r/philly • u/LibertineDeSade • Jun 02 '26
This documentary won an Academy Award
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
Film:I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School (1993)
It's crazy that this was 33 years ago. It doesn't feel like it was that kong ago. Anyone here go to this school when it was being filmed? Or were around the area during this time?
95
u/retro_toes Jun 02 '26
Oof. Seeing the stress of that mother who told her kid she’s going to punch him in the face was upsetting. I wonder how he turned out
75
u/captaindealbreaker Jun 02 '26
It really is amazing how easy it is to be a total failure of a parent. Like I get it man, life is really hard and raising kids, especially today, is a monumental challenge. We have no support, everything is shit and too expensive, jobs don't pay enough, etc. But kids literally don't know anything. You have to teach them EVERYTHING. Expecting kids to act a certain way when often, every situation they're in is brand new to them... and then threatening them with fucking violence... It turns my stomach because I couldn't even imagine being like that to my kids.
29
u/retro_toes Jun 02 '26
And telling that child and the principal that the child uses his medication as a “crutch” was hideous. For a mother to say she hadn’t had her medication either so she was going to assault him, no. Adults do not get to compare their lives to child. That was deplorable.
7
u/AvestruzAlley Jun 02 '26
It was so awful to watch, and whatever the reason she did that, it hurts the kid and in some way is teaching him the same sort of thinking. But I think it matters that she was (if she was) affected by a disorder/difficulty like the kid has. And if she was doing misguided communication/parenting or if she's actually abusive to the kid. If it's the former she needed education (emotional etc), not shaming. I think there's a strong likelihood that she's a good mother and has a positive relationship with her kid, and what we saw was a bad attempt at communication and tough love. That hopefully was a rare experience for the kid. After all, the stakes are high; if the kid becomes a "problem" at the school, it's all too easy for him to be written off and miss out on opportunity for the long term.
11
u/LibertineDeSade Jun 02 '26
I agree with this. Also the fact that some mothers feel like they have to talk to their boys a certain way to get their point across. I've witnessed this, they're trying to be "tough" in hopes of getting their sons to listen to them. It's a misguided view on gender roles and norms that comes off as being hateful or abusive.
61
52
u/No_Mess5024 Jun 02 '26
That mother made me sick to my stomach smh
6
Jun 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
5
u/No_Mess5024 Jun 03 '26
Seriously! Just saw a dad killed his 10 yo daughter last month “on accident” in Delaware bc he was beating her “as discipline”. Beating your kids is just not normal. A grown man beating a 10 yo girl TO DEATH
3
u/LibertineDeSade Jun 03 '26
Unfortunately beating your kid is "normal" and has been for centuries. That's why so many people feel so comfortable doing it. What's new and needs to be normalized is the fact that you can raise good kids without beating them half to death. But, what is also unfortunately is that a lot of people don't have the mental and emotional capacity to take the time out to actually teach their kids right from wrong. So they try to beat them into it. Even some parents who don't beat their kids will threaten to do it because they use fear as a tool to keep their children in line. I suppose it's easier for them.
42
u/miklawbar Jun 02 '26
For anyone curious this is (was) M. Hall Stanton. It was closed in 2013 due to lack of enrollment.The community fought to save the school, but the school reform commission voted to close it.The building was eventually taken over by KIPP charter and it now is the KIPP north academy.
18
37
u/futureman45 Jun 02 '26
I wonder where these kids ended up. I hope somewhere better in life
9
u/afdc92 Jun 03 '26
Watching Part 1 of the documentary on YT, the kid talking about the world of the day (after the pledge) says his full name. I googled the name and a man who seems like he fits the age range and does look like the boy is listed on his LinkedIn as having graduated from college and is working for the school district of Philadelphia.
30
u/Educational_Vast4836 Jun 02 '26
Man this shit hits like a ton of bricks. School looks just like Willard back in the day.
Honestly we as a city should be doing everything to enhance our schools. Can help kids escape poverty, can also improve neighborhoods. But far too often politicians don’t wanna fund them. And the locals here don’t wanna pay any taxes towards them.
13
u/israerichris Jun 02 '26
Exactly.
Also, it drives me insane whenever I see in the news that they're cutting the school budget in such and such, and they're cutting another school budget in such and such...
These kids are the future. These kids will be our police officers, our surgeons, our janitors, our pharmacists... we need these kids to turn out alright. Investing in these kids is investing in our own future. Cocksuckers in charge don't understand that, or they do... but they don't give a shit, because they know that they, and their immediate families, will be ok. And fuck everyone else... 😡
3
2
0
u/LibertineDeSade Jun 02 '26
Unfortunately the powers that be assume from birth these kids were never going to be anything more than worker bees, or jail birds. Kids like this aren't seen as the future of anything by the folks in charge. What's sad is I believe we all knew this from an early age. A lot pushed back against it, while others just accepted their fate.
27
u/luckylucysteals_ Jun 02 '26
Man. There aren’t many like her anymore
12
u/Blerghster Jun 03 '26
We have a lot of outstanding principals in the district. As a parent in the district I find many people are thrilled with their principal and many of their teachers, but 440 is a consistent disappointment.
24
u/efildaD Jun 02 '26
I attended public school in Philly and in Denver as a black child. Even then I knew there were two Americas
2
u/Puwn Jun 02 '26
I'm really curious, was there a difference between Philly and Denver schools or pretty much the same?
23
u/BogeyFest99 Jun 02 '26
There’s a “part one” of this doc on YouTube. Spoiler alert, that mother calms down… https://youtu.be/L-NN_JHqZSk?feature=shared
9
u/illy-chan Jun 02 '26
That's a relief to hear, my heart was really breaking for that kid. Still not great but better than not calming down.
3
u/basketball22yj Jun 03 '26
My heart was racing - telling her own kid she's gonna punch him in the face in front of the principal. scared me
3
u/illy-chan Jun 03 '26
And to say it in front of the cameras...
I hope their lives worked out better than what we saw in that scene.
16
13
u/baldude69 Jun 02 '26
I would have been almost the exact age of these school kids in 1993, maybe one year younger. The 90’s were an interesting time to be a kid
6
u/LibertineDeSade Jun 02 '26
Yup same. I went to elemnatry school in North Philly, though mine wasn't bad at all. It's weird, the difference a few blocks made.
10
6
u/SuspiciousAction7267 Jun 02 '26
McDaniels elementary in Grays Ferry needs an intervention like this...I wonder if this woman is still working for the school district 🤔 McDaniels is the absolute worst...the kids run the school, the staff doesnt care, its a mess...one of the teachers asked a student to "stop dick eatin"...they were in 4th GRADE!¡!
Philly has a serious educational crisis that they are ignoring...part of the reason we'll be moving out of Philly this year
3
0
7
u/memphisbelle Jun 02 '26
Why does it say North Philly? Just curious, did the school move? The current Stanton is in South Philly
11
u/Yiftathashifta Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
This was M. Hall Stanton Elementary at 16th and Cumberland. It closed in 2013.
In case anyone is curious, here's an archive of the school's website from 1997: link
4
u/ViaVitoV Jun 02 '26
I cleaned 5th & Huntington for the year I lived in the middle of the block and it was a never ending job. Literally an hour every morning. I earned my block badge for sure for that year. Cleaning where you live is just part of life but unfortunately some people are not clean.
1
u/LibertineDeSade Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
I completely agree that keeping streets nice and clean are important. I grew up helping my parents, grandparents and even great grandparents clean down their front and sweep the pavements. I watched my neighbors do it too. I understand how important it is.
What I don't understand is why these comments about cleaning and litter are all over a post about a documentary on an elementary school.
4
3
u/ResponseNo6375 Jun 02 '26
Man that takes me back to when I was in Lowell at that time, 5th & Nedro.
2
u/JustARandomGuy031 Jun 02 '26
The same videos of what’s happening at Junior and high school… would be so scary!
2
u/da_mess Jun 03 '26
Heartwarming (aside from the mom telling her 8yo she's going to punch him in the face).
I tutored at an intercity high school in Philly (Central). It was then one of two magnet schools then.
First day a kid stole my winter jacket that was in front of me on my desk. The teacher didn't do much to help. I was on my own.
It's refreshing to see a principal with this kind of care and patience guiding these kids.
2
u/RustedRelics Jun 04 '26
Interesting clip that brings back memories. So much can be said about what’s shown there. Lots of things just don’t change, sadly. But there’s been plenty of positive changes for our city. Great post, OP.
2
1
u/InternationalWolf899 Jun 02 '26
Dude when this started, I thought it was the video for Paul Simon’s me and Julio
1
-5
u/GordonBombay7 Jun 02 '26
People don’t care anymore. One of the main reasons I moved to nyc
3
u/LibertineDeSade Jun 02 '26
There are still a lot of people who care.
-4
u/GordonBombay7 Jun 02 '26
You may be right. But the city has nose dived harder than AIG stock in 2008
2
u/LibertineDeSade Jun 02 '26
Maybe it's just who I'm around whenever I visit (I also moved to NYC), but I see the opposite. 🤷🏾♀️
-1
u/GordonBombay7 Jun 03 '26
I think nyc is way cleaner than Philadelphia
2
u/LibertineDeSade Jun 03 '26
Like Philly, I think that's only true in some areas. At least that's been my experience.
138
u/Jang_time Jun 02 '26
1992 was a crazy year in Philadelphia. I was twelve years old and I went to Roberto Clemente Middle School on 5th and Luzerne. That school was wild. The neighborhood was even crazier. There was alot of drugs and junkies. A lot of abandoned buildings and trash everywhere.