The Cycle of Poverty and the Negative Effects it has on Children
With the economy constantly fluttering up and down the one thing that remains the same is the existence of poverty and the cycle that so many people are in because of it. Children are negatively affected by this because they are born into poverty and suffer from the mistakes that their parents made which automatically puts them at a disadvantage in schooling and affects their physical health. Children that are born into rich homes however, receive the foundation that they need at a very young age and statistically have a much greater chance of going to college compared to those coming from a lower class. With charter and private schools being limited and often times too expensive, children in low income families and poor communities suffer the consequences of not having up to date information. This cycle of poverty isn’t right though, and America shouldn’t be satisfied until the promise of equal opportunity is made true in every child's home.
The cycle of poverty is said to be a set of factors or events by which poverty, once started cannot be stopped unless there is outside intervention. This statement is even truer for children and the education system, because generally families that are on the poverty line live in poorer communities; whose schools systems don’t offer all the advances that a nicer community may offer. In their book “The poverty of education: A study in the politics of opportunity” David Byrne, Bill Williamson, and Barbra Fletcher tackles the dynamic issue of how opportunity is granted to those that are wealthy and have the ability to afford good schooling (1975). They state that a child's success is predicated on how much money their parents makes, and it makes a never ending cycle because those children will remain successful while others never got the same chance. School budgets are tied to property taxes, which is why schools in poor neighborhoods get half as much money per student than schools in affluent neighborhoods. With less funding for the school’s students attending poorer schools often times don’t receive the most up to date textbooks, have fewer facilities, and are unable to offer programs to help children outside of the classroom.
Children that attend well accredited schools are offered more outside help. Whether it be from tutoring, school programs, sports, or community involvement; they have all shown to improve student’s grades. Often times children that attend schools that aren’t sufficiently funded don’t receive these opportunities, which means they spend less time at school and more time running the streets or studying at home without anyone to help them. These extra-curricular activities that are often times overlooked play a detrimental role in the lives of children that get involved with them, but it is impossible to get involved if the school system doesn’t offer these programs. Benjamin Levin examines how a school district in Canada was able alleviate the impact of children poverty by improving instructions to students with low achievement, strengthening pre-school education, and building links with parents and the community (1995). Resolving this issue wasn’t easy, but by finding local business that are willing to fund the schools or creating community events to raise money for a specific organization or club even the poorest schools can find a way to offer children the sufficient amount of outside activities.
Children that come from poorer families often have more stressful situations within their own household, where emphasis isn’t put on education but lesser things. In Bruce Biddles book “Social Class, Poverty, and Education: Policy and Practice” he suggest that the schools aren’t to blame, but responsibilities fall into the hands of parents that must ensure their children are understanding all the material and focusing on school (2001). However, this theory is unfair to children who may live with only one