Jesus Loves the Little Children

Christmas break is a wonderful time full of cheer, thankfulness, and relentless questions from your family regarding your life choices. Yeah, all you young adults know exactly what I'm talking about and I'm positive it drives you nuts too. But for me, the questions I get about my life choices don't just offend me because I don't yet have a solid life plan and just want to be young and left alone, they offend me because most of the questions I receive are asked from a place of prejudice and privilege.

Now I know what you're thinking, 'I would never ask someone a question like that!" Well let me give you some examples and maybe we can all learn to love each other just a little bit more. But first let me give you some background about why these questions are asked in the first place.

My dream job is to work as a special education teacher in an under priviledged inner city school. 

Yep, you read that right, I want to work where no one else does and help students who otherwise wouldn't get the help they deserve. So let's take a look at some classic examples of questions that shouldn't be asked and things that shouldn't be said.

"Be careful. You could get shot you know." 

Here's a fun fact, you as a human being run the risk of being shot each and every day you wake up and go outside. So you're right, I could get shot at school or I could get shot at the grocery store, and so could you. By assuming I'm at an increased risk of being assaulted just because I'm at an inner city school is only continuing the stigma that low income children are more violent than their wealthier peers. Let's not be so prejudice and try to see the child for who they are and not the community they come from.

"Wouldn't you like it better teaching in a nice school district?" 

No. The answer is simply no. I wouldn't want to teach in a "nice school district" because there really is no such thing. Every school district has its struggles and problem students and each teacher faces a new battle everyday regardless of where they're employed. If you're trying to say a wealthier school districts are the same as a better school district that's simply not true. I would argue that the amount of money a school has doesn't determine it's quality, the school's teachers do.

"You know the parents won't care right?"

I'm going to share a little secret with you, there are parents everywhere who don't care and will never care. It matters not what race they are or how much money they have, if a parent wants to be invested in their child's life they will be and if not, they won't. The more we continue the stereotype of families in poverty being families who don't care, the more difficult it will be for the children to break the cycle.

"We need good teachers outside of the city too."

Whenever I hear this comeback I have to agree, yes you're right we do need good teachers outside of the city. I would take it a step further though and say we need good teachers everywhere! Just because someone feels they are called to teach to underprivileged students doesn't make them any less of a good teacher. The students they are teaching may not have access to all the early childhood programs other communities have and may be extremely behind, which is why if I want to be a good teacher anywhere I want to serve those who need help the most.

"You won't see results." 

This is the sentence that saddens me the most. The kids that attend inner city schools are no different than your children and each and everyone of them is capable of succeeding in life. My goal as a special ed teacher is not to create students who are succeeding by societies standards but rather succeeding by their own standards. If their goal is to tie their own shoes that's great! If it's to build a nuclear reactor that's great! I'd like to see us stop with the discrimination against special needs and underprivileged children. They're no different than an average student and they deserve the best education and that is what I plan to give them.

It makes me incredibly sad to hear so many different people react negatively to my choice to serve impoverished children of large cities. Let me be frank, Jesus loves those kids you're talking about and so do I. We are called to serve the least of these and that's exactly what these children are. Inner city schools are my mission field and I'm following God as He has called me to serve and teach these children. If we continue to stereotype students of impoverished urban communities the cycle of poverty and crime will not end. The school system is for many, the only way out. So the next time you see a child, or any person for that matter, in an urban poverty stricken community I encourage you not to look at them the way society does but rather look at them the way God does. They are precious in his sight because Jesus loves all the little children of the world.