Cosby in Cleveland says, as Parents, We Are Not Taking Charge

The 71-year-old comedian channeled impish Dr. Huxtable on Saturday, interrupting and encouraging a half-dozen teens to repeat their names, speak louder, speak slower, start over.

When a boy said, "Parents should be awardive with their children," Cosby shot back: "What's that word again?"

The audience of parents, teachers and community members at the Cleveland School District's empowerment conference clapped with delight.

Very "Kids Say the Darndest Things." But hardly the point of Cosby's visit.

Cosby, who holds a doctorate in education, came to Public Auditorium to lecture the grown-ups.

"Our children are trying to tell us something, and we're not listening," he said. "We're not taking charge. Our children don't know their own history. . . . Our children don't know downtown belongs to them as well."

Cosby, blasted by some in the past for his criticism of the black community, urged adults to interact with their children's teachers and to talk to kids about sexually transmitted diseases, to tell them stories of black history and give them role models. He spoke frankly - and with his trademark facial contortions - about absent fathers, prisons and the importance of education.

"School, it's the way out," he said. "Those kids who believe in education, we've got to give them strength."

The Cleveland School District planned the two-day summit around Cosby, spokesman John Hairston said. City Year Cleveland and America's Promise Alliance also collaborated on the event, which included sessions on career exploration, in- and out-of-school programs and community health issues.

Cosby "has a unique way of addressing some of the issues we need to address," Hairston said.

That includes the district's graduation rate, which tumbled from about 62 percent to less than 54 percent last school year, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Local leaders, including Mayor Frank Jackson and former U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes, also spoke Saturday.

"We will fail if we do not have quality education," said the mayor, a product of Cleveland schools. "It is a community issue."

Patricia Crutchfield agreed.

"I believe that we as parents have to be part of the solution," said the self-professed old-school mom. "We have to get our children to school on time, make sure they do their homework, call their teachers."

Of course, Crutchfield was at the conference. And her 17-year-old son makes A's and B's, she said.

Cosby acknowledged: "I'm facing the choir. The ones who are not here are the people who need to get the word."