Garret Mathews recently wrote a column about the bitter reality of poverty:
You’re taking a bunch of fifth-graders home from the pet store and the mall. They live on the poor side of town and don’t have many opportunities to go places. In some cases, their caregivers don’t even have cars.
You get a good feeling from providing an experience the children would otherwise not have. At one time or another, you’ve taken out just about everybody in the class.
You hope that a few will be able to break out of the cycle of poverty. You constantly push the importance of reading and working hard at school.
The odds are against them. Many of these youngsters live in inadequate, overcrowded housing units. Many family members have problems with drugs and alcohol. Some are in jail.
Few of the kids reside with both biological parents. Some are shuffled back and forth among relatives best able to come up with the month’s rent money.
I highly recommend reading the entire article by following the link above. In it, Garret Mathews continues with her second-person narrative, describing the pain of listening to a poor little girl describe her dream of becoming a heart surgeon when you know her environment won’t allow it.
In the United States, 50% of children born into poverty never escape its horrible grip. These children have no defects. They have as much potential as their more privileged counterparts. The unfair social environment never gives them the opportunity to reach that potential. Like seeds that you plant in bad dirt without sunlight, the problem comes not from the individual but rather the environment.