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Terrena Wright Bud Kanyo English 111 p.22 21 October 2103 Education Money is the answer to everything, this could be a statement heard throughout the twenty first century. Not everyone has the money they need. There are many that go without. Poverty has been a problem for people when it comes to learning. Poverty will affect the learning process for children in the twenty first century. Parents may not be able to be home and help with homework because they are working two or three jobs. Also, some students may have to get a job after school to help the family; this could hinder the learning process for these students. When people stress about money, it sometimes causes problems at home, which can makes it difficult for students to concentrate on their studies. Poverty can affect people in many different ways. There have been many ideas to help with poverty, however thinking of ways to resolve these issues are easier then executing them. When parents who cannot afford the items they need, it may create poor self esteem for the children who do not have the items that they need, this could affect their future learning. Self esteem is very important for children to build, however this is harder for children who live in poverty. Some children may create self esteem when they are toddlers, however, children at schools can be incredibly mean. Some parents are not able to afford the newest and trendiest cloths or supplies. Carol Lyon, who has a Ph.D. explains that, Less expensive supplies

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were often not trendy...Once again it goes back to the stigma thing. If a student does not have the latest items, other students decide this can be an opportunityy to pick on fellow classmates (215). This type of treatment can be carried on throughout high school. If a child is picked on and beat down every day for years, this childs self esteem can be broken down. Lyon agrees, she concludes that, A secondary education major pointed out that at the high school age; self-esteem is a major part of a youth's life. Students concluded that the self-esteem and academic performance of a child who has poor quality school supplies are adversely affected (215).If these children do not have the proper supplies may feel embarrassed and learn to keep to themselves. These children may learn to feel as though they are not good enough, or learn that life has no options for them. Dealing with insults at school and stress from home, these students may feel that they will not be able to learn to prepare for their future. Having low self esteem, they may feel that they are not good enough for college, or parents could tell them that they need to find jobs and not worry about college, because they would never be able to afford it. Therefore, they could learn that jobs that make smaller amounts of money may be all they can get, and the trend would continue with their children. Having low self esteem may keep them from getting jobs that they want and then the poverty levels will continue to go up. Janjua False and Zamurrad Pervez, who are foreign professors at the International Institute of Islamic Economics, found that the, World Bank's latest available estimates of poverty for 2005 reveal that about 25% of the world's population is extremely poor: that is, one in every four people is poor (146).When these children take lower paying jobs, they will learn to bring their children up in the same way they were raised, and will continue to live in poverty. Poverty is expanding in the twenty first century, unemployment is pretty high throughout the united states. Some families may even experience homelessness.

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Lack of learning tools and homelessness can be a key factor in the learning process for children. Teachers may not know that they boy in the third row of the classroom may be homeless. This boy is wondering where he may be sleeping tonight, and not paying attention to what it being taught in the classroom. The girls in the second row may be hungry because there may have not been enough food for supper the night before, or breakfast that morning. When hungry, the learning process is slowed down, it is hard to concentrate on what they are trying to accomplish. Homelessness is growing in the united state for school aged children. Duvan G. Winborne, a professor at The Univesity of Kentucky and Gloria J. Murray, a professor at The University of Louisville concluded that, What one sees from research is that the majority of homeless family members are school aged children (144). When children are homeless they may not have the necessary tools that are needed to learn. The necessary tools that children may need are not necessarily technology such as computers, it also involves books. Students get the same education; this is what is said in the twenty first century, no students left behind. June E. Miller and Diane Davis, professors at Rutgers University disagrees , The number of second grade books in the household of a 7 year old boy is more likely to be affected by current or long term poverty (998). Students are not able to get the same education if they are not able to afford the tools that are necessary for learning. Homelessness and the lack of learning tools can affect the learning process for children in the twenty first century. Winborne and Murray agree that, for homeless childen, School performance is below average because of irregular attendance and chaotic personal life.(145). These students may not attend school regularly, they may be moving from one shelter to the next. These children learn to live one day at a time. Another area that affects the learning process for children is their home environment.

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The home environment is supposed to be where learning is constantly happening, however when living in a low income home, the home environment may not be the best learning environment. Children learn from their parents daily. When that environment is broken this can take a toll on the parents and the children. Miller and Davis feel that, Low income makes it more difficult to afford adequate housing, food and material resources as well as opportunities for cognitive stimulation (e.g. music lessons) (997). When parents are always worried about money and bills it may not create a good learning environment. These parents may become violent or overstressed, and their children may learn that this is appropriate behavior. Poverty creates many worries for families. Karen Secombre, a professor at Portland State University claims that, More than half the poor families experienced at least one of the following deprivations over the course of the last year: eviction, utilities disconnected, telephone disconnected, housing with upkeep problems, crowed housing, no refrigerator, no stove, or telephone(1097). Think about having over crowed housing, it would make it difficult for a person to concentrate on what they are trying to learn or accomplish. The worry of eviction and loss of power is enough to stress parents out, now throw in trying to help their children learn what they need for the future. Not everything gets accomplished when there are a hundred things to worry about. Poverty is more than an economic inconvenience easily overcome with increased initiative. Rather poverty affects one total existence. It impedes adults and childrens social, emotional, biological, and intellectual growth and development(Secombre 1096). A persons home environment affects all sorts of learning aspects in ones life. Single parent families may be more at risk for poverty, which affects learning in the twenty first century. Miller and Davis discuss that, Marital history affects both the risk of poverty and the quality of childrens home environment (997). Single parents need to be the

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money makers and the homemakers, this can become quite hard. These parents may spread themselves to thin. Miller and Davis concur, The time that single parents spend with a child often may involve the performance of other tasks or attention to other children, which reduces the quality of the time spent together ( 997). Children may learn that it is not important to spend time together as a family. Also, if parents are too busy to help with homework this will affect the childs learning. Living in a single parent home when that one parent does not understand what a child is trying to learn, this could cause some difficulties. These parents may not be able to help their children with homework because of their own disabilities. Secombre claims that, 99 percent of children who live in a single parent houses, and who live with a head of household who has less than 12 years of education have experienced poverty(1096). When parents do not have an education of 12 years or more they may not have the knowledge that their children may need for homework assignments. This could affect a childs feeling on what they are trying to learn, such as if the parents dont understand or know the subject why should the child need it? Also, children may be too embarrassed to ask for help, or tell teachers that their parents do not understand. This could lead to that child dropping out of school just like their parent did. Then these children could also become the statistic of head of household having less than 12 years of education. Poverty can affect the learning in the twenty first century. Children may learn as though they need to get a job to help with the poverty. Getting jobs to help with the poverty in a persons household will affect the learning process in the twenty first century. If parents are not able to afford what is needed to run a household children may feel the need to get a job and help with these needs. Zamurrad and Pervez claim that, People living in poverty are unable to meet the basic needs such as essential nourishments, basic health and education (145). If a parent is sick and cannot work than a child

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of age to work will get a job to help feed the rest of the family and help keep the power on. If this child needs to work full time they may drop out of school, or if it is part time this still takes time away from studies that need to be learned. These children may learn that jobs are more important than preparing for the future. Learning in the twenty first century is affected by poverty. Not having money that is needed can affect a childs or parents self esteem. Not having the right tools for what is needed to learn or homelessness is a huge problem when it comes to learning When children are homeless or hungry because of the lack of money, how are these children suppose to concentrate on what they need for their future ? The only future they can concentrate on is where they will be sleeping or how they can get some food. Also, when parents cannot afford bills and things are getting turned off, children feel that stress also. They feel that they need to help their parents. When they are old enough they may go out and get a job to help support the family, this could lead to not enough time for studies or dropping out of school. This can lead to becoming a statistic and repeating their parents choices, therefore their children will learn the same lessons in life as they have. Poverty needs to be stopped for these children so that the past is not repeated.

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Works Cited Davis, Diane, Miller, E. June. Poverty History, Martial History, and Quality of Childrens Home Environment. Journal of Marriage and Family 59.4 (1997): 996-1007 Jstore Web 28 October 2013. False, Janjua, Pervez Zamurrad. The Role of Education and Income in Poverty Alleviation: A Cross Country Analysis. The Lahore Journal of Economics 16.1(2011): 143-172 ProQuest 19 October 2013 Lyon, Carol. Demonstrating Poverty in a Multicultural Education Course: Buying School Supplies with Limited Funds. Multicultural Education 13.3 (2006): 48-48 ProQuest 19 October 2013. Murray, J. Gloria, Winborne, G. Duvon. Address Unknown: An exploration of the Education and Social Attitudes of Homeless Adolescence The High School Journal 75.3 (1992): 144-149 Jstore Web 28 October 2013

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Secombre, Karen. Families in Poverty in the 1990s: Trends, Causes, Consequences, and Lessons Learned. Journal of Marriage and Family 62.4 (2000): 1094-1113 Jstore Web 28 October 2013