by Aziah Siid
Thanks to social media, we get to see the kids of celebrities grow up — and grow into entertainment careers. Now North West is the latest young Black child of celebs to jump into the music business.
The 10-year-old daughter of Kanye West — now known as Ye — and Kim Kardashian announced last week while on stage with her dad that she’s working on her debut album, titled “Elementary School Dropout.” Since then, the new artist gave her first interview about the album at Rolling Loud, stating it’s “gonna be great.”
West first interview at Rolling Loud since announcing her debut album
But should parents of school-age kids worry or laugh? The title’s a tongue-in-cheek, catchy homage to her father’s 2004 smash album “The College Dropout” — but in the real world, many Black kids are caught up in a crisis of school absenteeism.
But should parents of school-age kids worry or laugh? The title’s a tongue-in-cheek, catchy homage to her father’s 2004 smash album “The College Dropout” — but in the real world, many Black kids are caught up in a crisis of school absenteeism.
Many Students Aren’t Regularly Going to School Anymore
As Word In Black has previously reported, the percent of kids who are chronically absent — missing at least 10% of a school year — jumped from 15% in 2018 to 29% in 2022. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, Black students were among those 40 to 50% more likely to miss three weeks of school or more than their white peers
How bad is the situation in some places? Well, in Detroit in 2022 “two-thirds of Detroit students missed at least one of every 10 school days last year, essentially one day every two weeks.” The statistic reflects the dozens of other inner city schools suffering from the same issues.
These figures are particularly worrisome at the elementary school level.
Studies show that when students lose instructional time, they’re less likely to read at grade level and be proficient in math, which means they’ll likely be tracked into lower level courses the rest of their academic career. Research also shows chronically absent kids are also less likely to graduate from high school, which — if they’re not the kids of wealthy celebrities — sets them up for lifelong struggle.
Chronic absenteeism has been linked to worse outcomes in life, including poverty, diminished health, and involvement in the criminal justice system.
Of course, celeb kids don’t often have normal lives. After all, honorary uncles and aunties watched then 11-year-old Blue Ivy Carter dance alongside Les Twins during her mom Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour last year. But even Queen B didn’t have Blue on stage until the end of May 2023, when the school year was nearly at an end.
As wealthy people with access to exclusive schools, Kim, Ye, and North probably have no clue about the absenteeism crisis impacting ordinary Black students. And who knows if North’s album will ever drop, or if her peers will listen to it. But one thing’s for sure: most Black kids don’t have the millions — or, in North’s case — billions of dollars that make dropping out even an option.
