Poverty Relation to Poor Education Systems
Introduction
Poverty is one of the major problems facing all countries in the world, despite efforts to reduce the spread of poverty and the many people living in abject poverty, the efforts seem futile. In countries all over the world, the subject matter has taken root for ages, even in very developed first world countries such as the United States of America and China poverty is one of the significant challenges that slow or deters proper economic growth and development as the government’s channel funds to people living in poverty for them to have at least food on the table. It has been said a couple of times that if all people were given the same amount of money in a couple of months, people would still be poor given many circumstances, but that is the problem the societal prejudice surrounding poverty is among many other issues. As the world is growing fast, and there seems to be existent economic growth in most countries, it is shocking that this money is not spread equally amongst the people. Thus it makes the economic growth of a country a non-justifiable parameter for measuring the living standards of a people. The world and many countries to be precise are becoming more civilized, but simultaneously, one side is failing, and that is the distribution of wealth; this is because as countries are making progress, the gap between the rich and the poor gets bigger and bigger. The rich enrich themselves, and the poor become poorer. Poverty has led to cases of insecurity, such as the murder of rich people, theft as poor people cannot access necessities, lack of proper education for the poor, the majority, lack of Medicare, and drug abuse to reduce stress, among many other problems are related to poverty. Looking at all dimensions of poverty, this essay seeks to dive into the subject matter of education related to poverty. This essay aims to analyze how learning can be a cause of poverty, the effects of negative systems of education for minorities, poverty eradication through education, and the role of the government in improving the lives of people living in poverty through the provision of quality education.
Body
Poor Education Contribution to Poverty
Racial Discrimination in the Education Sector
Racial discrimination is one of the problems facing the United States today, demonstrations have been seen worldwide as activists try their best to advocate for the rights of minorities in the United States of America and the whole world in general. Most children growing up in the United States and having to attend schools with the Caucasian whites is difficult; some teachers to are discriminative of minorities, especially black minorities. Developing inferiority complexes in minorities’ children from school eats them up, making them grow up feeling as if they are not enough or cannot be whatever they want to be. Most school-going children of minorities in the USA come from poor backgrounds; some have to take up work and school to get an education or substantial student loans that they have to pay for the rest of their lives. At the end of it all, poverty runs through the generations, the colour of one’s skin being used against them in schools, making them less self-confident, and very few can step out and make a good life.
In a book by Alexie it talks about life as a native Indian American, the discrimination he faced as a little boy because of his skin colour, his height, and even from teachers, for instance in the ninth grade when Alexie fainted after a basketball game when the teacher came up to see him he questioned what he had a drunk sighting that Indian boys start drinking early, but in the real sense Alexie had diabetes; Alexie was from a poor Indian reserve, and even their racism was paramount moving to an all-white school in the seventh grade was not any better, in both setups, there was bullying, abuse, discrimination and killing of dreams(pp.105-110). National institutions are supposed to build people into better human beings than they were, however, when it comes to minorities as in the case of Alexie described above very few people make minorities up, only the most robust and most determined survive and achieve what they want, although it should be easy for all to study it is not for black minorities in America in their struggle to fit in a discriminative society. Education has to be the only thing that can make the child of the rich and the poor dine together. In getting a quality education, people’s lives change for the better. Still, in most American schools, racial discrimination is a significant hindrance.
Mindsets
Many times people have been told about the power of the mind. The ability of the brain to capture what you believe or speak out into the universe. For most poor people who have been able to get out of their situations they thought, they did something that is put effort, and most importantly, they had confident minds. A book by Dweck talks about school-going children and how school systems are designed in a way that they focus on educating children to put the effort in their work but not to learn, proper mindsets, inner brain motivation and encouraging children to learn rather than just placing the bid, for instance, if by speaking positive concepts into existence and believing in what they put out into the universe (p.1-4). Believing in oneself and motivating oneself is much more valuable in learning than just effort and can help a person regardless of whether they are weak or not get out and flourish.
Dweck, in a book called “Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn,” speaks of the influence mindsets have on student’s learning, elaborating that students should be taught to have different mindsets that fit different situations (pp.1-2). Fixed mindsets limit growth and learning even when there is enough effort being put out. In a YouTube movie called the “Men of Honor,” it shows the power of self-belief through the story of one black man by the name Carl Basher who decided to join the army and become an army diver and regardless of the setbacks he faced, the discrimination and doubt from the white leaders and experts of diving like Bill Sunday he kept moving with ambition and self-determination which made him successfully win a diving match. Mindset is essential, and developing variant mindsets if vital to learn and know how to deal with different things that face the human being. In the part of poverty, those who have substantial and diversified mindsets succeed and can grow out of the problems they were born into. Still, those who are stuck in fixed mindsets continue wailing in misery or become more impoverished.
Systems
Poverty can be interlinked with systems created in the world. In this section, the main focus is on school systems that are designed in a way that they are discriminative; for instance, the poor get poor education while the rich get a quality education. Quality education is expensive, and the poor cannot achieve such high standards us, their lives continue being regarded as more inferior, given even getting a meal a day is a privilege for them. The school systems built to encourage the most performing children through praise. At the same time, those who do not do well are left unappreciated for their efforts. This system bars children from achieving their optimum potentials as their brains reach a fixed growth; for instance, if a child knows that if they get a certain mark, they will receive a particular gift, then it limits them to just getting that mark than learning. Kohn, in a book, says that the system builds the future generations, Kohn elaborates that people have looked for ways to fix children. At the same time, the problem lies within the school system and says that what children need is unconditional support and non-judgmental teachers (p.1-4). As discussed in this paper’s racial discrimination segment, it is clear that the system for the good of the children. Most things in the school system hurt more children than it benefits not designed; some teachers discriminate students gauged on their financial abilities, their racial backgrounds, and their academic ability. When children feel challenged in all the sectors, they end up hating themselves and probably amounting to nothing substantial in the future, yet they have so much potential in them.
The system is not only closed off with the school system; the minorities, especially in America, end up in cells, it is thought that the black people belong to jails. In the United States, cases have been hard for black people to be arrested for no particular reason or being by the police unlawfully because of their skin colour. At other times black minorities are caught up in unlawful acts such as selling illegal drugs, theft among other crimes, as they try to make a living for themselves or their families. Poverty drives most minorities’ into criminal life, but the system built to judge and imprison rather than get to the root of the problem. In an autobiography of Malcom X by Haley, it describes the life of Malcolm about how he changed his name from a small x to a capital X to remind him that he was not a slave anymore, Malcolm imprisonment at a young age for burglary and the years in jail that changed his life building in him the desire to read. With determination, he successfully read and wrote, becoming the most significant activist of all time for minorities in the United States (pp.285-290). Desire, ambition, and determination are strong traits that, when accompanied by efforts, enact change from poverty to a better life.
Conclusion
In conclusion, education is power, and it can build or destroy. Depending on the situations people are in, mindsets seem to be a critical determinant of enabling a person to succeed regardless of their race, financial background, or said intellectual ability. Systems have been established that discourage growth and learning thus, and most students end up not reaching their full potential. Poverty eradication is a step in the right direction to create economic growth in countries. The government’s creating a fairground for all people is achievable through the provision of free and quality education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.