Bailee Buckner

English 101
10/12/15
The Other Wes Moore
Westly Wantende Omari Moore was born in 1978 to Joy and William Moore in Baltimore, Maryland.
Sadly his father died when he was just three years old. His mother moved the family to the Bronx, New York
with her parents where Wes attended private school. Unfortunately he began to slack off on his studies and act
out so his mother nipped the behavior in the bud and sent him to military school at Valley Forge. He graduated
from Valley Forge in 1998. He went on to graduate from Johns Hopkins University in 2001, then graduated
from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2004. He also served time in the military as a paratrooper in
Afghanistan from 2005-2006. Wes is now a decorated author and delivers speeches around the world. The other
Wes Moore was born to Mary and Bernard in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a flake and never accepted
Wes as his son therefor he was not apart of his life. Wes had one father figure, his older brother Tony. Mary and
Wes lived in drug infested Cherry Hill but Mary grew tired of all the drugs and violence in the neighborhood so
she packed them up and moved to Dundee Village in Baltimore County. Wes was involved in violence from a
very young age. His first run in with the police was at the ripe age of eight when he attempted to stab another
boy. His brother was a notorious drug lord that was extremely protective of Wes, trying to keep him off the
streets. Forgoing his brothers warnings Wes fell deeper and deeper into the drug game. This eventually led to
his arrest for the murder of Sargent Prothero in a jewelry store robbery. He is now serving a life sentence
without the possibility of parole. Growing up in an impoverished environment with a poor role model had a
deleterious effect on the other Wes Moore.
Although their lives started out extremely similar, the boys chose two drastically different lifestyles.
Jenkins and Bisceglis said that He (Bronfenbrenner) argued that children are influenced both directly and
indirectly by environmental influences at different levels of their social context: the family, school, broader
society, and so on (146). I strongly believe that the other Wes Moores environment played a strong role in the
life choses that he made. From the time he was born Wes was submerged into violence and drugs. Even his

brother Tony was past the point of no return. Tony told Wes over and over again Yo, you need to take this shit
seriously, man. Acting stupid aint cool! (Tony 27). For Wes it was a monkey see, monkey do situation, he
wanted to be just like Tony. I also believe that his mothers lack of discipline and intervention was his downfall.
Wes was twelve when he experimented with weed and alcohol for the first time. His mother found out and
yelled Well, at least now you know how bad it feels and you will stay away from drinking (Mary 61-62), and
that was the full extent of his punishment. The Other Wes Moore suggest that Mary was not a part of her sons
daily life because she didnt find out about the first time Wes was arrested until years later.
The author, Wes Moore, was a perfect example of how he didnt let the environment he was raised in
control his future. With the move to the Bronx and the neighborhood being similar to the Baltimore location the
outcome could have been the same for both youths. His mother was a humungous influence on his actions and
choices as a child. Mary, ever vigilante started to notice a shift in Wes behavior so she and him from the
environment that she felt was counterproductive to her goals for her son. I whole heartedly think this is the best
thing she did for the both of them, it gave his mother piece of mind and it kept him off the streets.
Moore grew up in an impoverished environment with little to no positive role models or parental
guidance. When left to his own devices, Wes chose the path that was familiar to him, as his brother was already
immersed in the same ill-fated behavior. Wes became a product of his environment. The author, Wes Moore,
was presented with different choices and sometimes had his choices made for him but flourished when he was
not in an environment that seemed to offer him better choices. I believe that people who see hopelessness and
limited resources on a daily basis, give up and try not to buck the system. Approximately one in six urban
adolescents have had some involvement in drug dealing, with rates even higher for African-American males
over 16 (Centers and Weist). The tragic thing about this whole story is that each of their stories couldve been
the others. There are kids out here right now that are making these same decisions that the other Wes did
because they think they are trapped and thats the only solution.

Work Cited Page

Centers, Nathen L. and Mark D. Weist. Inner City Youth and Drug Dealing:
A Review of the Problem. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 27.3 (1998): 395411. Web. 11 October 2015.
Jenkins, Jennifer and Rossana Bisceglia. Understanding Within-Family
Variability in Childrens Responses to Environmental Stress. Nature and
Nature in Early in Early Child Development. Cambridge: Keating, 2011. 145168. Print.
Shelly, Lynn M. Student Handbook to Psychology: Developmental Psychology
Volume V. New York: Facts on File, Inc. 2012. Print.