Oklahoma, The Literary Dump
Tulsa-born author S.E. Hinton is a hero and one of the most beloved literary heroes for schools nationwide. She is the author who had her classic tale of social division for teens in the 1950s win her much praise when she published it at the tender age of sixteen. Muskogee, a small country bumpkin town in Oklahoma, failed to acknowledge her and her great American portrayal of the town and time era in which she grew up. Let me tell you, folks, this is a crime.
I went to middle school in my home state of Washington in the US. We indulged in The Outsiders when we were in the sixth grade, where we had the incentive of viewing the wonderful movie adaptation of the novel which featured an all-star cast of Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, and Diane Lane, with the theme being sung by music legend, Stevie Wonder. This film was great back then and still is today. When I had popped it into my blu-ray player today to watch it once again, I researched this writer I had idolized for years on end. I discovered she was born in Tulsa and that her books all had taken place there. I turned to my wife, who was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, asked her if she had enjoyed reading the book in school. She then looked at me strange, and said she didn't study the book at any grade level. This is a real tragedy, as of course I am a journalist and a young adult author. So what has led to the meltdown of public education in America's homestead?
Other problems remain with the Muskogee educational system. My wife's Latin class had such a poor teacher, the teacher's name being Melony Carey, that she failed to identify English as a Latin derivative. What has made this state become a land of intellectually deprived citizens? Without proper teaching of English and the failure to honor their heroes such as S. E. Hinton, we can expect to see SAT scores of Oklahoma students continue to finish in the bottom half of the nation for years to come. As the alchemist witch, I assert the fact that my intelligence comes from my will to pursue literary classics such as The Outsiders. Its message has struck a permanent mark on my heart and taught a long lasting message to my mind. I am intelligent because of great women like mighty S. E. Hinton. Will Oklahoma take this challenge I am giving them to improve their children's poor educational system?
Trust me, Oklahoma may be a waste of space, but is more a waste of many minds. We cannot let poor educational systems like the ones in Muskogee, Oklahoma exist any longer. We must make an open challenge to their educational system and all of the ones that exist in the United States to improve the broken system we have teaching the impressionable young minds that are our future. Other countries make it mandatory to know multiple languages. People in towns like Muskogee barely even know one. Demand a stronger educational system with me and urge states to honor their great minds of today and yesterday. Ciao!
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