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Thursday, July 13, 2006
Don’t Say ‘Ain’t’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Earlier this week I wrote a story about the Atlanta charter school Achieve Academy facing closure. I wanted to talk about the comments I got from an eighth-grade student.
Zicuria Ussery told me she likes the charter school because students are not allowed to use slang. “We use standard English all the time.”
She said students get dinged using improper English, and that could keep them from earning privileges. She and other students became so aware of their speech that they started correcting parents at home, a parent told me, laughing. The parent then said African-American students often revert back to the slang when talking to neighborhood friends. But she said she was glad her children were learning the importance of standard English.
Zicuria wrapped up her interview by telling me she went to the charter school because, “I wanted to be around students who want to be a success in life.”
She sees a link between speaking proper English and success, which I found wise for a 12-year-old.
Teachers, do you correct your students’ speech? Are you afraid to for fear of getting into a debate with parents over why kids should learn the queen’s English? Do you feel like you don’t have time to be grammar police? Parents, do you think proper speech should be enforced at school? And obviously folks it’s not just African-American kids who speak poorly…
