Waiting For Superman Analysis

What a Child Needs

A child is influenced by their surroundings, but is even more influenced by someone they idolize. In both essays we analyzed, and the documentary, there was one common theme that stuck out. There was always a role model that showed them right or wrong. For Alexie, it was his father, an adamant reader. For Rose, it was Jack McFarland, an accomplished scholar, and in the documentary Waiting For Superman, each child that Guggenheim followed had a guardian that expressed compassion and encouragement towards getting a better education. Anthony had his grandmother, Gloria. Daisy had her dad, Jose. Francisco had his mother, Maria. A child needs someone to push them in the right direction, someone who will set a high expectation

Whether it’s playing video games, creating art, or reading, a child will absorb their surroundings and take interest in it. In Sherman Alexie’s essay, he mentioned that his dad always had books “stacked in crazy piles in the bathroom, bedrooms, and living room.” (Alexie) Having easy access to books as a child, and seeing someone his father invest so much time into reading, lead Alexie to pick up reading. Being influenced by your surroundings can have a negative impact as well. Young kids who are surrounded by drugs, depression, and a lack of a proper school system statistically do not make it very far in life; however this is not always the case. In the documentary Waiting For Superman, the families that Guggenheim followed lived in some of the most depressed, ghetto areas in the United States, where dropout rates for high schools have reached upwards of 60 percent. But these kids were not out selling drugs or joining gangs. They were at home studying, reading, fighting for a better future. One thing all of these kids had in common was someone who cared about them and their future. The influence a single person can make on a child is tremendous, and the influence does not have to come from the

Any adult can influence a young person to self-regulate. “We all recognized MacFarland’s considerable intelligence and respected the hours he put into his work.” (Rose) MacFarland’s students respected him, and the amount of work he put into his job; because of this, his students dedicated more time for homework and studying to keep up with the amount of work he had assigned them. MacFarland responded to Rose’s hard work by taking his role as a teacher one step farther. “Listen, you can write.” (Rose) Is what MacFarland told Rose near the end of the essay, inspiring Rose to pursue a four-year college degree; although Rose received a rejection letter from USC and UCLA, MacFarland made some calls to Loyola University, where Rose was later