Gilberto Q. Conchas and James Diego Vigil: Streetsmart Schoolsmart: Urban Poverty and the Education of Adolescent Boys

In Streetsmart Schoolsmart, authors Gilberto Conchas and James Diego Vigil examine the culture of inner city schools and the issues that frequently prevent adolescent boys from social mobility. They argue that ‘‘boys of color’’, boys who are of Black, Latino, or Asian descent, are inherently disadvantaged in the modern school system due to the color of their skin and the unique challenges that their ethnicity faces in society. Furthermore, they face the constant choice between school attendance and ‘‘street socialization’’: skipping out on school to participate in gang activities or drug and alcohol usage, among other things. Conchas and Vigil then go on to examine some programs that have worked to deter enmeshment in the ‘‘street life’’ and encourage adolescent boys to make school a priority, set goals for high school graduation and postsecondary education, and work to improve their situation. Their purpose in writing is to promote school reform and the presence of these programs that provide the extra support that at-risk urban adolescent boys need to create and pursue goals for their future. The programs highlighted in Streetsmart Schoolsmart have high success rates and seem to have a plan that works, although there is little information offered on how these plans may be widely implemented and made available to a large number of at-risk students. The focus area for the study in Streetsmart Schoolsmart is mostly the area surrounding Los Angles, CA, USA. As minority immigration to the city took place throughout the early 1900s, different ethnicities began to occupy different areas of the city and faced the struggle of maintaining cultural identity while adapting to American culture. Street gangs were a common occurrence as a way for different ethnicities to ‘‘protect their turf’’. Many of these gangs experienced an increase in criminal behavior over the years via narcotics sales and increased violence with other gangs. Parents are often forced to work low paying jobs, sometimes two, for long hours, which leaves their children largely unsupervised. Parental support is shown to have a direct relationship to their children’s success in school. Criminal street gangs recruit young, and can easily sway young boys from school attendance to gang attendance. In school, there are vast opportunities to study hard and obtain social mobility, but without strong parental support and guidance, boys have little motivation to work hard in school when they can skip and have fun with their fellow gang members. Simply put, the street life is more attractive to adolescents, and according to the authors, we need to focus on drawing them back to school to break the cycle of poverty. The authors first share the stories of three adolescent boys who ultimately chose the path of street socialization rather than a devotion to academic work. Conchas and Vigil were able to find several programs that offered incentives for young boys to stay in school. These programs were successful in encouraging those that participated that they could break the cycle of poverty and obtain social mobility of they set goals for themselves. Conchas and Vigil do not spend time analyzing the quality of schools and the standard curriculum offered to students. They use the examples of the after school programs and label them as crucial ingredients in the success of at-risk adolescent boys, not just in urban Los Angeles, but as a model that should be widespread throughout urban communities in the United States. The introductory chapter of the book presents the two concepts that fuel the rest of the book: social capital and the ‘‘boy crisis’’. Social capital is not so much about A. C. Howell (&) Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: alchowel@indiana.edu