The Information Gap--An Unspoken But Significant Cause of Poverty? (money, student, good)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I didn't say "inner-city". You filled that in yourself.
The fact is, poverty by itself does not mean children don't have access to books, magazines, and computers. But broken, chaotic, and/or dysfunctional living situations are an indicator that the child won't have access to those things.
There are many decent families who happen to be poor and who successfully struggle to provide opportunities for their children. Yeah, it's easier when you're rich but it can be done if you're poor.
All children in the US go to school. So all children have at least some access to books and magazines at school. Public libraries are free and one can go online at public libraries.
What I have observed is a generation stuck to tablets, computers and cell phones finding information that may or may not be factual without enough education to know whether what they find can be trusted. As the girl in the commercial says, "You can't put it on the internet unless it is true." So sad!
My husband has said many times that our schools need to get back to the three R's. If you know how to read, write and do basic math; you can learn anything.
I don't think poor parents value education any less than wealthy parents. Wealthy parents are simply better equipped in this respect.
1. Wealthy parents expose their kids to more vocabulary terms, on average, than poor parents.
2. Educated (and presumably, on the average, wealthier) parents tend to read more. If a child sees the adult members of their family reading, he/she is more likely to think reading for leisure and work is normal, expected behavior, one would think.
3. The upbringing of wealthy children is, on average, more stable than those born to less fortunate mothers, many of whose fathers left. Children with a father and a mother present do better than those with only mothers, as they are thrust into fulfilling both of the traditional parenting roles - supporting the family while raising the children.
4. Parents of higher socioeconomic status often schedule their children's time rigorously, and place them in sometimes-educational, skill-building activities. Poorer parents tend to have a more hands-off approach to parenting, letting their kids "be kids".
5. They also have the knowledge (perhaps "information capital") and connections ("social capital") necessary to help their children with homework beyond the elementary level, as well as to best prepare children for college entrance, etc.
Not all kids click with the school counselor. An unstable home life puts a huge burden on a child.
...
You can't fix that in school. A child that grows up with a home life like that sees it as their "norm".
The stories these kids come to school with would shock some of you that haven't dealt with them face to face. School is a getaway for them and a social outlet. They don't care about learning. Getting an education is just not instilled in them from home.
And having a counselor sitting in an office can help some but that is not the solution.
This makes sense to me. Many low income parents are putting all of their efforts into surviving - working one or two low paying jobs just to get by. When they come home from work, they don't have the energy to read to their kids. I know when my kids were small and I was tired, I was much more liable to let them sit and watch tv. Extrapolate that to parents that are exhausted all the time and there goes the nurturing. Assume that those kids grow up not knowing how to parent, and they raise kids the same way....
Not all libraries are open long hours and most libraries that I know of require a parent present to get a library card. Visiting libraries as a norm is NOT normal to many people.
1. Wealthy parents expose their kids to more vocabulary terms, on average, than poor parents.
So couldn't a recommended reading list reduce this problem? The sci-fi books I started reading in 4th grade exposed me to lots of words and concepts that my parents and teachers never mentioned.
But the stuff called science fiction today has been getting stupid. The Hunger Games is ridiculous. It has half as many science words as Frankenstein.
Now tablets and wireless connections in libraries make access fast and easy. But the problem of wading through the garbage is the same as it was in the 60s. A recommended reading list could have been begun decades ago.
Technology isn't the problem. Schools aren't the problem. Teachers aren't the problem.
Parenting, specifically lack of it, is the problem.
If parents don't care about education, the kids won't either. Having an iPad or the internet or whatever to do the work doesn't matter worth a damn if there's no support in the home for using it for educational purposes.
This isn't just an issue with poor families, either. There are a surprising number of even middle-class families that don't necessarily encourage children to read/learn, either. You won't find a book or a Kindle in the house, and all the PCs/laptops are used for is gaming.
It is worse, however, for the poor. That's less about the availability of print/electronic media and more about the parents not setting examples. Nobody reads, so there's nothing in the home to read, and surely nobody in that household is going to go to the library.
This isn't just an issue with poor families, either. There are a surprising number of even middle-class families that don't necessarily encourage children to read/learn, either. You won't find a book or a Kindle in the house, and all the PCs/laptops are used for is gaming.
It is worse, however, for the poor. That's less about the availability of print/electronic media and more about the parents not setting examples. Nobody reads, so there's nothing in the home to read, and surely nobody in that household is going to go to the library.
It's ALL about the parents. Whether it's reading or encouraging them to do well in school or making sure they don't get involved with gangs/drugs, etc.
It's ALL about the parents. Schools cannot make up for their lack of parenting.
For one in a thousand? Sure. For ten in a thousand? Maybe
But the other 990 will NEVER catch up from the lack of early input.
How do you know it is one in a thousand and not one in a hundred, or one in ten.
Explain your assumption?
And what do you mean by early? We can now give tablet computers to 3 year olds. The devices are getting under $100. The problem is what to load on them when they can read.
So couldn't a recommended reading list reduce this problem? The sci-fi books I started reading in 4th grade exposed me to lots of words and concepts that my parents and teachers never mentioned.
But the stuff called science fiction today has been getting stupid. The Hunger Games is ridiculous. It has half as many science words as Frankenstein.
Now tablets and wireless connections in libraries make access fast and easy. But the problem of wading through the garbage is the same as it was in the 60s. A recommended reading list could have been begun decades ago.
Perhaps, or even just having college kids make home visits, which has proven to work.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
