circumstances of poverty. Most receive some form of government assistance (welfare, free lunch etc...). Many will continue the cycle of poverty and most won't go on to any other levels of higher education (some will even drop out). All of this tells me one thing. A child growing up with two supportive parents stands a much better chance of achieving success than students coming from poverty. That's not to say some of my students won't go on to be successful (they will), but by and large these kids are born behind the eight ball and usually stand very little chance of ever catching up to their more affluent counterparts. Having loving, supportive parents is invaluable to a child and tonight's ceremony was concrete evidence of that.