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Local education advocates say more parental involvement may break the high school dropout cycle, despite the fact 88 percent of low-income parents lack a diploma themselves.

"Most of the parents living here are middle and high school dropouts," said Cicely Rogers, youth coordinator of Pisgah View's Weed and Seed Initiative, and resident of Pisgah View public housing development. "They just look at themselves, see themselves and their government housing and food stamps, and they think they are just fine. They look at their kids and don't see any reason for them to go to college or graduate high school."

For those parents who desire an education for their children, the lack of communication lines deters them from being able to guide and advise their children.

"Most of the parents don't know anyone who's gone to college," Rogers said. "If they want their kids to go to college, they don't know how to push it. They have no idea how it all works, and it scares them. It's intimidating when you only made it to seventh grade, and your 10-year-old kid talks about college, and you have no clue about it."

According to Dawa Hitch, director of the Weed and Seed Initiative, parental influence may be the greatest factor in a child's motivation to obtain an education.

"There are families that discourage the children from going to college. The parents discourage them," Hitch said. "This has a huge impact on the children. Children want to please, and there's no one else they want to please more than their parents."

Despite the availability of outside programs, scholarships and assistance, the children of low-income communities foresee a bleak future due to the influences of their uneducated parents, according to Hitch.

"These kids don't believe it can happen for them," Hitch said. "They see it didn't happen for their parents. It's hard for an overworked and underpaid parent to encourage his or her child to succeed more than they did. The children just don't think college, or high school graduation for that matter, happens for people like them."

The absence of parental involvement is evident in all low-income areas, according to Hitch. The parents' disregard for their children is obvious and visible, especially to their kids.

"Last night, Isaac Dickson Elementary School had a science night here (at Pisgah View)," Rogers said. "The idea was that families and parents would come out and witness their children's science projects. Only two parents showed up."

Lack of communication with parents of low-income children may reverse the work of many education assistance programs, according to Jazz Cathcart, coordinator of YMCA's Project Youth Outreach program.

"There's a big communication gap between the programs, the children and the parents," Cathcart said. "Most of the families don't have phones, so you hope the parents are home when you drop their kids off so you can talk to them. But a lot of parents are at work or just somewhere else. And most don't show up to parent meetings or involvement activities. We just hope the kids want to keep coming here, no matter what their parents do or say."

The stigma surrounding those who become involved in education and assistance programs deters parental involvement, according to Rogers.

"I tell all my friends and family to be a part of Weed and Seed, or the community center, or the ChildrenFirst program, but they think doing that would be selling out," Rogers said. "When I first started working here I was hassled a lot, people saying I was working for the police now, the enemies. That turns a lot of people away from good things."

Because many parents lack an education, they cannot get a decent job. To make up for their meager paychecks many parents turn to illegitimate means to generate income, including drug trafficking. The presence of visible drug dealing isolates the children, according to Rogers.

"The kids are scared to play outside because of all the drug dealing on the streets," Rogers said. "All the drug dealing invites violence and guns into the neighborhood. The people who sell the drugs don't understand why they have to live in such a bad place, but they don't understand that they're the reason for that."

A drug-related shooting took place in the neighborhood two summers ago. This was one of 859 shootings which took place in 2006, according to the Asheville Police Department.

"My cousin and I were sitting on my back porch watching the kids play," Rogers said. "There was probably about 20 kids playing in the yard. Two cars came driving down the road, and the instant they passed one another they started shooting at the other. I hit the ground and started crawling around on my hands and knees trying to grab kids. Before I knew it I was in my house with about 12 kids I didn't even know."

To end the poverty cycle the stigma around higher education and program involvement must be broken, Rogers said. The children must experience success, and must see the motivation to be successful in the people of their community. This responsibility rests with the parents.

"I tell my two kids everyday I expect them to be either a doctor or a lawyer," Rogers said. "When they were younger they used to tell me they couldn't go to college, but I encourage them and tell them I expect them to be successful, and that has made all the difference."

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