The topic that I have chosen to study is Poverty. Poverty has been seen in just about all parts and areas of the world. It is devastating to see children and families have to suffer without having their everyday normal needs met. I have chosen this topic because as I mentioned before, I work at a preschool that serve many families who live at or below the poverty line. Many of my students and their families live from welfare check to the next welfare check. The funds that they are granted are barely enough to maintain their families for the entire month. As a teacher, I personally see the effects poverty have on my students. These children are unfocused, late to school, delayed in their education, stricken with disabilities, in lack of parental guidance, and in need of lots of love and resources that are available to them.
I understand that parents who are in poverty often have to deal with the daily stressors of caring for their family. When stress is in their home, often children are neglected unintentionally. Parents are often busy trying to make ends meet or fighting with one another from the pressures of life. This is when then relationships of children and their families take a dive for the worse. This can sometimes lead to parents separating or divorcing which also affects children lives.
Not having the proper nutrition can also be devastating to children. This alone can affect the wellness of children's developmental stages in their lives. Children's performance in school can also be affected by poverty. When children are a part of families who are fighting, hungry, cloth less, and struggling at having their basic needs met, they are not prepared for school. Often these children are not focused, delayed, aggressive, angry, depressed, and suffer from many other issues. I am sure that doing research about the different aspects of poverty will be interesting to research.
Cotati,
ReplyDeleteI would agree that poverty is a large problem and it has devastating effects on our children everyday. I see some of the same things with children in our school and in my classroom as well. We have a program in our school called Student Support Services that will step in any time and help our children and their families in need. We just had a student to enroll in our school that after some conversation with him, found out that he was homeless. He and his father have moved to our area to get a fresh start and they are living in their car. Student support specializes in this type of thing and we were able to contact them and get them working on some housing for them and also helping the dad look for some type of work. Programs like this can be very beneficial if you have trained people to assist them. I am looking forward to hearing more through your blogs!
Amy, that is so amazing that you have a student support department at you place of employment. Unfortunately, my worksite does not have a program like yours. We offer resource information where families can go to receive help and resources that are needed. Where I work, we receive many migrant families or families who have just moved into our city who has no employment. These families are excited to enroll their children into preschool and bring them to school in the best of what they have.
DeleteHi Cotati,
ReplyDeleteIs there anything that you or your center do currently to help the children and families in your classroom meet at least some of their basic needs, ie proper nutrition, resources for the families, etc?
I'm sure your research will bring nothing but good to your students and their families!
We only offer resource information. Basically phone numbers to other outside agencies for assistance. What we do offer is social skill groups for children with social concerns. As for food and shelter, we only pass alone the contact information. I wish that we were able to provide better services for those in need.
ReplyDelete