What's More Important:  Materialism or Education?

k, it's that time of year again, the official start of the holiday shopping season.  Kids are putting together their Christmas wish lists.  But before you head to the mall, to the strip, to Wal-Mart or to Circuit City; let me suggest something:  Do not only buy your children what they want, buy them what they need.  The 2004 Merchandise and Spending survey conducted by the American Association of Retailers reported that 91% of inner city kids (Note: this survey was conducted in fifteen urban cities and the kids were asked an assortment of questions) wanted Nike shoes or Throw-back jerseys for Christmas.

Before you buy that $292 Donovan McNabb authentic NFL jersey or those $100 Forces (Nike Air Force Ones) or S. Dots (Jay-Z sneakers), let us be revisited by the ghost of wisdom past, from last spring, and hear again the words of Bill Cosby.

He was roundly applauded and criticized for speaking harshly to and about poor black families who aren't working to better themselves and their children.  “Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal, he said.  These people are not parenting.  They are buying things for kids ----$500 sneakers for what?”  And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.”

His message hovers at a time when the digital divide between haves and have-nots continues to cost poor kids opportunities.  His message hovers over the year's biggest shopping day, a time when parents spend hundreds of dollars on sneakers and jerseys and CDs and video games like “Grand Theft Auto” instead of hundreds of dollars on books and computers.

If you choose not to listen to Bill Cosby, or to me, listen instead to your children's teachers.  Listen to your children's needs instead of their wants.  If your family is having hard times, if your children's grades are the pits but they're asking for “bling-bling” instead of tutoring, do not buy them what they want.  Buy them a computer or time with a tutor or extra books.  There is nothing worse to see than children whose family income qualifies them for free lunch standing in the cafeteria line wearing an outfit that costs $600.  Yeah, they look good.  But their language is atrocious.  They don't know who the governor is in their state.  And they cannot string along enough sentences to write a one-page paper. 

Please, parents don't sell your food stamps to buy Nikes for your children's feet.  Love your children enough to make the hard choices for them.  They're children.  They're not accountable.  The parents who need this message most probably are not reading this article.  But if you are someone who works with parents and know they need a message from the spirit of wisdom past, then tell them that some tutoring costs only $25 an hour or $100 a month.  Tell them that if their kids can wear Rocawear, they can rock over to the English teacher to learn that “ain't” isn't a word.  Tell them to prepare their children to write essays, which have been the staples of high school and college classes and will become requirements for standardized tests. The parents should tell their children that many times our future is defined by the marks we make in the classroom and the lessons taught at home.

Today is a great day to start again.  If parents want their children to one day get a job, qualify for a loan, be given a chance to rise in society, tell them not to buy the stuff that makes them look cool.  Instead, buy the stuff that makes them successful. May God continue to bless you and yours throughout the holidays.

These are my personal thoughts and opinions. They do not represent Northside High School or those individuals associated with the planning and creation of the Alumni website. Nothing in this commentary was intended to embarrass or offend anyone.