What is poverty and does social class shape the character of a child’s life and education, especially those children of poverty? These questions are important to consider for educators and all involved in the goal for children to have greater achievement. It 's even more important to note that forty percent of the poor, in the United States, are children (Stevenson, 1997). Knowing this is the reason that finding solutions and studying the effects of parent involvement, both at school and at home, can have on a child’s education is vital. This paper will discuss how poverty is viewed and some of the disadvantages they face, discuss factors that contribute to a child’s learning, parent involvement among middle and low incomes and the ways it affects a child 's education and life in general, and solutions for teachers and the curriculum taught, schools, and parents to better meet the needs of the deficits in education for all children but more importantly, for the purpose of this paper, those children living in poverty.
Most of all of the research recognizes that poverty leads to multiple deprivations and those that are living in poverty seem to be living a less tolerable life given all the deprivations they face (Ushadevi, 2001). Another commonality between the research was that people in poverty are not given the same equal access and equal opportunity through schools (education), jobs, communities, etc. throughout their life, which in turns hinders the path they take and
Living in poverty has a wide range of negative effects on the physical and mental health and well being of individuals (apa.com). Hunger, child development, risk of infectious disease, low social mobility, inadequate and affordable housing, economic isolation, homelessness, lack of education and information, unemployment, violence, health issues, drugs and drug use are some of the effects of poverty in society. All of the characteristics of poverty are devastating but some are more complex than others. In my opinion, the major problems are crime, education, housing, unemployment, and the lack of food. I think that some of the affects of poverty can cause other problems to arise. For example, when individuals live in inadequate homes (roaches and rats everywhere, no clean running water, and there’s mold everywhere) living in unsanitary conditions can cause disease and other health
Many kids in the United States have been affected by poverty at some point in their lives. In fact, one in five children have been affected by poverty. A survey was done within the last year by the Scholastic company that interviewed a group of the State Teachers of the Year and asked them what they thought were some of the effects of poverty. Some popular answers were that it affects the way you perform in school greatly and that we need more anti-poverty programs to help out with these children. Poverty affects the success of students in many ways. These include not having the academic achievement that more advantaged kids did, not having experiences other kids did, and not having the early development they needed.
Poverty has a great impact on children school lives because they usually face with the overwhelming challenge in their families that is a factor impact on children’s school behaviors and performance. Girls will tend to abuse, while boys may damage in other aspects such as curiosity, learning, and memory. When I read the chapter two of the book, Teaching with Poverty in Mind written by Eric Jensen, I completely agree with him that “A child who comes from a stressful home environment tends to channel that stress into disruptive behavior at school and be less able to develop a healthy social and academic life” (Jensen, 2009, n.p.). In this book, he reported, low-income children “are linked to over 50 percent of all
A Framework for Understanding Poverty is a book, written by Ruby K. Payne for the purpose of helping educators impact their students in poverty through opportunities. This book examines experiences from all economic classes in order to evaluate the differences in education among each class. Payne talks about the different types of poverty and the resources needed to be a stable and educated person. Poverty is “the extent to which an individual does without resources”.
Assuaging poverty is one of the gist missions of the Harlem Children’s Zone. In the United States today, exceeding “13 million” children live in poverty. We understand that children, who experience the backlash of poverty, often live in an unpleasantly conditions, unstable homes, and are at a great distance less likely than other children to get a favorable education and/or sufficient health care. The exposure to life of poverty more often limits learning abilities; bringing about the inability of getting the best jobs and earning maximum income, making it impossible for them to live up to their full potential, which will more like result in imprisonment.
A Framework for Understanding Poverty is a valuable tool to the helping profession. It has a lot of good information about the cultural differences between classes. It offers practical solutions to many problems commonly encountered when educators have problems with their students who live in poverty. The book helps educators to assist students who live in poverty survive in the middle-class world. Payne 's work has been eye opening in
As Connell, White and Johnston (1990,p.9) state, 'There is not a “culture of poverty”, nor any key “deficit” that makes poor people different from everybody else and therefore and educational problem'. Teachers and Education Assistants need to adapt into the culture of poverty and be sensitive and understandable to the extensive bar of needs that children of poverty bring to the classroom and they need to consider the cultural values of these children as they arrange their learning. The basis of Groundwater-Smith, Ewing and Le Cornu's opinions in the article is they position readers to view that the teachers dispositions low income students and that rarely the educators offer the same level or enough aid and attention than the other students and they are less likely to succeed in school when compared with the more advantaged children. According to Groundwater-Smith, Ewing and Le Cornu's and Geoffrey D. Borman and Laura T. Rachuba they both state that students from lower income families may not have as high expectations from their parents, teachers or their peers within the school. The students may also not be confident in their own abilities and
The impact of poverty on families can affect a child's growth and development. “Poverty and the Effects on parents and Children,” Nagel states, “Families in poverty, when parents are working, are influenced by the kind of occupations in which the parents work. Kohn has found that lower-class parents look at their children's behavior with a focus on its immediate consequences and its external characteristics, whereas middle-class parents explore their children's motives and the attitudes expressed by their behavior.” Growing up with negative and disciplinary parents, it can impact a child's moral and emotional growth through life. Children grow up by the examples and actions of their progenitor, and if they have meager parents then they may grow up to be just like them. “Another study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education found that for every year a child spends in poverty, there is the chance that the child will fall behind grade level by age 18.” Pupils that live in poverty that don't get
Fifty years after the declaration of war on poverty, an increasing number of children still grow up in poverty in this country. Poverty is now more determinative than race as a predictor of student educational success (Reardon, 2013). The achievement gap between the poor and the more economically advantaged child has actually widened over the last three decades (Reardon, 2013). If we are to provide all children with equal and excellent educational opportunities, it is imperative that we utilize the most effective strategies and enhancements to overcome the educational disadvantages that poor children experience.
In this time and age the United States contains a high number of students in the public schools who are under the poverty line. Poverty is defined as the state of being really poor financially. Poverty in the United States has become a complicated problem that causes a variety of diverse challenges for children and their families. Although the economy of the United States is showing great signs of improvement, poverty remains a serious issue. While examining poverty and children education in several articles all authors seem to agree with the fact that poverty does have an affect in the academic development of a child. However, there are several disagreements in other areas. The authors that this essay will be
Lack of money, health insurance, and other poverty related issues have also led to lower academic performance among children in poverty. In David Berliner’s Letter to The President, he explains how “medical problems are harming student learning in our schools” (252). Since poor children may not have health insurance, or their families may not have the funds to see a doctor, poorer children miss more school due to illness. Also, more children in poverty come from single parent homes, which leaves numerous children on their own after school. In fact, “three fourths of all single mothers are in the labor force” which means there happens to be usually nobody at home to assist poor children with their homework, or help them study for tests
It is not hard to understand then how disadvantaged children may not aspire to complete school or attend University due to the unfamiliarity of the concept and lower family expectations. Economic disparity plays a large role in school outcomes wherein greater affluence can provide families with a wider range of education choices and activities to enhance curriculum understandings. In the scenario it is noted that Dexter’s parents want him to do well in school however they are constrained by economic realities. Poor families have less choice in their lifestyle and education selections which can impact on outcomes. Decreased access to resources such as books, educational materials, high quality early education and learning opportunities diminish their ability to start school on an equal footing with more affluent children. As well the poorest families struggle to find good schooling opportunities and have to accept what is offered to them (Ewing, 2013, p. 84). These factors are not so easily addressed at the school level and will require serious changes at the State and Federal levels to negate the influence of
The poverty theory developed by Lewis (1968) and Payne (2001) argues that the culture of poverty is both an adaptation and reaction of the economically disadvantaged to their marginal position, low socioeconomic status and impartibility in achieving success. According to the poverty theory established by Lewis (1968), there are many traits associated with the culture of poverty. Families living on poverty have a level of education and are living in inadequate housing conditions. This factor is often associated with low academic achievement and success of economically disadvantaged students. Consequently, Lewis (1998) contends that children living in poverty are often exposed early in life to drugs and alcohol, abusive relationships, and single-parent households dominated by the female parent.
I know of a family who has lived in poverty for the last past three generations. In some families a poverty mentality has been pasted down from generation to generation. Poverty can affect families in many different ways. Poverty will affect each individual person in the family and each person can have different perspectives about life because of poverty. Some people will use the life of poverty they grow up in as a stepping stone to have a better life. Some will use it as a crutch and develop a poverty mentality and risk passing it on to their children, the same poverty mentality. Poverty will affect a person self-esteem for better or worse. Some individuals who grow up in poverty are content to stay on welfare and just get by. While
The paper is designed to provide insight regarding the adverse effects that poverty has on education and what could be done to remedy the situation, by addressing three distinct research questions. Firstly it asks the question about what factors have a detrimental impact on the educational outcome of high poverty states in the country. Secondly it seeks to determine how such factors serve as barriers in the way of development for children belonging to less affluent families. Lastly, the paper looks into that question of what administrative measures can be taken in order to effect a positive change in the educational outcomes of children belonging to less affluent counties in