Diverty And Education : The Causes Of Poverty

Poverty hits children hardest in the world. When I was younger, the Armenians had faced the hard facts of poverty after they break up with the Soviet Union, war with Azerbaijan, and a devastating earthquake. My family moved into our motherland Armenia while our nation was going through these huge dramatic changes. Furthermore the poor economy and inflation destroyed numerous hopes and futures. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Arnold Spirit, describes his hardships involving poverty living on Spokane reservation. The people on the reservation are stuck in a prison of poverty. They are imprisoned there due to lack of resources and general contempt from the outside world, so they are left with little chance for success. Like Arnold, I also went through hardships regarding poverty and education.

Introduction There’s nothing that could describe the struggles of being a poor kid. In the documentary of Poor Kids, posted by PBS, there you can clearly see how bad poverty has grown in the US. It’s sad watching these kids talk about how they struggle to get pass a week after another. Seeing how are these parents work but yet can’t find the money to support the kids.

“In the United States, child poverty rates are higher than rates for the adult and elderly populations.” (Katherine Magnuson and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal 1) As poverty rates increase, more children are involved. Children, uninfluenced by the evils of the world, are pushed by these harsh living conditions and treated unfairly by others. Growing up in poverty can lead to lasting effects, and those effects include education issues, physical health is proven worse, and inadequate behavior. As an adult, these issues can turn into whether or not survival is promised.

Those who argue that poverty has no effects on the mind and development of those who grow up and live in it are merely blind to the struggles of families that cannot afford the basic necessities needed to live. While I knew that there had to be some adverse effects brought on by growing in environments that are undoubtedly less than ideal but, this writing has given me a new perspective on poverty and more of a reason to help bring an end to

When analyzing children growing up in poverty a lot of factors come into play such as their physical, psychological and emotional development. To grow up in poverty can have long term effect on a child. What should be emphasized in analyzing the effects of poverty on children is how it has caused many children around the world to suffer from physical disorders, malnutrition, and even diminishes their capacities to function in society. Poverty has played a major role in the functioning of families and the level of social and emotional competency that children are able to reach. Children in poverty stricken families are exposed to greater and emotional risks and stress level factors. They are even capable of understanding and dealing with

Poverty can have a strong influence on various kinds of development throughout middle childhood. It can alter socioemotional development, cognitive development, and physical health. (Evans, 2013). Parenting practices, neighborhoods, and overall environment play a significant role regarding to the emotional and physical health during development in middle childhood. Disruption with physical and emotional health could potentially cause harm to the child. In this essay, I will explain how poverty affects children throughout development and the different consequences that can occur. I will also discuss the many different factors that contribute to poverty.

Children are faced with many consequences due to growing up in poverty. Most children who live in poverty go to poor unsuitable schools, live in unexceptable housing, and grow up around more violence and crime than any other parent would wish for their child. As soon as the child is born into poverty, they begin to feel the effects of it. They tend to have low birth weight and contain a higher risk of dying during infancy. We watched a video in class that showed that poverty could take a toll on the child’s learning capabilities, and health status. There were stories of children with hyperactivity problems, chronic ear infections which caused hearing loss, and even children who were not receiving the proper amount of nutrients to be able to grow and function correctly. The first years of a child’s life are the most crucial because most of the development of the brain occurs then.

The memories of a child’s first day of school to their last fades over time, but several instances in a child’s life will shape who they become. As a child, I attended schools in low income areas and like a handful of other kids at school I lagged in certain subjects. As a struggling student in an overcrowded and underfunded public school, I always found myself seated at the back of the classroom to be forgotten and overlooked.

For a child living in poverty, stress can come in many forms. It is commonplace for the most basic needs such as food, shelter and safety to be the top concern. Because of the focus on surviving, anything that takes the child away from the home or requires work in another way, such as school and education, is not very well supported. Donna M. Beagle, who overcame generational poverty, wrote a very powerful report about her experiences. She mentions that appearances were very stressful when she did go to school, stating everyone could tell I was poor by my ragged clothes, horrible shoes, and free lunch tickets.” (Beagle 11) Ms. Beagle also mentions feeling very stressed about arriving on time to school (since she didn’t have transportation) and being able to complete school projects. To add to that, there is the possibility of a language barrier even if the same language is spoken. Without education and language development there are many variations of what is called “non-standard English”. Ms. Beagle said “I said ‘ain’t’ and confused ‘gone’ with ‘went’ and ‘seen’ with ‘saw’. I sensed that I was being judged as unintelligent by those around me.” (11) Many times families in generational poverty have their own “oral language tradition” where they may not know how to speak or write formally. “Often, children of poverty lack language skills needed for school. Their grammar

Poverty also can contribute to the poor and mental health of many impoverished children. These children lack the rights to proper healthcare and are not provided with the required care and treatment to be physically well. A deprivation of resources and proper parenting causes children in poverty to feel discouraged, thus, inhibiting their academic growth.

Poverty in today’s day and age has become more common than ever before. Poverty involves not being able to participate in activities that most other people are able to do (Raphael 2015, Lecture). The topic of poverty connects with inequality, where living conditions produce material and social deprivation that intensively threaten health and reduce the quality of life for an exclusive subset of the population (Raphael 2011, preface). For children, this has been a disregarded subject and deserves much more attention and consideration worldwide. In health, education, and material well-being, there comes this impression of children “falling behind” (Adamson 2010, p. 1). In a well-established country like Canada, the topic of poverty, as well

Socio-economic factors are widely acknowledged as important determinants of poverty. If an individual experiences adverse living conditions in childhood, majority of them will have inadequate income and result in low socio-economic status as adults (Carroll et al, 2011). Children born in poor households have difficulty in accessing the basic needs (e.g. food, clothing, and good living environment) and this can affect their learning ability at school, unable to focus. In other words, they have a higher chance of dropping out of school or lower education attainment, unable to provide appropriate qualifications when they move onto adulthood, seeking for job opportunities. These children are finding day-to-day life tough, they are living in cold, damp houses, do not have warm or rain-proof clothing, their shoes are worn, and many days they go hungry (Children's Commissioner, 2012). Often this has taken place over a long period of time, impacting on their development, behaviour and physical health furthermore limiting their potential as they grow into adults.

Many people have to fight poverty everyday and the worst thing about it is the fact that it has infiltrated our school systems. Many factors cause this higher unemployment rate and those related to education are on the top of the list. When these cities and towns enter states of poverty the schools are allotted less and less money so the aspect of education takes the backseat. Students are crippled intellectually because of the low grade resources and teachers they are given. This is happening all over the country of the United States of America and everyday but the most affected areas are smaller urban and rural parts of the country. The following articles address this issue: R. Buck and J. Deutsch (2014) “Effects of poverty on education;” M. Gordon and M. Cui (2014) “School-Related Parental Involvement and Adolescent Academic Achievement: The Role of Community Poverty;” T. Capra (2009) “Poverty and its Impact on Education: Today and Tomorrow.” The authors of these articles have searched long and hard to find the problem in the system and bring them to light. In trying to solve this problem this paper will ask as follows: What really causes the impoverished education?

Poverty is a considerable social problem; with a significant impact on those who suffer within. Growing up in poverty “reduces a child’s chance of growing up to be a healthy, well-adjusted, and contributing adult in our society” (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 59). Poverty is families having to struggle to afford necessities. Poverty does not know where your next meal is coming from or having to choose between paying rent and seeing a health care provider. The impact of poverty affects one’s ability through physical, social, emotional, and educational health. Even though individual overcome poverty it still extends across cultural, racial, ethnic, and geographical borders. Children represent the largest group of poverty in the United States. “Growing up in poverty places a child at a profound disadvantage and substantially lowers the chances that the child will mature into a well-adjusted, productive, and contributing

Children that have been raised in poverty have been found to have lesser cognitive and educational outcomes. They have also been found to be at a higher risk for psychiatric illnesses. This includes depression and antisocial behaviors. There has been several studies done that hypothesize that such factors as stress, negative environmental exposures such as cigarette usage, poor eating habits and very limited educational opportunities can contribute to problems later in life. These issues contribute to the causes of the high percentages of teenage pregnancy, use of drugs, and the loss of feeling as if they can be productive individuals.