After reading the article by Kristof a few times through, I decided on a few key points he made that I would like to agree with/reflect on.
"Yet I fear that by 2015 we’ve become the socially rigid society our forebears fled"
"The chance of a person who was born to a family in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution rising to the top 10 percent as an adult is about the same as the chance that a dad who is 5 feet 6 inches tall having a son who grows up to be over 6 feet 1 inch tall"
Society often sees and hears of stories of poverty stricken kids prevailing and coming out on top. While these stories are commendable and inspiring to many, they are not always achievable. It is easy for a middle-class (or higher) person to assume that low income people have the same opportunities as them, but in reality, they do not have the guidance or the resources that many middle-class children grow up with. This comparison that Kristof made was very accurate in the sense that, yes it is possible and it may occur from time to time, yet it is not a norm and is not as commonly seen.
"In the United States, too often the best predictor of where we end up is where we start"
Similar to what has been mentioned about kids growing up in low-income households, this does not define them as a person, but this environment they are in, is often all they know. Their "stepping stone" is underdeveloped which then leads to the child growing up and never leaving the circumstance they started in. This becomes a vicious cycle where more children are brought up in underdeveloped communities and are born into the same assumptions. Every small effort made by those around these kids can alter their life, hence the reason teachers are so crucial to a child's future.
"School might have been an escalator to a better life, for Rick had a terrific mind, but as a boy he had an undiagnosed attention deficit disorder and teachers wrote him off. In the eighth grade, the principal punished Rick for skipping school, by suspending him for six months. Rick was thrilled. By 10th grade he had dropped out for good."
Punishing a student from school is so ineffective. A growing mind should not be shunned from their learning environment especially as a punishment for skipping school. That will not encourage them. As for the A.D.D, a child should never be disregarded for that or treated as less then. This is a road block in their learning abilities that teachers must recognize rather than writing off. A situation like this clearly does not lead to a student being eager about education, it turns them away.
"Remember that disadvantage is less about income than environment. The best metrics of child poverty aren’t monetary, but rather how often a child is read to or hugged"
"That’s a poverty that is far harder to escape"
I fully believe that the location of the child is not nearly as important as the love and support that they need. It is always possible to get out of poverty but it is not as easy to feel encouragement and potential if they were constantly disregarded. If a child knows that someone will acknowledge their accomplishment and be proud of them, they will strive for so much more.
"Yet I fear that by 2015 we’ve become the socially rigid society our forebears fled"
Centuries ago, the united states was inhabited by those who wanted to escape the harsh circumstances they were living under. This country became a place of freedom that people longed to live among. Kristof makes a point that as time is going on and we are in present day, this country that was once a sanctuary has become more similar to those places our ancestors fled. This is so sad to me as a young adult who still has so much more life to live, unaware of god knows what will happen next in this country.
"The chance of a person who was born to a family in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution rising to the top 10 percent as an adult is about the same as the chance that a dad who is 5 feet 6 inches tall having a son who grows up to be over 6 feet 1 inch tall"
Society often sees and hears of stories of poverty stricken kids prevailing and coming out on top. While these stories are commendable and inspiring to many, they are not always achievable. It is easy for a middle-class (or higher) person to assume that low income people have the same opportunities as them, but in reality, they do not have the guidance or the resources that many middle-class children grow up with. This comparison that Kristof made was very accurate in the sense that, yes it is possible and it may occur from time to time, yet it is not a norm and is not as commonly seen.
"In the United States, too often the best predictor of where we end up is where we start"
Similar to what has been mentioned about kids growing up in low-income households, this does not define them as a person, but this environment they are in, is often all they know. Their "stepping stone" is underdeveloped which then leads to the child growing up and never leaving the circumstance they started in. This becomes a vicious cycle where more children are brought up in underdeveloped communities and are born into the same assumptions. Every small effort made by those around these kids can alter their life, hence the reason teachers are so crucial to a child's future.
"School might have been an escalator to a better life, for Rick had a terrific mind, but as a boy he had an undiagnosed attention deficit disorder and teachers wrote him off. In the eighth grade, the principal punished Rick for skipping school, by suspending him for six months. Rick was thrilled. By 10th grade he had dropped out for good."
Punishing a student from school is so ineffective. A growing mind should not be shunned from their learning environment especially as a punishment for skipping school. That will not encourage them. As for the A.D.D, a child should never be disregarded for that or treated as less then. This is a road block in their learning abilities that teachers must recognize rather than writing off. A situation like this clearly does not lead to a student being eager about education, it turns them away.
"Remember that disadvantage is less about income than environment. The best metrics of child poverty aren’t monetary, but rather how often a child is read to or hugged"
"That’s a poverty that is far harder to escape"
I fully believe that the location of the child is not nearly as important as the love and support that they need. It is always possible to get out of poverty but it is not as easy to feel encouragement and potential if they were constantly disregarded. If a child knows that someone will acknowledge their accomplishment and be proud of them, they will strive for so much more.
I agree with what you are saying about the last quote! If a child has the love and support of another human being, then that will make them want to achieve more.
ReplyDeleteI agree that teachers play an important role in a child's life and that children that are brought up poor have a hard time having a good life.
ReplyDelete