Guilt, Graduates and Gangs
June 16th, 2007
There’s a billboard in the depressed part of town with an interesting message. “If you graduate, it is like your mother also succeeds.”
The words seem meant to make a teenager feel guilty enough to stay in school and graduate. Looking deeper, the real meaning goes to the heart of the ghetto / barrio family - which is that the mother is the heart of the family. She is often times the only parent in the home, and she is well loved. She may have even had to quit school to become the mother of the would-be graduate.
All of that would bring up a wish to please her, make her proud, and give her such a great gift. The message also seems like it would be very effective in keeping more teenagers in school.
Hmm. Why is it that these same feelings do not keep many teenagers from joining gangs?

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