The Importance Of Poverty On Education

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.

The U.S. is among the richest countries in the world today, yet millions of people in America still live below the poverty level. The number of Americans living in poverty is increasing day by day as well as the number of children. Poverty in America has become a great threat to children’s wellbeing as they are affected emotionally, socially, and even in their school performance (Wood 720). Poverty in America is mainly caused by lack of jobs. Many people who live in poverty in the United States is due to lack of jobs and getting jobs with minimum wage. Another cause of poverty is due to the rise in the cost of living. Poverty exists in America despite the fact that is among the richest nations in the world.

I was surprised to believe that as a whole, a significant portion of students came from low-income families, experienced homelessness at some point, were hungry, or suffered from trauma. For one student to experience any of these problems requires a number of resources for a school, but when the majority of students are facing these issues, schools need to be particularly well equipped. Adding to this the fact that Chicago public schools are seriously underfunded, this is a tragedy. Schools are forced to cut social workers, psychologists, and clinicians from their services and ultimately, students are left without help. In my Introduction to Poverty Studies class, we learned that in order to alleviate systemic poverty, part of the solution lies in focusing on children and providing them all the resources so that can be as well equipped for life as possible. Much of this responsibility falls on public schools, but without funds, this task is

With poverty comes a certain attitude, in higher up communities the children and parents are more respectful towards their teacher, education itself is respected; however, in poverty stricken areas the children are at home alone, or running the streets, the parents are usually too busy working to worry about how their child is doing in school. Districts also have the same attitude, schools in upper class neighborhoods have the essentials; such as, running hot water in the gymnasium, and showers that actually work, new books and just the overall approach to the education, of its students is superior. Compared to that of lower class, neighborhoods the essentials are overlooked for instance, classrooms are in need of repair, as well as the bathrooms and gymnasiums. Their books are torn, and outdated, and their approach to education has been to just make it through the

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

Poverty within neighborhoods throughout the United States has increased immensely throughout the past 50 years. In 2011, nearly 46.2 million Americans were living in poverty compared to the 353,000 Americans who lived in poverty in 1959. (Dosomething 1) Poverty is hardly just defined as a lack of financial resources, it is defined as a condition that results in an absence of the freedom to choose arising from a lack of the capability to function effectively in society. (Poverty and Education 1)  For a person to be impoverished or to be living in a state of poverty is to live where they do not have the economic means to provide a healthy lifestyle for themselves and their family.  A majority of public school students across the country are considered “low-income”, according to a new study by the Southern Education Foundation.  Areas of concentrated impoverishment are often characterised by crime, unemployment, and lack of resources.  Children represent 24 percent of the population, but they comprise 34 percent of all people in poverty.  The shift to a majority-poor student population implies that a growing range of students who attend public schools are less likely to possess support at home, are less often exposed to enriching activities outside of school, and are more likely to drop out and never attend higher education.  Children living in poverty have a higher number of absenteeism or leave school altogether because they are likely to have to work or care for family

Living in poverty can have a significant impact on the outcomes and life chances of children and young people. They are more disadvantaged in comparison to their peers who do not live in poverty. Living in poverty can cause stress on families, constant worry about

Children who live in areas of concentrated poverty never fare well. They often have low graduation rates and deal with constant violence. What happens to neighborhoods also happens to schools. Children succeed when their parents are capable of providing for them. When parents are unable to afford their own neighborhood advantages, their children start seeing the difference along racial and social barriers and embody it.

Education plays a big role for those that go into the poverty scale or not. When ignoring poverty, you also end up forgetting one of the main cause that leads to it. When a teen gets educated and attends school regularly, they have more of a chance to find a job and earn more than their counterparts who may drop out or don’t regularly. Many people do not realize poverty can cause and be caused by Education. As these two play apart, society has slowly backed away on helping those in school. Many programs have been made like LOOP, a program to help tutor young ones but is also beneficial to a parent who works late and needs someone to watch over their Children (GRPS). Though this program may have started out as a way to help kids to have an easier time in school, this became beneficial in becoming less into the poverty level. Parent become able to work more hours and still be on time to pick up their children safely. Many of this programs don’t get recognition in the benefits that are given to the student and those that are close to the line. As discussed before, if one relates to another, creating a system to flourish one will help the

Department of Education, “documents that schools serving low-income students are being shortchanged because school districts across the country are inequitably distributing their state and local funds”. (Education, 2011). Students that come from low income families are not given the equal chance to get the education that students from high income families get. If students are not given the tools they need to be educated, then they will have a poor chance of succeeding in the world.

As impoverished children lack sufficient, nutritious food and the proper guidance to allow them to develop and identify a purpose, these children, as they age, are unable to realize the importance of an education. According to the American Psychological Association, a study that examined the relation between poverty and high school dropouts showed that in a high school class of 2012, approximately 1.1 million students had dropped out. (Rumberger 2012) These students who drop out lack the resources required to obtain a job that will allow them to be financially stable. Instead, these young

Poverty is the United States is a major issue and continues to worsen as housing is becoming less affordable for many people across the nation. People that do find housing are often restricted to low-income areas that have few opportunities. In the low income areas there are few jobs and the quality of schools are poor and keep the people in the cycle. To offset this cycle money needs to be put into the education system in these lower income areas to offset this cycle. Education allows for people to have more opportunities and would increase the incentive to live in low-income areas. With a quality education that is equal to the suburbs it would give the children much more opportunities to improve themselves and exit the cycle. This cycle is living in low-income areas gives children a poor education due to the schools lacking money and resources; without the needed education the student is not able to get a good job. Without the well paying job that person is not able to afford housing and has to living in affordable housing that is located in the low-income areas. By breaking this cycle with increased education it is possible for people to get out the cycle that ties them to that area. Education is the foundation to success and it very important that is equal and everyone receives similar opportunities through that education.

In today’s world people need to compete globally for jobs and one of the most important factors in getting a good paying job is education. However, even the best schools cannot overcome some of the obstacles placed in front of the students that walk through their doors. Poverty, chaotic home environments, discrepancies in exposure to technology, and lack of funding for schools all negatively impact the effort to educate children.

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.

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