Interview 1

March 11, 2022

Kristi Oda
1. Have you had or seen children who weren’t able to bring their supplies to school?
No, I haven’t personally seen a child in my class without school supplies. But when I was
younger, I was one of those students. When I was younger, extra supplies my classmates
had were given to me.

2. When you had that experience, what was done to help you?
When I was in schoolteachers didn’t really help me to get the supplies, I wasn’t able to
afford. But the extra things students had were given to me. Teachers tried to sort through it
and see what other students needed.

3. Do you think that classes should have classroom supplies that all students share?
Yes, I think schools should have classroom supplies. It would allow students to all have
similar or the same supplies. If teachers were to buy the supplies, they could put it in bulk
and even get a discount.

4. Do teachers help students out when they don’t have supplies?

No, not all teachers help out the students. They might also not be able to afford supplies for
the students, but most teachers will do what they can.

5. Does not having school supplies affect a child negatively?

Yes, it can affect a child negatively in many ways. Students could feel left out, and it could
be detrimental to the students learning though out the year.

6. What are people in the community doing to help these children?

Churches in communities set up school supply drives. I’ve seen them put school supplies
into a backpack and give the backpacks to students.

7. Do you think the school should provide supplies for the students?
No, I don’t think so. I would say more so the principals should be organizing out how
students should get materials so teachers could focus more on teaching.

8. How does having supplies positively affect students learning?

Students are able to do assignments. They use those supplies to process the information
that they’re learning. They can do what they have to do for assignments on their own
without having to ask anyone else for supplies.

9. Why do you think schools don’t just have classroom supplies instead of having children
buy their own?
Schools just don’t have enough money to afford supplies for every single student.

10. How can other people in the community help these children?
Families can donate to donation cites or any organization that collects donations. People
can also participate in care to share programs in communities.
 Interview 2
April 8, 2022
Taysha Muranaka

1. Have you ever seen children who don’t have school supplies for school?
Yes. I have worked at two different schools, and students often did not have basic
supplies they need for school. This includes having a backpack, pencils, crayons, markers
folders and paper.

2. How do you think not having the supplies affect children negatively?
Yes, I do believe for some students it affects their confidence and contributes to how
they see and feel about themselves. I’ve had some students share with me that they are
worried about money, and that their parents are always working to pay for things. It
breaks my heart to hear children worry about these types of things.

3. Do you feel like schools should do away with requiring children to have their own
supplies?
I think it depends on the school and the socioeconomic status of the families. I’ve
worked at schools where parents could afford to buy their children all their needed
supplies and would often donate things to the school. But I have also worked at schools
in the lower socioeconomic status where children would often come to school with
empty backpacks. Depending on the demographics of the school, I think maybe schools
should take a look at what school supplies they are requiring and consider providing
students with certain supplies they use daily.

4. What can children do when they aren’t able to afford supplies?

Most schools provide teachers with supplies that students could use while in school, but
oftentimes they had no supplies to use at home. If teachers let students bring those
supplies home, they often did not come back to school, and teachers ended up spending
their own money to replace those supplies. Teachers often reach out for donations and
sometimes community agencies sponsor schools and donate supplies at the beginning
of the year.

5. Why do you think families aren’t able to afford supplies for their students?
I think that depends on the socioeconomic status of the families. There are some
families that buy supplies at the beginning of the year. But as the year goes on students
either lose those supplies or use them up. Oftentimes, parents either are not willing to
buy more supplies because they keep needing to replace them, or it is a possibility that
they can’t afford it.

6. What concerns do you have when you see a child with no supplies?
From a counselor's perspective, I am concerned that the student will either feel self-
conscious about not having the needed supplies, or they may be teased and judged by
 other students. For example, at one of the school’s I worked at, the assignment was to
draw what they did over the weekend and share it with a classmate. This student drew a
picture of himself and his dog with only a red crayon, and his classmate laughed and
told him that there are no red people or red dogs. The student got mad and threw his
paper away. When I asked him about it later, he disclosed that he only had a red crayon
because his little sister was drawing and broke all the other crayons. I think small
incidents like this will add up over time and may contribute to the student feeling self-
conscious about himself.

7. Have students ever expressed how they feel when they don’t have what they need?
I have had students express that they wish they had something that their classmates
had. Like if someone had a new Spiderman bag or a fancy pencil, some students would
make comments to me about it. But as a counselor, I only really hear students talk
about not having supplies at home. Or I will hear teachers saying that certain students
always need a pencil or an eraser or other supplies because they are constantly losing it.
Headphones are often a school supply that I’ve seen students struggle with.

8. How can the community help these children?

Back to school drives are very helpful for students. But I think that maybe these drives
can be held in the middle of the year as well to help replenish supplies that were either
used or lost. Some community agencies will sponsor students and provide backpacks
filled with supplies for families who need the extra help.

9. Does not having school supplies in a school setting affect children outside of the
classroom?
I’m not sure about this one, other than they might not be able to do certain assignments
at home. I know while we were on distance learning, teachers had to be cognizant of
the things they were sending kids home to do. For example, if they were going to need
scissors or glue, or be able to print out things. Not having headphones at home made it
hard to participate virtually.

10. Do you think that schools should be doing more to help these students?
Depending on the school, I think most students are able to get the supplies they need.
Sometimes I do think teachers use quite a bit of their own money to get supplies that
students can benefit from that aren’t provided by schools. For example, I had a teacher
buy workbooks to help an English language learner to provide extra support to learn
English because they did not have access to internet at home.