Documentary: American Promise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think Dalton failed the kids. I think it was a poor fit for both kids and the parents were more concerned about prestige than they were about how it would impact their kids. Those kids would have been far better off in a regular school with support services. Dalton tried by giving more tutoring and suggested early on they get evaluated. The psychiatrist dad was in full denial. It was about him, not his son.

Agreed. Dad's response to the college acceptances showed it was all about them (the parents) than it was about the kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess the parents didn't really like the alternative. I can see how Idris' father would look down on a public school in Brooklyn or wherever they lived.

They were sending Idris to school on the upper east side. I'm certain they could've found another alternative outside of Brooklyn if there weren't any in their borough. There are LOTS of good diverse schools in NY-both public and private-they could've chosen from. Of course, Dalton has the most prestige. The few similarly prestigious schools would have likely rejected him if he was struggling at a sister school.

Madonna's daughter is at a highly regarded public school in NY.

[Anonymous]

My best friend from college was from a similar background like Idris and his family. I think there is a upper class, AA culture in NYC that drove parents like the Brewsters that they did not mention in the film. The kids are all in "Jack and Jill" and attend elite private schools. Summered in Martha's Vineyard. My BF attended an elite private boarding school as did all her siblings. Her mother was a Yale educated MD and her dad a school administrator from an immigrant family. All the kids ended up going to Princeton and Stanford for undergrad and NYU and Georgetown for law schools and Yale for Medical school. I always wondered what it would have been like to be an underachiever in her family. Watching AP, now I know. It makes the parents "crazy".

[Anonymous]

Will PBS air this again. If so, any idea when? TIA

[Anonymous]

It was on as "POV" which features doumentaries from independent filmmakers. It maybe on or become available on Netflicks and Amazon if you don't want to watch it on the PBS website where it is available until March 6.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/americanpromise/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think Dalton failed the kids. I think it was a poor fit for both kids and the parents were more concerned about prestige than they were about how it would impact their kids. Those kids would have been far better off in a regular school with support services. Dalton tried by giving more tutoring and suggested early on they get evaluated. The psychiatrist dad was in full denial. It was about him, not his son.

Dalton didn't fail these boys. Their parents did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess the parents didn't really like the alternative. I can see how Idris' father would look down on a public school in Brooklyn or wherever they lived.

I'm sure there was more than one alternative. Come on. This whole thing is about the parents and their narcissism, isn't it?

[Anonymous]

Is it difficult to diagnose ADHD? If not, why did Idris' dad initially dismiss it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it difficult to diagnose ADHD? If not, why did Idris' dad initially dismiss it?

Because he had "seen a few children with ADHD" and Idris didn't have it.

[Anonymous]

I read that Idris' mom was born and lived in Haiti. I was surprised. At first, I thought she was caucasian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was on as "POV" which features doumentaries from independent filmmakers. It maybe on or become available on Netflicks and Amazon if you don't want to watch it on the PBS website where it is available until March 6.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/americanpromise/

It comes on PBS tonight at 11. I've already set my DVR.

[Anonymous]

Just watched it. Idris' parents were brutal.

[Anonymous]

https://medium.com/race-class/3e6c6b713840

American Promise, therefore, is really a film about two African American boys who attend an elite private school and struggle there, not primarily because of socio-cultural issues, but because they have clinically diagnosed learning disabilities. The problem: filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson do not seem to understand that this is the central issue in their son’s story.

[Anonymous]

The documentary started with 5 kids -- 3 girls and 2 boys. THe three girls all "Dropped out" -- I wonder does that mean out of the documentary, or out of school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The documentary started with 5 kids -- 3 girls and 2 boys. THe three girls all "Dropped out" -- I wonder does that mean out of the documentary, or out of school?

Maybe both. Though I got the impression they dropped out of the documentary. I believe they said two of the kids dropped out in elementary school. Besides, Seun dropped out of Dalton but continued with the documentary.

The article at 7:22 was a good read.