Response to “Poor Kids,” Blog and “The Moth Radio, Episodoe 1305, Segment 3”

                  The main cause of poverty that can be concluded from the documentary and discussion is the lack of a well-paying job. It was heart breaking to hear the children in the documentary talk about poverty. Some of the children, such as Brittany and her brother Roger as well as Jasmine, Johnny and their two other brothers, had stable and well-to-do lifestyles before. However, when their fathers lost their jobs, they didn’t have enough money to pay the bills. They sometimes didn’t even have enough money for food and/or shelter. Worrying about how to pay the bills, buy clothing and food and survive becomes a priority. The children living in these poor households will always think about food, having limited possessions due to constant moving and how they can help their parents get more money.

This cycle of constant worrying, stress, and moving from one house to another affects children’s education. Without having a stable home and/or income, children will either be unable to attend the same school or have insufficient necessities to do well in school. In the documentary Kaleigh talks about how she is not enrolled in a school because her family is constantly moving around from motel to motel, and perhaps to a house if affordable. It was amazing to see how mature the children are. They understand what is going on, can sympathize with what their parents must feel, and acknowledge that education is the key to leading a successful life.

In order for children to stay in schools and off the streets, such as those kids in the “The Moth Radio, Episodoe 1305, Segment 3” recording, they need an environment that is safe, educational, and motivating. While neighborhoods and locations of school may be dangerous, teachers need to make their classrooms a safe and motivating environment where their students will be motivated and interested in learning. Because leading a successful life requires a high education in order to obtain a well-to-do job, education is very important to the future generation of career workers. Teachers need to also come up with lesson plans that are not only interesting, but educational not only in content but in life skill development that children will need to know how to use in their future careers; life skills, such as social, critical thinking, problem solving, presentation, etc. Keeping children off the streets and in the classroom will encourage today’s children to become learners and problem solvers, who will be able to decrease the poverty rate in the future. Having a high education and life skills will help children become successful and lead lives where their own children won’t have to go through what their parents went through.

Schools and teachers are not the only places and people who need to be aware of the lives of children, especially those who are poor. Communities need to have stricter policy in making sure that the environment is safe for its residents. Enforcing policies that make communities safer and motivating children to learn and go to school will help the communities in the future when the children grow up and start to run and take care of the communities themselves. Both schools and communities also need to offer courses that educate the residents in daily and world knowledge, such as healthcare, money management, etc. Having an educated community will provide higher-paying jobs and companies as well as give children the opportunity to learn more about the world they live in.

However, some questions I have are: How does a poor community offer these courses when families are thinking about working and just getting by in their lives? When do these families have the time to even go to these courses? It seems as if there is no immediate solution to curing poverty. However, I'm glad I watched the documentary. As I've said in our class blog, I don't remember talking about poverty all that much while in school. This is an effective method to opening children's mind to people around them. There is so much out there. Without being open-minded to diversity, children will grow up being biased and not being able to deal with people who are different.

Response Paper to “Not Enough to Live On”

Last week’s activity involved the class splitting into several groups and each group was assigned to a county and, later, with a job position. We had to look at our “salary”, which was included with our job position, and look at the index from the reading to determine where we could possibly live and survive. I learned about two aspects of teachers: 1) the teacher’s responsibility in the classroom and to students; and 2) teacher’s own living experiences in New Jersey. Pertaining to the first aspect, I learned that teachers have to do more than just teach. During the activity, I felt stressed even though this was not real life. Thus, parents who are actually going through these hard times, have enormous amounts of stress. I realized that children from those households will not only be affected by the living conditions, but also by their parents’ stress and worries. Teachers who have these students will not only have to understand how children deal with family issues, but teachers would also need to be open-minded in being aware of the parents’ situation. The reading mentions all the various family combinations that are present. Knowing how to talk to and work with students from all types of family backgrounds is also not easy.

Not only do parents feel the burden of New Jersey’s high living costs, but teachers do as well. Last week’s activity helped me realize how hard it is to live in New Jersey. Some salaries weren’t enough for the standard living costs. Teachers only work for ten months and will need to find another job for the summer if their teaching position does not have a sufficient salary to provide funds for the summertime.

This in turn along with the second reading makes me think about my own future and how I would be able to survive with a sufficient income. According to the reading, the lowest income sufficiency household combination is two working adults living together. Sharing housing and food costs will help lower spending, which would allow those households to save money and have enough to live comfortably. The reading also reports that the highest income sufficiency household combination is a single mother living with her child or children. Not only do children require the necessities, they need to time with parents to talk and play. This requires a lot of energy, especially from single mothers who are working full-time. This reading makes me feel that self-sufficiency and living on one’s own in New Jersey is scary. For now, I’d probably continue living with my parents and help lower housing and food costs. 

Response Paper to “The Real Cost of Living in 2008”

Truthfully, I never thought much about the living costs in New Jersey. Before reading the report, I had been aware that the houses in my town, vary in sizes. The houses range from lake houses to mansions. Furthermore, children from these different houses often are in the same classes and schools together. While I recognized that there are differences in my peers’ house sizes and the things they would bring or wear to school, I never looked at the cost of living beyond my town.

            After reading “The Real Cost of Living in 2008,” I learned how some families could face such hard living burdens. Naively, I had always thought that if a household’s income was below a certain amount, it would need to have assistance in order to have sufficient funds to pay for necessities. And, incomes that were above a certain amount could not qualify for assistance, but are able to afford basic necessities. This idea or belief came from seeing my own household, where there were times when we could not qualify for loans from the state simply because my parents’ incomes were not low enough. But, I did not experience any hardships in eating three meals daily, having clothes to wear, etc. The report opened my eyes to not only the varying amounts of living costs in New Jersey, but also the reality that while not everyone qualifies for assistance from the government and/or state, it doesn’t mean that they are well off.

            In the report, the amount of income that qualifies for most assistance programs is around 30% below the federal poverty line. Furthermore, if the standard living costs are much higher, this means that household incomes in between these amounts suffer the most. With money tight at home, there is little to afford additional resources, such as higher education. While my high school consisted of various house sizes, the range in household incomes may not be very wide. However, if one were to visit a regional high school, one may find that there is a big diversity in household incomes. With so many students from different counties and towns coming to one school, there will be a wide range in students’ household backgrounds. This diversity affects not only the resources that schools will receive, but also the resources that students have, which will have an impact on students’ learning.

This knowledge teaches me that I need to be aware of and consider the differences that students can have so that I can address and connect with each student equally. It’s not just about ethnicity or level in learning. Being aware of various households and experiences will help me in coming up with projects that every student can benefit and learn from.