Stereotypes In Poor Kids

Nearly ⅕ of all of all children in the United States live in poverty (“Poor”). The large amount of children who live in poverty is outrageous. Kids who live in poor conditions are not responsible for their position. It is the parent’s responsibility to take care of the kids. Children brought up in these conditions are not set up to be very successful. Although there are cases of children working their way out of poverty, it is unlikely they ever will. In the film Poor Kids by Frontline, producers go into different families situations of poverty to look at how children deal with poverty. In order for one to comprehend the challenges children face living in poverty, one will need to how the parents budget, how children contribute money, the consequences children live with, and parental behavior.

In the documentary “Poor Kids”, Frontline explores childhood poverty from the eyes of the children that are enduring the epidemic. Through interviews and observations, the children from these poor families tell their stories uncandid, honest and in their own words. The outcome is remarkably discerning, by taking viewers into their livelihoods and day to day experiences, and displaying their unfortunate lack of resources and hope. Every single day, huge numbers of American families get pulled out of the middle class and dumped into poverty. The amount of reliable, secure jobs continues to shrink, and families don’t have any way to pay their bills, causing them to lose electricity, water, and even their homes.

With the United States of America having one of the highest child poverty rates, the documentary titled, Poor Kids, takes us to Stockton, Iowa where we follow the lives of three destitute families from the point of view of their children. Two of the families are on the verge of homelessness and the other one is already living in a shelter. Throughout this documentary we see what being poor in America looks like through the eyes of children.

In the first article titled “Class in America” by Gregory Mantsios the discussion on class affecting the United States negatively is brought up. Gregory talks about the fact that people do not choose to be poor but they are put into situations where they cannot move up in class. Due to the fact that class creates an immense gap in communities, there are many issues linked to being categorized as the lower class. In the article Gregory states that “class affects more than lifestyle and material well being. It has a significant impact on our physical and mental well-being as well.” CITE) The author connects the idea that if you are in the lower class than you will also deal with other issues include your mental and physical health declining. Alongside this idea, the author also states “All Americans do not have an equal opportunity to succeed, and class mobility in the United States is lower than that of the rest of the industrialized world. (CITE) This goes along with the idea that once your born into a class, breaking out of it is virtually impossible. The author is also making the point that in the United States class is more problematic than other developed nations and because of this not everyone is given the chance to break free from a poor lifestyle.

When watching the Frontline special on poor children in America I was shocked, outraged, and saddened. I kept thinking why? Why are these children living in poverty? Why can their parents just get jobs? And why is it so hard to live in a society like ours? The three children that were followed or the three months while making this documentary were all so grown and mature at an age that children usually think about toys, friends, and having fun. The children portrayed in the documentary were thinking about bills, food, and shelter. At such a young age, I wasn’t sure

“Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter” (“What is Poverty,” 2016). In the United States, there are 45 million Americans are living in poverty (“45 Million Americans,” 2014). In order to determine if one is living in poverty, the United States Census Bureau has established a poverty line that they then measure, according to the individual’s income and their family size (“Poverty Thresholds,” 2016; “Poorest Cities in America,” 2016). Since the recession in 2008, many states have seen a rise of families living in poverty. Poverty is a vicious cycle and has devastating effects on young children.

Poverty is a human services issue that is spread throughout the nation and world. ‘The percentage of children who are poor is more than three times as high in the United States as it is in Norway or the Netherlands.’ (Porter, 2016) The trend since 2000 is that there is an increasing amount of families, and in turn children, living in poverty. Poverty has been defined as the state of being extremely poor. But what does that mean? Poverty is the lack of financial, emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical resources. Children cannot change their situation because they are dependent on adults to provide for them which makes poverty easily passed from generation to generation. “Poverty directly and indirectly affects

Who are America’s poor children? How many children in America are poor? What are some of the hardships that face poor children in America? These are only a few questions that we can ask ourselves when considering children who live in poverty in America. Children face monumental hardships in our country because of poverty or the condition of not possessing the means to afford basic human needs. The economic crisis that we find ourselves in today threatens to cause a dramatic increase in the number of America’s poor children; however poverty in America has long been a crisis that has faced the children of our nation. This essay will investigate the previous asked questions and research

In the introduction of this essay we will be looking at ‘what is child poverty?’ Poverty is often associated with the third world and developing countries where death from starvation and disease is the outcome. This kind of poverty is rarely seen in the UK though. Child poverty is unfortunately a result of adult poverty with Child poverty having lifelong consequences. There are 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK today, that’s 27 per cent of children or more than one in four (department for work and pensions, 2013.) Poverty in the UK is about a lack of resources, lack of capital both income and wealth. But it can also be resource poor such as; education and good health

A child living in the 21st century is no stranger to poverty and the desperate lifestyles it promotes. Too often the case, children, living in families with incomes below the nation’s poverty line, are limited to criminal activities, low-level education, and blue-collar employment. Furthermore, years of economic strife in the United States have invited a cycle of poverty to predetermine the lives of children in poverty-stricken families, where they are raised with insufficient care and inadequate resources in unstable environments. Not that it is in any way the fault of the parents, whose financial situation isn’t always an accurate reflection of their parental capability, the government’s assumes the responsibility of removing children

In the 2012 documentary Poor Kids, children living in the Quad Cities reflect on their lives in poverty. Each story is different but similar in many ways. At the time of the film, there were sixteen million children reported who were affected by poverty. The film also stated that one in five children were living in poverty. With large quantities of children being affected by poverty, the important to understand how these children are dealing with the factors of poverty.

Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief, does a wonderful job portraying the life of Liesel Meminger, a poor German girl suffering the effects of poverty, yet trying to make the best of life where it seems most unlikely. He expresses her hardships in such a realistic way that makes the reader feel sympathy for his characters--all of which are struck with poverty. Child poverty has been around for years and is still caused by problems in family structure, educational issues, and even economical problems. It is obvious that there are government programs and charities that are designed to help the poor but a person who needs financial aid or support should go find help instead of waiting for help to come to them. Due to

Class systems matter only to what a person makes it out to be. When someone is in college trying to make a living with a fast food job, they are probably not making enough to pay off all their payments. This example would put that specific person in the lower class. If one works in an office for a superior company and has a good payment rate, they are more than likely in the middle class. The owner of the big business who makes a ton of money a year- pays that underclass working individual to work for them- is considered upper class. They have higher quality than all the others.

Concept 1: I come to realize that classism is degree of difference based on social perceived class, which is all teetering on one paycheck. I also come to understand, from the movie American Winter, that middle class people are finding themselves, laid off, foreclosed, and unable to pay their utility bills causing so many people in our own community to be one paycheck from poverty, eviction and homelessness. The middle class is working hard one day and the next day going to homeless shelters, food banks and even selling their own plasma just to put food on the table (Gantz 2013). Homeless shelters are quickly

Socio-economic factors are widely acknowledged as important determinants of poverty. If an individual experiences adverse living conditions in childhood, majority of them will have inadequate income and result in low socio-economic status as adults (Carroll et al, 2011). Children born in poor households have difficulty in accessing the basic needs (e.g. food, clothing, and good living environment) and this can affect their learning ability at school, unable to focus. In other words, they have a higher chance of dropping out of school or lower education attainment, unable to provide appropriate qualifications when they move onto adulthood, seeking for job opportunities. These children are finding day-to-day life tough, they are living in cold, damp houses, do not have warm or rain-proof clothing, their shoes are worn, and many days they go hungry (Children's Commissioner, 2012). Often this has taken place over a long period of time, impacting on their development, behaviour and physical health furthermore limiting their potential as they grow into adults.