When students do not have the needed facilities or equipment it really inhibits them from achieving to their utmost potential. If students walk into a school that cannot completely give them the supplies they need to learn even to the basic standards, it lowers their chances of getting into a college and that in and of itself can lower their chances of getting higher paying jobs. For example, if a junior in high school walks into his or her chemistry class but the classroom is not equipped with beakers or Bunsen burners, how is it that the students can accurately perform experiments, which is the core of chemistry? This only continues the cycle of poverty that people become ensnared in everyday. Another way that the facilities that are housing the students can become a weapon against their own education is if the building is falling apart, how can the student be expected to concentrate on what is being taught? If it is just as cold inside as it is outside during the winter months, how can they take in any sort of information? I know that it would be ridiculously difficult for me in that situation. But if the schools are located in counties with low socio-economic statuses, how can they be expected to pay for such outrageous changes that NEED to be made to these schools? They can’t. They cannot pay for fixing the situation, or changing buildings completely, and in the movie, Corridors of Shame, there was a statement made that any of the money that was coming into those schools could not cover basically anything that was necessary. I can totally see how poverty is a cycle that people are trapped in. School systems all around America are falling into these places as well. So how can we stop this? How can we stop hundreds of kids from worrying about the safety of the school that they will be stepping into every single school day for hours on end? Is this one of those projects that will take one school at a time to fix, or is there a way to help all of the schools in one piece of legislature? I’m glad that the state of South Carolina has at least recognized the need to change. But it is about time that they step up to the plate and act.
It is extremely hard to find a solution to these problems. It's so sad to think that so many students are trapped in the cycle of poverty- and they can't get out unless someone from outside their home steps in and tries to fix some of the problems in their schools. It is no wonder that many students today seem to have little or no motivation- it's because their basic needs like warmth and safety cannot be met. School should be a place that students are comfortable, especially since so many kids come from terrible home lives- school needs to be their haven. It's just so tricky to come up with solutions to funding problems when it seems like no one has any money. I agree with you, though- it's just nice to see that some states are finally recognizing the problems.
ReplyDeleteAbby presents an interesting idea. At a school like the ones we saw where children can not even feel safe, how are they supposed to focus on getting an education? It is difficult enough to motivate students when they have supplies and environments that they need for learning. South Carolina needs to make this problem a higher priority if they expect the children in this district to receive a proper education.
ReplyDeleteYou can also take this cycle a step forward and consider why the families of these kids continue to be in similar situations. When children get educated in these types of impoverished school systems, most lack the resources to graduate and get a career. Therefore, they grow older in the same community, have kids, and enroll their kids in the same disadvantaged school that they attended.
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