Inner-City “Schoolboy” Life

Abstract

Academically oriented young males, or “schoolboys,” who reside in inner-city communities are often required to choose between their home and their school and are at risk of becoming alienated from either community, with far-reaching and dire consequences. The two cultures are often mutually antagonistic, and most students are severely challenged when trying to maintain a balance. The author uses relevant insights from his own childhood to approach his ongoing research with African American male students in a college preparatory magnet high school in Philadelphia.