Tatiana Reina (pictured at left) wanted to graduate in the worst way — and she did.
Ordinarily, a student’s graduation would be applauded and presented as an achievement and symbol of perseverance, but not in Reina’s case. The 21-year-old Reina was enrolled at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., for six years. Her grades and attendance records were abysmal, replete with missing classes and failing grades. In 2007, she even faked her graduation, sneaking into the commencement line panoplied in cap and gown.
Although she had ample time to complete her high school graduation requierements, Reina did not hold up her end of the bargain. She did not attend the majority of her classes. The standard for graduation is to attend at least 90 percent of one’s classes. Even when she was confronted with “aging out” or being too old for the school system this year, she rec eived another chance and still did not attend the required amount of classes.
Yet Principal Jacqueline Boswell still allowed Reina to graduate.
According to the New York Post in June, Reina showed up for the last five days and was given some health and chemistry assignments in the guidance office,” where “She sat at a computer and Googled her answers.” The Post also states that “teachers were pressured into giving Reina — and a half-dozen other failing students — minimally passing grades of 65, the equivalent of a D, to get the credits needed to graduate.”
In Knoxville, Tenn., incoming top 100-freshman receiver Da’Rick Rogers was charged and detained after an early morning bar fight that left police officer Robert Capouellez unconscious on the street. Witnesses have alleged that while the officer was down, Rogers and others repeatedly kicked the officer in the head.
It is strange that people — not all, but some — do not appreciate the value of an education nor put forth the effort to maximize opportunities when proffered. Reina could have easily gone to class and studied just as Rodgers could have valued a scholarship to a major Division I school. However, neither exhibited behavior that indicated appreciation, but rather acted as if it was their right to graduate in the former case or attend college in the latter.
We often point fingers at the institutions rather than the individuals. The fact is, many of us spend more time chasing or being the big booty girl in the VIP section of the club, than studying, helping our youth value education, or assisting our kids with homework. –torrance stephens, ph.d.
For more with Dr. Stephens, visit twitter.com/rawdawgbuffalo and rawdawgb.blogspot.com.
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