Friday, February 28, 2014
Classism and Poverty in America's Schools
Hey Everyone ! As we all know this week's discussion was about different Immigration laws and Classism in America. In class on Thursday the we mainly discussed low class or rather I say working class. Throughout class we discussed the underlining issues American's in poverty have with many things such as better job opportunities, education and better resources to be able to provide a better life for their family. We also discussed how middle and high class have better access to receive better opportunities, resources and education for their kids. In chapter two of bell hooks she explains how she is coming to realize class consciousness when preparing to attend college for the first time.
"When I was choosing a college to attend, the issue of money surfaced and had to be talked about. While I would seek loans and scholarships, even if everything related to school was paid for, there would still be transportation to pay for, books, and a host of other hidden costs. Letting me know that there was no extra money to be had, mama urged me to attend any college nearby that would offer financial aid. My first year of college I went to a school close to home. A plain-looking white woman recruiter had sat in our living room and explained to my parents that everything would be taken care of, that I would be awarded a full academic scholarship, that they would have to pay nothing. They knew better. They knew there was still transportation, clothes, all the hidden costs. Still they found this school acceptable. They could drive me there and pick me up. I would not need to come home for holidays. I could make do."(bell hooks, pg. 25)
I decided to rewrite this part of the book in the blog to state that although bell hooks and her parents were aware of all the hidden cost, the white-women recruiter may have been oblivious to the hidden fees, transportation costs, books and other host hidden fees. Just like in America today many kids who live in low poverty areas are in dyer need of help as far as transportation cost, new books and other hidden fees it takes to make a school in a poverty area run successfully. When a child is living in a low class area it is very hard to have self motivation to get out of poverty when they are older because they have little or no resources to educate them on how to better themselves for the future. Poor or old resources go to low class areas because this is all these areas can afford causing thousands of kids to get behind or no education at all. Many people in high and middle class think negatively about low class people. Terms such as "welfare-queen", irresponsible, stupid and other low terms are tied with low class people but most of the low class people work three to four jobs and still struggle to make ends meet.
Due to living in a toxic environment it plays a big role in kids living in poverty. Kids in poverty are less likely to be develop high self esteem and never truly receive attention from their parents because they need to work to provide.Here above is a video I found on YouTube that really discuss the importance of bettering schools in low poverty areas. Although America would like to believe that everyone has the same opportunities at life it is pretty clear in this video that, that is impossible. I believe low class children do not, but after watching this video what do you think ? Does everyone have a fair opportunity to succeed in life ?
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What an interesting and important video. The side-by-side comparisons of the quality of schools students attend really illustrate the inequality within the American education system. The frustrations expressed by students from lower income communities really mirror the struggles Bell Hooks describes in her novel. Like the video says, access to education is an extremely important contributor to class mobility for members of lower classes. Something I find particularly interesting is the multiple people in the beginning of the video who repeatedly reference the “face of poverty” (0:50, 1:14, etc). Specifically these individuals say that this “face of poverty” is changing to include a larger number of the American population. Hooks identifies this changing face as the ever-intensifying gap between the rich and poor (46). The classism within the education system also seems to have a profound effect on students’ self-esteem and attitude towards education as shown by the contrasting quotes at the end of the video. A major contributing factor towards these feelings may be the general demonization and criminalization of the poor by the media (Hooks 72). These stereotypes seem to carry through to the varying school systems, exemplified by the requiring students from the lower income districts to pass through a metal detector on a daily basis. While I do not wish to underscore the importance of safety in schools, I can understand why these students might be more discouraged from learning when the institution treats them with this kind of suspicion. The huge differences in education quality within various districts only perpetuates the current class systems and stifles kids’ efforts for improving their quality of life.
ReplyDeleteThe video is not working on my computer so I will answer your question and guess what the video was talking about?
ReplyDeleteThe gap between privileged and underprivileged populations is so wide, and one of the contributing factors is in education. Guessing from the video, these students were talking about their schools and how they may or may not have had the same or basic resources to succeed in their school districts. Like what Bell Hooks states in her book, education opened her eyes to new classes and led her down the path of crossing class lines. But if many under privileged students don't have the opportunity to go to college and universities, it will be hard for them to be exposed to other classes and their ideals and values. They will continue with what they know and the values of the working class that they grew up in.
The education system is a prime example of where the gap between the working class and the wealthy is evident. This gap reigns true in my town and in my neighboring town. My town has working class to wealthy people, mostly middle class, so there is a range of income levels in my town. From this, our public schools are privileged to have many resources and new technologies for us to succeed. We had smartboards, laptops, computers, graphic calculators, and more. We had great teachers, teachers who have won county and state awards. We also had a variety of classes to choose from like PhotoShop, Java, Economics, and SAT prep. But in my neighboring town where the population is comprised of mostly lower and working class black and Hispanics, their schools were not as good as ours because the did not have the money or privilege of having great teachers, resources, and classes as my school did. This gap between my privileged town and the neighboring under privileged town put some students at an advantage and some at a disadvantage. Students at my school were able to get into better colleges because of our SAT prep classes and the other classes available to us that were not available at the other school. This gap between us gives my town better opportunities to succeed. And with better opportunities, one can have a better career that pays well that puts them in a better privileged position. As you can see, some students are a step ahead in life based on the fact that their class is privileged and more doors can open for them, but some student are stuck in poor neighborhoods because the opportunities given are not comparable or they do not allow them to move across class lines.
Could not have chosen a better video to illustrate exactly the situation of poverty in the United States, it was very interesting. You cant help but worry about those children that are living in a truck, yet they inspire you because they had a positive attitude about it. The girl had all the motivation to get the best education she could and had high dreams for herself which I loved about her. Poverty is affecting children so much bringing their self esteem down crushing their dreams. The government should definitely invest more money into the education system since it is the primary factor to what is affecting such a high percentage of poverty. Bell Hooks is a great comparison to this video because her family struggle for her to attend a prestige college was very evident. Sure they government says everyone has the same opportunities, which they partly do, however the level of difficulty it is for those to achieve it varies drastically. Those with more struggles are more likely to lose motivation along the way which then makes the poverty percentage rise. I love those children though that have all the motivation in the world to change their situation so they try even harder trying to break the stereotype of giving up due to rough times.
ReplyDeleteThat was an extremely powerful video! As soon as it started to play one of the first things I heard was "the face of poverty has changed". Immediately that had me thinking about the truth in that statement. Poverty has taken over so many families. Just like the families in the video, I think have come so accustom to this that they dont even think about it they just continue to do what they have to do to live, and barely make it. Another great part that was so interesting to me was when they said people in poverty are running out of resources. At some point if you stay in the same position without advancing it is possible to exhaust your resources. They talked about how you eventually run out of your savings and unemployment may stop. But one of the things that really hit the nail on the head was when they said a friend or family member may not be able to help because now they to are in need. To me one of the most important quotes was from governor Kathleen Blanco when she said, "Think about it, every educated personn is not rich, but almost every educated person has a job and a way out of poverty. So education is a fundamental solution to poverty." ANd when you think about it she is absolutely correct!
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