Read Chapter 2 of Teaching with Poverty in Mind. This chapter further describes many of the harmful effects that growing up in poverty can have on children. As you read, for each characteristic in the boxes on the graphic organizer below, fill in some of the short- and long-term effects of poverty on children.
1. Subpar Maternal Attachment from Age 0-3
Short – The short term effects of poverty with infants and children under the age of three, are children can be weaker physically from lack of proper food, medical attention and lack of parental involvement. There is a huge need to make sure that prenatal care is given to families living in poverty. A lot of families are being exposed to certain toxins daily, such as lack of fluoride,
…show more content…
The reasons why cognition and socioeconomic status is so important, is that their performance has the ability to change significantly, throughout all the stages of development. Tests and academic performances are only data and should not be treated like destiny. Our brains are designed to change. A child's brain generates a weaker signal, and handles stress in a different way, other than their parents or other adults. Cortisol, which is a stress hormone, is crucial for learning, cognition and working memory. Stress can actually shrink the neurons needed when making judgments. Planning and regulating impulsivity can be impaired in ways that reduce the capacity to learn. The quantity, quality and content of parent’s speech must also include rich vocabulary and knowledge. Professional parents double the amount of language and vocabulary, than their counterparts. By the time a child starts school they will are exposed to 5 million words and should know about 13,000 of them. By the time they reach high school, they should know about 60,000 to 100,000 words. This isn’t always true with students living in SES households. Adults tend to speak in shorter, slower and grammatically, simple sentences. There are less back and forth conversations to evoke thoughtful questioning. There are also fewer explanations given. Parents living in poverty, typically have a limited range of …show more content…
It has the ability to weaken a student’s test scores, lower their attention spans, an increase in tardiness and absenteeism. Many students living in poverty, when given the opportunity, will either stay home or skip classes altogether due to fear of violence. We can begin to empower our students and help them improve their own self-perception. In doing so, they will improve their ability to control their environment and manage their own stress levels. We need to teach them to act differently, not just tell them. We must introduce conflict resolution skills (ex: take a deep breath and count to five). We should teach them how to deal with their anger in a self-regulating way (ex: counting to 10 and taking slow deep breaths) before getting into physical altercations. We should introduce the value of giving restitution when they are responsible for making poor choices. For example, if the disrupt class, they need to ‘make it right’ by doing something positive for the class. Show them how to set and meet goals, with a focus on what they want. Teach social skills and introduce stress reduction techniques such as physical (dance) and mental (mediation) responses. Students who worry over safety concerns, tend to underperform academically. Exposure to community violence, unsafe neighborhoods or dangerous paths to school, contributes to lower
Poverty - A child may be living in a household with a very low income and their family may not be able to afford to provide for their children as they ad hoped. They may struggle to buy enough food, especially health food, to eat, buy clothes to wear or even to provide heating and electric. This can affect their physical and mental health due to poor hygiene and diet. Some children may suffer with low self-esteem and low self-respect because of the stigma attached to poverty, this can affect them in later life also.
As mentioned by Ruane and Cerulo in Second Thoughts, harsh realities of poverty affect children’s lives in profound ways. Children lack any power in improving their circumstances and depend on adults to gain access to basic necessities. Access to proper healthcare, education, and basic nutrition continues to be an obstacle for children. Poverty impedes children’s aptitude to learn and contributes to poor overall health and mental health. Perhaps most important, poverty becomes a cyclical nature that is difficult to overcome. Children who experience poverty when they are young tend to experience persistent poverty over the course of their entire lives. According to the Child Welfare League of America, the national poverty rate for children
According to Parker, the chief characteristics of poverty are being tired, asking for help, looking into a black future. As well as poverty being living in a smell that never leaves, staying up all night, insects all over the place, dirt, and remembering. Parker breakdowns what poverty is to her with a good way of portraying it by writing to give the reader vivid descriptions.
For example, children who grew up in poverty when they were very young are thirty percent less likely to finish high school than the children who did not grow up in poverty. Most of the time children who drop out of high school are less likely to get a high paying job, therefore causing them to be more likely to be in poverty as an adult. Also, some children who grew up in poverty will not be encouraged to do things. Some children might even develop a brain deformity or a language barrier. Some might develop a disease or a behavioral disorder. These are all likely outcomes of children who grew up in poverty while they were still developing. Another possibility is that the child didn’t get proper nourishment while they were still in their mother’s stomach. This is a very likely outcome of a child who grew up in poverty because poverty is linked to malnutrition. These are some of the many harmful things that could happen to a child in poverty that could affect
Poverty can result in unemployment, parental separation, illness or disability, addictions, or criminal activities. Children may suffer malnutrition or a poor diet as a result of their parents being unable to afford quality food. This could result in lack of concentration or poor performance at school.
Child poverty can have many effects on children, one being health problems. A widespread method to family and community health is authoritative to provide children with the finest upbringing. Nonetheless, restricted access to health services and appropriate programs are often seen as serious. This could have been prevented with instant and continuing development. The number of families who are required to rely on emergency food sources, in a period of economic wealth is one example of the relationship between high costs of housing, food
Educators and caregivers must understand that children come from diverse backgrounds. Children who live in poverty or low-income families face many challenges. When a child is from a low-income family, you must know and understand the obstacles the child and their families may face. There are many ways living in poverty can affect children and families; educationally, physically, and emotionally, cognitively, and socially. There are resources available and beneficial information to encourage and benefit families who live in poverty or low-income families.
It is known that the children are unable to determine their life circumstances, their families, and care solely for themselves without supervision. With this being said, children have little to no jurisdiction in determining the situations that they are confronted with. Most of the time when we ponder child poverty we think of low-income families or lack of food in the household, but it extends beyond that to “an environment that is damaging to their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual development” (“Children Under Threat,” 2005). Unfortunately, the prevalence of youth poverty in the United States may seem uncommon to those who are personally unaffected by the crisis; however, statistics show that 15 million children (21% of all children) live in families with incomes below the federal poverty threshold (Child Poverty, 2017). Moreover, when considering the demographics of impoverished children the following are true: a child in the U.S. has a 1 in 5 chance of being poor and the younger they are the poorer they are likely to be, and a child of color is more than twice as likely to be poor than a White child (Child Poverty, 2017). Research proves that poverty is the single greatest threat to a child’s well-being as it decreases the likelihood of a child graduating from high school, and it increases the chances of them becoming involved with the criminal justice system (Ending Child Poverty Now, 2017).
Poverty is a great obstacle when it comes to a child and their learning environments. When a child lives in poverty they are exposed to far less vocabulary than a child from a middle class household. Poverty also affects the parents and their capabilities to help their child; whether it is homework, reading, or critical thinking skills (Common Core Standards). Living
Poverty causes most stress within households and has an impact on the healthy development of a child.
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
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.
Health is another issue that has been examined as a potential effect of living in poverty. A large amount of literature links low income to child health problems with studies showing that children in poverty are at a greater risk of infant, child and adolescent deaths (Children’s Defense Fund, 1994) along with malnutrition (Miller & Korenman, 1994) and numerous other health issues. These health issues can also be linked to the low quality living environment, as children in poverty are more likely to be exposed to toxins such as lead along with poorer air and water quality. These have been found to lead to cognitive deficits in children (Holgate, Samet, Koren, & Maynard, 1999).
Poverty can lead to serious effects. Children who grow up in poverty are likely to have frequent health problems than the children who grow in better financial circumstances. For example, infants who are born into poverty have a low birth weight, and they grow up with mental or physical disabilities. Not only are they sick, but they are most likely to die before their first birthday. Children who are raised in poverty might miss school often because of their illnesses, and they have a much higher accident rate than the other children. Nearly a billion of the world’s population can’t read nor write. Poor families experience stress much more than a normal family does. They are more likely to be exposed to negative events such as illness, job loss, death of a family member, and depression. Homelessness is another effect of poverty. Homeless children are less likely to receive proper nutrition, protection and they experience more health problems. Around 1.4 million children die each year from lack of access to safe and clean water and proper nutrition. Homeless women experience a high rate of low birth weight infants as well as miscarriages. Families who do not have homes receive much more stress than other families. They also have disruption in school, work, friendships, and family relationships. There are other effects of poverty such as drug abuse and addiction, child and woman abuse, debts pressure, and increase in crimes.
In the United States and in countries all over the world, poverty has extreme impacts on a