Poverty manifests itself in varied and diverse ways; how do we detect it, and what are its effects? This last week’s material truly connected the dots between youth experiences of poverty and education. Overwhelmingly, it seems that according to the two films and research article, poverty interacts with education and opportunities to impact youth experience. Here, I will discuss the films Born with a Wooden Spoon: Welcome to Poverty U.S.A. and Through a Child's Eyes: Views of Global Poverty, and the article “Orphans in Africa” in order to sketch out a full picture of child poverty.
First and foremost, one of the largest themes discussed in both films was the idea that there exists a kind of ‘generational poverty’—where a cycle of poverty is perpetuated and passed on from parent to child (Born with a Wooden Spoon: Welcome to Poverty U.S.A. 2006). As Guinness also expresses in his film on poverty in the international realm, evidence for generational poverty extended across borders (Through a Child’s Eyes: Views of Global Poverty 2006). Closely tied to the idea of generational poverty is a concept coined by Oscar Lewis—the culture of poverty. According the film Born with a Wooden Spoon, a culture of poverty is characterized as “people who live in poverty conditions learn from one another… learn a new set of cultural norms and the new set of cultural norms are outside of the mainstream. Those norms include non-work…not putting a heavy emphasis on education for children” (2006).
Similarly, it seemed that an included aspect of this culture of poverty was the idea that the families in poverty had a lot of children. As I watched Martin Guinness’ film on poverty around the globe, most of the children interviewed were part of large families, not having less than four children. On this point however, I want to bring up the stories of Sangeeta and Shadi. In their respective interviews, both children expressed a desire to only have one or two children—perhaps rejecting the ‘culture of poverty’ instilled in them by their parent and by other members of their community.
Aside from ‘non-work’, lack of social capital, a tendency for teen girls to become pregnant early and to have many children, one of the largest contributors to poverty is a lack of education. According to Guinness’ documentary, most of the children interviewed were lacking in education. In Pune, India Sangeeta only goes to school for four hours a day; in Bucharest, Romania Florin is denied an education almost entirely, as it is only available to some. In her interview with Guinness, Justine touches on the real and simple relationship between poverty, access to schooling and youth experience of crime and violence: “You shouldn’t smoke, ‘cause that’s bad. You shouldn’t drink, ‘cause that’s bad. You should skip those things and go on with your life…Going to school is fun ‘cause you learn stuff and you get smarter. You go to—you get better grades.. and if you don’t go to school, you live in the streets… and that’s not good” (Through a Child’s Eyes: Views of Global Poverty 2006). In many ways, poverty and access to school retain a cyclical relationship—where each affects one another. In a study conducted by Case et. all, it was found that poverty had a significant effect on whether or not children attended school generally. Interestingly however, with specific regard to orphans in ten African countries, poverty was not the paramount contributor—rather, there was a special disadvantage orphans faced when it came to their living arrangements, specifically the hypothesis that orphans were shown discriminatory behavior by their caretakers or extended family when it came to education opportunities when compared with non-orphan children in the same household (2004).
In considering the information provided by the films and article, it would seem that the connection between poverty and schooling is overwhelming. Not only does a child in poverty have limited access to schooling and the resources it takes to retain an education: books, supplies, uniforms, etc. –but also children who are denied access to schooling are impacted later in life and are more likely to commit themselves to a culture of poverty, exemplified in Florin’s case—where, in Romania the poor are almost completely denied access to education, and where subsequently thirty percent of the population lives in poverty (Through a Child’s Eyes: Views of Global Poverty 2006). Through Guinness’ film, we also see how children in poverty are made aware of the connection between crime, violence and poverty—as in the cases of Justine, and also of Tamires. In each of these cases, we can see the connection between poverty and access to schooling. But in regard to the content of the article, where it is hypothesized that the status of being an orphan should be weighed much more heavily as opposed to a child being impoverished, especially where such information may be used by organizations in their focus on creating access to schooling, I think the results are inconclusive. To me, it would still seem that poverty is the bigger factor when it comes to access to school.
Works Cited
Case, A., Paxson, C., & Ableidinger, J. (2004). Orphans in africa: Parental death, poverty, and
school enrollment. Demography, 41(3), 483-508.
Guiness, Martin."Through a Child's Eyes: Views of Global Poverty" 2006. Online video clip.
Arizona Universities Library Consortium. FMG Video On Demand. Accessed on March 21 2011. http://digital.films.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/play/3K645E
Films Media Group. Born with a Wooden Spoon: Welcome to Poverty U.S.A.. 2006. Films On
Demand. Accessed on March 21 2011. <http://digital.films.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=1850&xtid=36501>.
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