Even though many people associate education with formal academic pursuits. Education is the process of gaining knowledge, whether formally or casually, whether it be in the form of skills, ideas, or facts. Consequently, taking classes and being in school are not the only components of education. However, the majority of educational methods require resources, with money resources being one such example. Contrarily, poverty is related to the lack of materials or resources needed to complete a given job or activity.
According to research, most people are driven by their current financial situation which results in better performance during times of economic hardship. Think of a trainee working in a given firm, and they receive fewer allowances as compared to what they spend during the training period. Later on, the same trainee qualifies and is employed by the same firm. On the contrary, poverty can also influence your education process negatively and lead to a failure in future. For example, an individual who left school due to school fees challenges since their guardian could not provide anymore. The paper below will, therefore, focus on the impacts of poverty in education, focusing on some higher-level academic institutions that comprise high schools, colleges, universities and much more within the United States. Later on, a conclusion will be made from the finding and possible recommendations.
Background information
United States is among the well-developed nations in the world and for a long time the government has supported the education process both formally and informally. Right from helping the youths in creative and innovative ventures such as mechanical works workshops to the academic institutions put in place by the government. However, most of these institutions, academic institutions to be specific, requires the student's school fees to avail the necessary resources for the learning process (Valenzuela and Ríos). Researchers have recently focused on the impacts of poverty in education and among the related works is an article, the effects of poverty in children where the author argues that poverty has an impact on the educational performance of children. Pointing out that children who experienced poverty at their early age strained to meet their educational objectives (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997). Also, several students have suffered late registration in schools due to poverty if the family cannot raise the required resources needed to sustain both the students and pay their school fees. Remarkably, some people have made significant achievements in education just because they came from a poor background and they were inspired to make efforts to break the chain of poverty.
Thesis statement
Currently, education has not only proven to be an added advantage but also a necessity for an individual to survive in the current information age. Everyone is striving to acquire as many skills as possible since the world today requires people with vast knowledge unlike being a specific expert. However, considering that people in the United States are of different economic status, acquiring the skills and expertise has been challenging people suffering from poverty. Most of the people heavily depend on formal academic learning as their education source. Raising the fees and having the resources needed to sustain someone in acquiring different skills has been challenging for low-income earners and for parents who need to provide for their children’s educational needs. What are the impacts of poverty in education and how can the negative consequences be mitigated to reduce the shortcoming and offer more opportunities for people to acquire skills and knowledge? Providing solutions for the challenging will help reduce the negative impacts of poverty in United States education system.
Positive impacts
Creates a sense of responsibility
As much as each person dreams of becoming rich in all the resources they need in a lifetime. Poverty has shaped the life of a food number of people and has taught them to be responsible. Throughout the education process, most of the students can take care of their school activities, and some go to the extent of availing the resources for themselves. In the United States, most of the individuals in the academic institutions work to pay their school fees and sustain themselves regarding availing the basic needs. Therefore, as much as someone understands their economic states and makes an effort to move away from poverty, it can be a good foundation for bringing up responsible children.
Creates motivation and inspiration
Many people who have faced the challenge of poverty in their education programs end up failing after a long time of complaining concerning their economic status. Remarkably, most of the people have taken it positively, and the state of resource scarcity has been a motivation and inspiration that drives them towards their success. Besides, the success of people who have struggled to achieve their educational needs is an excellent motivation for people who are currently living in poverty and are straining to acquire some skills and abilities.
Creates a sense of self-appreciation after Success
How does it feel to succeed after a long struggle with poverty in the process of being educated? One feels proud of themselves and can convince people that one can make remarkable achievements despite living in poverty during their early life. Considering that a sense of self-esteem and confidence to face more challenges on future is developed, one can arguably agree to the findings that poverty in education can be a channel to make yourself proud such as Oprah Winfrey who became the first African American television correspondent despite having grown from a poor background.
Negative impacts
Psychological Impact
It is much related to the emotional responses of an individual. People from low-income families tend to suffer a feeling that they are not able to raise the required resources for their educational needs and throughout the learning period their minds are disturbed by the state (Berliner). Most of them feel inferior and are even unable to perform some essential activities despite having the potential. Think of a student who cannot concentrate in class and make proper notes because they come from a poor background.
Poor performance in education
Education works hand in hand with performance that acts as a measure of whether someone is acquiring the right skills. As mentioned earlier, some students may spend some time working or doing other activities to sustain their education programs. In such a case, one has limited time to acquire skills as compared to noble families' students and therefore leads to poor performance for people living in poverty. An example is an individual working in the morning hours and goes to school later in the afternoon while the non-working classmates have time to perform additional studies and practice the skills they have acquired.
Lack of age-appropriate general knowledge
Poverty is among the primary reasons why people join education programs late than expected. Probably the guardian or the parent or any other provider failed to meet the needs in time due to poor backgrounds. Unfortunately, knowledge is acquired through different periods in a lifetime and delayed joining of school may lead to insufficient experience or schooling with a group that is less mature. An example is a student who joins high school four years above the average age of joining high school and he could neither fit in the group of classmates, who though he is older than them and neither met in their age group, thought he is less mature.
Parental care inconsistency
Despite one having the biological parents, poverty may lead to several people taking the role of a parent for one particular child. As an individual desperately seeks the fulfillment of their educational needs, they might receive support from more than one person who will at that time be playing the role of a guardian or parent. The increasing number of caregivers who have different characteristics leads to unstable or inconsistent parents care (Levy and Schady). An example is a student who was receiving training in a local technical institute, and she is sent to the city to live with a relative who will pay their school fees and cater for their upkeep. Such a person will have the experience of more than one individual who played the role of a parent in their lives.
Lack of school fees and Resources
Lack of school fees and the necessary resources required for making one a better person may lead to various regrets. It is not the wish of a person to lack the basic needs and hence when such resources are depleted on a personal level; one gets depressed. Depression itself can result in self-hatred, involvement in criminal activities among other evil activities. When young people do not understand the chance to be in school fulltime due to poverty, they at times start comparing themselves with those from better backgrounds and the children can develop self-rejection. Self-rejection is a great risk to students since they may grow never to accept who they are and could even result in school dropouts and street lives.
Health and safety issues
Students from day schools need a healthy breakfast to give them energy for the day. What about those students who will have to go to school without even taking breakfast? Such students have a high probability that they will not concentrate in school or be active in any activity since their bodies are weak. Also, a lack of health measures at home may lead to poor academic life. For instance, students who get sick and their parents have no money to pay for treatments are forced to stay at home while others are still learning at school. Also, poverty makes people live risky lives. The precautions needed to keep a person safe are not achieved by those living in poverty. Staying safe is too expensive for example avoiding dangerous diseases may be a challenge. Apart from the school fees and other school sustaining needs, poverty strikes the health of individuals as well. For one to be in school fulltime, learn and interact with others usually, a healthy life is needed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is evident that poverty influences a lot of things in the education of individuals. The discussion has provided background information about the United States about poverty and education systems and has further provided both the negative and positive impacts of poverty in education. It is clear that as people suffer the challenges of poverty, some victims learned to be responsible, were motivated and inspired, and today they are proud of the things they achieved despite the hardships. Nevertheless, some victims have suffered the impact of poverty negatively and have ended up failing in their efforts to acquire education. Some of them face psychological results, poor performance, lack of age-appropriate general knowledge, parental care inconsistency, lack of school fees and resources, and finally, health and safety issues. From the above impact, one can conclude that poverty has greater adverse effects that need to be resolved or minimized to allow as many people to get educated and use the acquired skills and knowledge in solving day-to-day challenges. Failure to resolve the problem, United States and the entire world may reach a situation where only the noble families have access to the best education programs and are the most skilled and knowledgeable.
Recommendations
From the research, there are negative impacts of poverty in the education system in United States, especially for the higher-level institutions. However, there exist possible solutions that could be implemented and lead to a significant transformation in the education system for students living under poor conditions. One, the psychological impact is something that can be resolved by counseling sessions for the needy students. The sessions will not only enlighten them on the approaches to face poverty challenges but will also teach them on how to control their emotions despite the economic status differences. Poor performance can also be supported by the teachers and trainees' effort, who should understand the needy children and give them more attention for them to catch up with the others. Such an approach is a sign of supportive tutors who always support students towards their success. Thirdly, on the issue of lack of age-appropriate general knowledge, awareness should be created on the consequences of late education enrollment, and people should be encouraged to plan for the future of their beneficiaries such as savings in advance for school needs.
Parental inconsistency is also a negative impact that affects education processes, and parental education programs should be availed to train parents on their roles and why children need to have a consistent caretaker. Among the reasons is to avoid a combination of characters inherited from the caregiver by the student. Lack of school fees and resources could be resolved by reaching out to potential sponsors and scholarships that support the education program. Finally, considering that health and safety issues are a fundamental need for each, people should advocate for equity in health services and safety services that will guarantee the needy families an excellent environment to educate their children.
Work Cited
Berliner, D. " Effects of inequality and poverty vs. teachers and schooling on America’s youth." Teachers College Record, 115(12) (2013): 1-26.
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne and Greg J. Duncan. "Children and Poverty, Vol. 7, No. 2." The Future of Children (1997): 55-71.
Levy, S. and N. Schady. " Latin America's social policy challenge: education, social insurance, redistribution." The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27(2), (2013): 193-218.
Valenzuela, J. P. Bellei, C. and D. D. L. Ríos. "Socioeconomic school segregation in a market-oriented educational system. The case of Chile." Journal of education Policy, 29(2), (2013): 217-241.
