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Savannah, GA mayor Otis Johnson gave the original participants in the inaugural San Antonio Conversation on Education something to take back home with them at the end of the day -- a vision for the children in San Antonio.

San Antonio's first Conversation on Education was held Nov. 14 at Second Baptist Church. More than 100 people participated in all or part of the seven hour forum that sought answers to producing more successful children in San Antonio area public schools. Participants included retired and present educators, school administrators, local churches, the NAACP Education Committee, Delta Sigma Theta and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sororities and concerned members of the community.

In his speech, Dr. Johnson outlined the prerequisites for successful children: a safe place, a healthy start, a caring adult, a marketable skill and a chance to serve.

The vision for children stated, “Every child should be born healthy, be secure from neglect and abuse and become a literate, productive, economically, self sustaining citizen.
Speaking to an audience that numbered as many at 100 people at times, Dr. Johnson outlined the prerequisites for successful children: a safe place, a healthy start, a caring adult, a marketable skill and a chance to serve.
“Whatever we become is a combination of nature and nurture,” the former social worker and college dean explained. “Nurture is where we really have control-- the family, economic system, government and school.”
He went a step further, outlining the role of each of these entity. The family, he said, teaches early language and social skills, values and norms. An example given of when the family fails in its role was the number of African-American and Hispanic children who have limited vocabularies because they are not read to at home.
He assigned schools the responsibility of teaching cognitive skills, cultural and social values and workforce skills and the church’s role was teaching mores and social rituals. A child’s peer group was the major influencer of lifestyle and behavior.
Dr. Johnson also led Conversation participants through a list of the top five influences in the lives of youth in 1950, 1980 and today.
In 1950 and 1980, the home was listed by youth as their major influence. Today, the home is listed as number 4.
1950’s list was home, school, church, peers and television. In 1980, school moved from number 2 to number 4 and church moved from number 3 to number 5, where it remains with today’s youth.
However, today’s youth list their peers as their number one influence, followed by rap. School is no longer on the list
Dr. Johnson gave the reason for the change as a decline in parental involvement, increased exposure to negative media and cultural exposure, a decline in adult expectations, a lack of understanding of cultural diversity and learning styles and a lack of positive influences.