Today we took the morning to watch Hoop Dreams, a documentary following the path of two young boys, William Gates and Arthur Agee, who dreamed of becoming professional basketball players. As we followed their two different paths through high school, we saw how important family was to them, role of the school, and the community they grew up in.
As we watched the journeys of these two boys, it made me think about how sports are seen in our society as a whole. Playing basketball at the high school level was called a “career” numerous times throughout the movie. When William gets hurt, it is almost seen as if he doesn’t have a future, unless his knee can be fixed.
I see school as a place to prepare students for their future. I don’t think either of these boys was prepared for their future. They were always thinking basketball and never thought of other career options. They didn’t want to follow in the paths of their fathers, but when it seemed that times were tough, would they follow through with their plans.
William was given the opportunity to succeed in a private high school because of his abilities, while Arthur was sent back to the public school when he didn’t meet expectations. We have been talking a lot about school choice. By creating competition through school choice, how does this affect the quality and type of education provided to students and the students personally?
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I really liked how the movie really puts into perspective the kind of pressures these kids are under. Also taking a look at all the people involved in Williams life that helped him get to college. I think those kind of people helping him really was a huge influence on his life. He became a priest, which is really about helping people. Also he had a leg up in becoming a priest by going to St. Joes.
ReplyDeleteThe movie was interesting to see the two very different paths that William and Arthur took. William seemed to be more skilled in basketball and therefore was helped through school while Arthur was kicked out of the school because he didn't meet expectations. Through this movie, you could start to see the effects of school choice. If everyone had the opportunity to send their student to the school of their choice, there would be a huge degree of competition among students. School choice allows parents to send their students to the best schools or the best sports programs. The competition is steep and the pressure the students face is high. If students face too much pressure it begins to effect their school work, as was seen with William. By allowing school choice, how does the competition and the stress/pressure to perform well effect a student's education?
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