Why the Poor Will Probably Stay Poor
by Robert Roof
Take a walk around your town or city and observe all the different types of neighborhoods that you pass. No matter where you live, chances are that you have poor neighborhoods and a “bad side” of town. They seem to reflect the depression of the people who live there.
When I was a little kid, I would see these neighborhoods and wonder, “Why would anyone want to live here?” I was much older when I realized that they don’t have much of a choice. It is a sad but true fact of reality that if you are born poor and underprivileged in America, unless you are incredibly determined to be successful, you will probably stay that way. This is not about the people who are temporarily impoverished, like college students or kids that are trying to move out of Mom and Dad’s house for the first time, but the millions in this country who were born and raised in the slums or ghettos. There are many different reasons (such as drugs, lack of family, etc) why poor people in America have a tendency to stay that way I intend to discuss my views on these reasons.
My first reason for difficulty is a lack of family and high divorce rates among the underprivileged. Financial strain is one of, if not the top cause of intermarital or family fights. These fights often lead to divorce and the breaking up of families. As a single parent (who happens to be poor but fortunate enough to have a family that is willing and able to help) I can tell you that even if you have two parents that are willing and capable participants in the raising of a child, with a one on one basis, it is very difficult to find the time to instill good family values or a strong work ethic into a child.
People with small bank accounts really need to work for a living. Many people are forced are forced to take two or even three jobs just in order to make ends meet. This does not leave a whole lot of time for childcare, and many kids are forced to practically raise themselves. “Latchkey kids” turn to their peers or whoever is available for support and often times end up getting themselves into a lot of trouble, especially during the critical teenage years when they should actually be learning to become functional members of society.
This leads me to my next point: Kids growing up with little family guidance tend to put very little emphasis on their own education. Education, as we all know, is incredibly important in society today. Without an education, it is nearly impossible to get the kind of jobs that provide the financial dividends that would allow one to rise out of poverty. This leads back to my argument of a lack of a strong family keeping the poor just as they are. People tend to follow the examples that they see in everyday life. If a kid sees people that didn't ever care about their own education, why would they have any reason to care about theirs? Kids growing up on the streets don’t have the positive role models to encourage them to finish their homework or to stay in school. I never really cared about the commercials on T.V. telling me to stay in school, did you?
My next reason why I believe that the poor will stay poor is the ever-present drug problem in America today. Drugs are not merely for recreational use. They are a mask for problems. Drugs help people escape and forget about the problems in their day to day lives. They are really popular with the poor for that reason. However, they don’t pay for a move to a better neighborhood. This also leads back, once again, to the lack of family. If the kids have strong role models, their chances of turning to drug abuse are greatly reduced. They will disassociate themselves with the rough drug using crowds and find better ways to spend their time, like studying.
My final reason for the downtrodden of our society staying that way is the popular culture in America. If you watch any of the music video stations, vary rarely do you see anything with a positive message. You are bombarded with images glorifying drug use, partying and life in the ghetto. A lot of people take the entertainers responsible for these images as examples of how it is cool to live and behave and emulate these behaviors. These are not positive role models and do absolutely nothing to help poor people succeed in life.
If, by providing these examples, it seems as though I'm looking down upon or harping on people who live below the poverty line-- I'm not. I am, however, pointing out that there is a problem with poverty in America today, and hoping to inspire people to give, to support education, to join mentoring programs, even. To band together and help get rid of this problem.
