SUPPORT THE CHILDREN
Poverty Education: #1 Factor: Environment
Child Raised in Poverty-You live in a dangerous environment. Your neighborhood is plagued by gang violence and your parents are afraid to let you play outside. You don't get much exercise and as a child, you develop some risk factors for obesity. Child Not Raised in Poverty-You live in a safe environment with clean air and safe playgrounds. From an early age, you join Little League baseball or softball and get a lot of fresh air just running around outside the house. Physical activity, health, and exercise stimulate mental activity
Poverty Education Factor #2: Education
Child Raised in Poverty-Children who live in poverty are less likely to attend preschool, less likely to read at home and learn basic skills, and they often enter the educational system behind other students. Also, you live in a poor urban area where the schools are bad. When you start school, there will be large class sizes and students have to share text books. Child Not Raised in Poverty-You started pre-school at the age of three and you picked up numbers and the alphabet really fast. Your parents also practiced with you at home. You enter grade school one step ahead. You live in a wealthy suburb and the schools are well-funded through taxes. You'll have everything you need.
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Poverty Education Factor #3: Nutrition
Child Raised in Poverty-Your family struggles to get by on a minimum wage income and is on and off of food stamps. However, food stamps don't always last until the end of the month and you sometimes are forced to come to school without breakfast. It is difficult to concentrate on school when you are hungry. Child Not Raised in Poverty-You always have three meals a day, usually with nutritious snacks in between, and you always know where the next meal will come from.
Poverty Education Factor #4: Parenting
Child Raised in Poverty-Your parents become separated and your dad disappears from the scene for a while. During this time, finances are really difficult. Child support is required by law, but your mom isn't sure how to navigate the system to try to force your dad to pay it. Besides, you aren't even sure where dad is living. Since on average, women's earnings tend to lag behind men, and almost 43 percent of single mothers live below the poverty line. Child Not Raised in Poverty-You have a happy family, but even if your parents were to separate, there's never a question as to whether you will always have access to financial resources from both of them.
Poverty Education Factor #5: College
Child Raised in Poverty-You want to go to college, and there is some financial aid offered for low-income students. But even with that, college is really, really expensive. Besides, even though your dad is now back, mom got laid off from her cleaning job. You decide to go full-time at the job you had through high school, a fast food joint, and to put off college for now. Child Not Raised in Poverty-It has always been assumed that you will go to college, as will almost everyone in your high school. You take a SAT-prep course and are enrolled in AP classes in the hopes of starting off with some extra credits.Deciding where to go to college is a tough decision; you apply to your favorite places, get in to some of them, make college visits, and finally, you choose one that feels like the best fit for you.
