Words By: Zayda Rivera

What can I say about Mr. Kanye West that hasn't been said already? America has a love/hate relationship with the newfound emcee and veteran producer. His album is hot and as an adult his comical approach to society's ills are taken lightly. But a larger audience that hangs onto his every word is the children.

The never-ending dilemma of whether or not children are truly influenced by music continues as Kanye preaches about wasting time with higher education. His album entitled "College Dropout" contains, in my opinion, the best hip hop gospels. Yet he blatantly expresses his disinterest in a continuing education because by all good grace he was blessed to not have to go that route. The truth of the matter is that Kanye is a very rare case and in essence the majority should seek means of higher education in order to compete in the job market. Especially one as dry as ours is in its current state.

As an adult that acts as a spoke person for an entire culture Kanye has responsibilities whether he likes it or not. It comes with fame! There is nothing wrong with what Kanye preaches on his freshmen album but he needs to bring reassurance to the youth that what happened in his case of success will not necessarily happen for all that take his approach of dropping out of school. Supporting the children is one thing but telling them to turn their backs on education because it worked for him is something entirely different. After all, our leaders of tomorrow come in all shapes and sizes whether a bookworm or a streetwise cat. To me the strongest contain a little of both.