Friday, March 16, 2012

Blog 8: Give Somalia Children Protection and Education


In Adan Abdi’s classroom, his students do not seem at all interested in their education.  They do find interest in running around pretending to shoot a gun.  These acts the students carry out are mainly due to the constant violence they witness every day. Somalia is known for their militant violence.  The students see people carrying guns all the time and some of their friends have been trained to fight in armed groups and some forced.  This conflict is a distraction from student’s education and the reason why a lot of students do not receive their basic education.  It is estimated that about one-third of the young kids of Somalia are enrolled in primary school.  Abdi thinks that they need to put more emphasis on education in order to steer them down the right path.
This is a major social problem in education especially for countries that are in constant warfare.  Young children are being steered away from their education into military forces as child soldiers.  The sad thing about this issue is that the students in schools of Somalia are not interested in their education, they want to shoot guns.  This shows that the students are not getting quality education.  The students are probably bored in class and are being led toward things that seem exciting.  Classrooms altogether are moving away from teaching the whole child.  Good quality education does not only mean teaching math and reading, but teaching life skills.  School should be an interactive learning experience and not just teacher-focused and all eyes on the instructor.  The same issues that are going on in Somalia, in a different aspect, are going on in America as we speak.  In Compton, California for example, students are not receiving quality education that interests them so they then resort to involving themselves in gangs and illegal selling of drugs.  Students everywhere are being drawn in by outside sources because the education system is failing to invest more in education.  More programs need to be implemented in schools and teaching students basic principles are needed.  The education system needs to extend outside of the book and provide better quality education to all students.


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