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Has there ever been a time in your life where you or your parents did not have enough money? How did that make you feel? And in what ways were you affected? My parents came to America with little education and limited job opportunities. Due to my parents’ lack of education and English, I was placed in ESOL. I didn’t know that money and lack of resources could affect me in so many ways. In this lesson we will learn about poverty and the affects it can have on children and families.
This video shows us how poverty can take a toll on a child's' life. A parents economic status can feel like a heavy load on the child. It begins to negatively affect them physically and mentally.
How does early childhood poverty effect children?
How can poverty be defined? Well poverty can be defined as having a minimum amount of income needed to cover basic needs. For a student's early childhood education, requiring basic needs is super crucial for their cognitive development. Early economic deprivation can be greatly harmful later in a child's adulthood, this creates disparities in school readiness and early academic success (Blau, 1999). Students who grow up in poverty can have a lower rate of proficiency than those who are considered “near poor” or “middle class”. Entering kindergarten they tend to be behind other students and lack basic skills such as recognizing letters, beginning words or sounds, and counting and basic shapes. Then we see later in their lives the long term outcomes in poor teens results in school dropouts, abuse, or neglect. Other results are females are more likely to become pregnant before marriage and prior to the age of 21. Research shows that poor males are more than twice as likely to be arrested (Duncan et. al, 2011). Poverty is linked with negative conditions, inadequate childcare, poor academic performance, and development delays.
What can cause family poverty?
Family poverty is very complex and is broken down into poverty co-factors. A few of the selected factors that contribute to family poverty are parent education, parent marital/work status, race/ethnicity, and documentation. All these different co-factors and family structure in one generation can be determinant to the next generation resulting in long term poverty. Yoshikawa et. al, 2012 explains that “poverty can represent mechanisms through which family poverty affects children”. For example, some mechanisms are low quality classrooms, neighborhood danger, and limited access to healthcare. Parents who have not received a high level education (finishing high school) can result in living in poverty due to limited job opportunities. Similar to those who have no documentation it is harder for them to find ways to make money and support themselves and their families. Living in a bad neighborhood can negatively affect families economically. For children, schools are not safe, resources are very limited and equity/equality is not supported in classrooms. Stated in the article parents in low-wage jobs experience higher rates of job stability and job loss (Magnuson & Votruba, 2008). In the United States we see people who are living in poverty, are mainly minorities and people of color.
What are the 3 domains of poverty?
Growing up in poverty comes with consequences that can hinder our development in 3 different ways. The 1st domain is academic achievement and attainment; income gaps in achievement are present when children enter school and grow during the school years (Maldonado and Votruba-Drzal, 2007). Children are less likely prepared; low enthusiasm for learning, lack of motivation, and poor learning mentally. It can prevent students from exploring new things and promoting critical thinking at an early age. The 2nd domain is behavior, children who exhibit poverty at a young age are said to have more behavioral problems. Some external problems are aggression and acting out. They can deal with depression and anxiety. The article provides evidence between poverty and behavior problems, antisocial behavior, inadequate self-regulation, and poor mental health (Blau, 1999). The 3rd domain is physical health. Families and children living in poverty are less fortunate in receiving a healthcare plan. Poor children in the United States are more likely to have chronic problems such as asthma, diabetes, hearing problems etc. (Magnuson & Votruba, 2008). Children are also more likely to be malnourished, which can lead to a shorter life expectancy. These 3 domains are very important things to look out for in our students, so we can be able to provide them with the help they need.
Conclusion
As educators, I believe it is important that we are aware of the needs of our students. We need to understand what poverty means and the consequences that our students can face in the classroom, also what could be happening at home. Acknowledging how it can affect the way we teach our students. We need to be able to set the right expectations for the students by keeping expectations high, expose students to experiences, and tender, love, and care. Educators shall also move beyond the stereotypical definition of poverty and realize that there are a variety of social and economic factors that come into play. No matter what class level a student is because of their families the key to student achievement is through great quality teaching (Duncan et. al, 2011).
Questions
1- What are the 3 domains of poverty?
a) Academic achievement and attainment, and behavior.
b) Behavior, money, and food.
c) Physical health, behavior, and academic achievement and attainment.Physical health, behavior, and money.
d) Physical health, behavior, and money.
2- Sally is going into kindergarten. Her parents have recently moved to the United States. They are undocumented and do not have much money. Going into kindergarten, how will this effect Sally?
a) Sally will be eager entering kindergarten.
b) Sally will not be able to communicate and will have to be placed in remediation.
c) Sally will be academically prepared and advanced than others.
d) Sally will be behind other students and lack basic skills.
References
Blau, D. M. (1999). The effect of income on child development. Review of Economics and Statistics, 81(2), 261–276. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465399558067
Collaborate & Create Amazing Graphic Design for free - CANVA. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.canva.com/
Duncan, G. J., Magnuson, K., Kalil, A., & Ziol-Guest, K. (2011). The importance of early childhood poverty. Social Indicators Research, 108(1), 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9867-
Magnuson, K. A., & Duncan, G. J. (2004). Parent- versus child-based intervention strategies for Promoting Children's well-being. Family Investments in Children's Potential, 209–236. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410610874-9
Maldonado-Carreño, C., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2011). Teacher-child relationships and the development of academic and behavioral skills during elementary school: a within- and between-child analysis. Child development, 82(2),601-616. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01533.x
TheSmithFamily. (2019, November 5). David & the big heavy - a short animated film - youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-nTLHcdmhw
Yoshikawa, H., Aber, J. L., & Beardslee, W. R. (2012). The effects of poverty on the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of children and youth: Implications for prevention. American Psychologist, 67(4), 272–284. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028015
Answer key:
1- C
2- D
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