High School student arrested for trying to get a college scholarship

You ever wonder what happened to those "Super Seniors" from your high school days? You know, those people who just wasn't smart enough or applied themselves well enough to graduate on time? My 16yr old who is a junior and I shared a few laughs recently when she told me the the story of this kid in her school who was due to graduate this year. According to her, dude is almost 21yrs old with a beard about as full as the rapper Rick Ross.

I told her even though it may be a running joke among her classmates, you still have to give him credit for actually being able to finish when you consider the current high school dropout rate nationally. I don't know what its going to take to solve the drop out problem nationally or more specifically among minority high school kids, but something has to be done. According to research: every nine seconds a student becomes a drop out here in the United States [click here to read more]. It's estimated that our nation’s 50 largest cities graduate only 50% of their high school students.

Dropping out of high school is just something I don't understand. Maybe things are just different now, but there was no place I would rather be than high school when I was a teenager. Well, that's with the exception of the one day a couple of friends and myself skipped school to go to this kids house to play Atari and watch porn. I had fun that day, but my ass paid for it dearly with the beating of a lifetime from my father.

BREAKING NEWS: R. Kelly is functionally illiterate - R&B star reveals that he's unable to read, but still believes he can fly

The city of Chicago has been in the news cycle a lot lately. Not to be outdone, R&B singer/song writer/producer/ Grammy Award winner R. Kelly while speaking at the Midwest Music Festival in Chicago recently came out of a trapped closet and shared with the world that he is illiterate.

Yes, not only does R. Kelly believe he can fly; he’s also unable to read:

"When I was trying to make it out here, I already knew, and I was stubborn about it," he said. "I don't even read really and I'm not afraid to say that. My cousins and brothers used to tease me 'you can't even read right. How you think you're going to come up?' The only reason I graduated from grammar school is because I had a great jump shot. I went to high school and [my teacher] told me 'you will one of the greatest writers of all time.' I believed. You [have to] believe it. You can't believe [anything] if you're hating. You can't achieve [anything] if you're hating." [Source]

Wow, so that explains why he never checked the ID of the then 14yr old with whom he had sex on tape. Oops, my bad, that wasn’t him; I forgot. Dammit R. Kelly! It's bad enough that you're forty something years old wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle mask and cornrows, and now you tell us you can't read?!! Now I don’t know if what was said above was the centerpiece of the message to the kids. But I’m kinda concerned that he chose to tell them to stop “hating” or else they won’t get anywhere in life. I’m surprised he never gave them the “stay in school,” or “learn to read,” message? Nope, none of that; just believe you can fly and you will only if you don’t hate on anybody. Oh yeah, and it also helps if you have a good jump shot; can't forget that one. It's a wonder he didn't tell them to learn how to rap.

Somebody keep this fool away from kids.

Literacy in America is an often overlooked issue, and it is a major problem. Somehow, as damaged as R. Kelly's image has become. As much as I hate to say it, nobody sees his deficiency as a tragedy; he peed on a 14yr old for crying out loud! From this day forth, nobody will ever remember that he's unable to read. Instead, all we'll remember is that he should be in prison for statutory rape. Which is really sad when you think about it, because there are a lot of kids in Chicago and across the country unable to read, and who never will be; children who will never be as financially successful as the Pied Piper of R&B.

QUESTION: Is illiteracy and incurable disease or educational malpractice?