"Teaching Tolerance in America"

In this article, by Dudley Erskine Devlin, he talks about all of the issues in high schools today. He doesn’t just talk about any problems though; it’s the problems that have been in high schools since they were started and the problems that will most likely be here to stay. The three main troubles Devlin focuses on are high school cliques, gender problems, and the differences in social classes. Devlin goes into detail about each of these problems and in the end of his article he presents solutions that could help improve these issues. Although Devlin brings up some very important and true points, overall he is being superficial about high school problems.

Most of Devlin’s article is common sense. Of course all high schools have cliques, harassment, and bullying. High schools are occupied with nothing but teenagers, which are full of backtalk, drama, and bad attitudes. All of these combined are bound to make problems no doubt about it. Some of the problems don’t even stem from the environment in high school. Racism has been a huge issue for as long as anyone can remember. It has been embedded into our heads that skin color defines a person and no one can deny it. That is never going to change. These problems exist everywhere, not just in high schools. Solving some of these problems in other places, such as elementary schools, before high schools seem more important. The kids in high schools are anywhere from 14-18 years old. They should be able to handle these types of problems better than elementary children.

As for the solutions Devlin gives, there’s nothing unique about them. Cameras, security, uniforms, same sex classes, it’s all been done before. If the kids are going to bully and harass they’re going to do it no matter what anyone does. Most kids in high school do what they what when they want because that’s their mind set. Changing what they wear or having drug dogs come in isn’t going to alter that. A lot of high school kids are rebels. When something changes that they don’t like they will break the rules. These solutions won’t help the problems that go on all the time everywhere. However, I do agree with Devlin’s last sentence about zero tolerance. When something gets grinded into a person’s head day after day they eventually will cave in and follow it. Zero tolerance would be the only way to help eliminate some of these problems in high schools. Nevertheless, unlike Devlin’s point of view, these problems will never be fully solved no matter how hard anyone tries.