One of my mother's friends came from the poor side of Chicago, growing up in poverty. Somehow he managed to defy his cultural destiny and became a medical doctor.

While this story is inspirational, it is not typical of young people growing up in poverty. Yes, a few can rise above it. But most can't.

If these same children were born into a middle class our upper middle class family/community, they would do much better in life.

Teachers talk about students with grit. They are ready to learn regardless of whatever the school throws at them. Mr. Hickel seems to be one of those people. But he is not typical of Grade 8 dropouts.

I'm not too sure how much blame the schools should be given. If a student comes in with a disruptive home life, there's only so much the school can do. Again, we come back to that poverty thing again.

If a student comes out of school with a Grade 10 level of reading, the person should have enough skills to gather more information. If the teacher told him lies, he has the skills to figure out those lies. If he wants. . . . .

BTW, have you read the book "Lies My Teacher Told Me"?

Why do so many people stop exploring? Why do so many people fall into right-wing or left-wing propoganda? Even people from the same school with the same teachers often go in different ideological directions. Can we really blame the school?