This 2011 photo from an article in Stanford Magazine was taken when I was teaching inner-city students at Media College Preparatory High School in Oakland, California.
I came to agree with the experiment’s conclusion that: people will take on the role-characteristics that society places upon them. I realized that many of my poor, gang-affected students fell into that trap — despite having opportunities to break out of their society-pressured role.
The classroom behind me in the photo is in just a little worse condition than the classroom I taught in. The security bars were intended to prevent break-ins, but just before my last year of teaching, two break-ins occurred and most of my students’ computers and other electronics were stolen.
