The Wire and Education

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDg4U2jYXgw

I don't watch a lot of television. I have, within this past year, been turned on to the HBO series, "The Wire". It is on it's last season, with only three episodes left, so to try and tune in this Sunday evening, you probably wouldn't be able to know what is going on. Last season was all about the school system in Baltimore. This show is blunt and brutal, but it tells it like it is. It doesn't hide behind commercial breaks, and it doesn't spare feelings. David Simon has created an amazing masterpiece in the last few years, but because society doesn't want to admit to it's rapidly decreasing inner city school systems, not much positive press will be and has been given to this series.

I was wondering this past week how Allan Bloom (and others who believe that all music, cinema, film, etc. haven't produced anything good in the last few decades) would react to this. This you tube segment shows how the series delves into social promotion, lack of student care, and the fact that school and state only want to achieve numbers, and the students get swept under the rug and passed on without the blink if an eye. The one thing I was disappointed with was that the clip didn't show was how the season also goes into the political aspect of the schools and how money is dispersed and taken away from schools in a matter of seconds.

One would not have to watch seasons 1-3 to watch season 4, but I recommend them all. From the dialogue to the immense detail that goes into every character, Simon leaves no rock unturned to bring to light the sides of society that people, that educators, the school administrations, the government, and sadly, society don't want to admit exist.


(***In the clip, there are a few curse words, but as it is a show from a realistic standpoint, my apologies for offending anyone.***)