Donald Trump is busy opening luxury golf resorts in Scotland. Hillary is taking a quarter of a million dollars for a speech to Wall Street types. And these kids live like this. There is going to be a special ring in Dante's Inferno for us for having created a society like this. We have met the enemy and it is us.
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We can EITHER spend a few pennies now to help out the parents and children who are homeless and give them the structure they need (both adults and children) to get back on their feet and thrive OR spend MILLIONS when these children become so detached from society that they cannot play by society's rules and either commit crimes or become victims or both.
We got so emotional when Haiti was struck by an earthquake that we gave American Red Cross HALF A BILLION ($500,000,000) to make their lives easier (most of it was squandered but that is another story) but we cannot raise a similar amount to uplift our own compatriots.
We got so emotional when Haiti was struck by an earthquake that we gave American Red Cross HALF A BILLION ($500,000,000) to make their lives easier (most of it was squandered but that is another story) but we cannot raise a similar amount to uplift our own compatriots.
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Very sad to see a photo of a small child looking out a door apparently with no adult to tell him not to.
Is this really what they allow at city schools? Did we learn anything from that poor autistic boy found in the river?
Is this really what they allow at city schools? Did we learn anything from that poor autistic boy found in the river?
I would have preferred to read more about the touted topic--how schools cope-- and less about how the writer did her job. The point about going to school during maternity leave was cringe-inducing.
If Dasani and her family are examples of what homeless children endure, then the problem is unsolvable. How can teachers manage a whole years curriculum when children come and go and they have to repeat lessons for the absentees. Dasani was allegedly doing well in school but still did not speak standard English. Her parents collected large amounts of welfare money for their far too large family and squandered it on drugs and lazy habits. School should be a priority but many welfare families don't bother to send their kids to school. Someone admonished me last week for suggesting we punish the parents for their children's truancy. Unfortunately the kids will suffer too. There is no solution as long as some parents see welfare as entitlement and feel no responsibility to see their children get an education, which is the only road out of poverty. Of course there are those on welfare who are doing their best under tough circumstance to better their children's lives. Unfortunately that is not the norm.
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Let's not glorify people working during earned leave periods. It only pressures others to do the same when we really should be trying to change that part of our culture.
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So, what are we going to do? The millennials are quickly gentrifying every stitch of New York, including Harlem. If you can afford to buy a $2 million Park Slope brownstone, you can afford to help a homeless kid or two?
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Just because your assignment has ended doesn't mean you can't go back. Have you thought about volunteering your time to the school or recruiting others to volunteer their time and talent?
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My heart breaks for what these poor kids have to endure and have yet to endure. The instinct is to want to send money and resources to this school. But that is only part of the problem (and a small part at that). Without a stable, healthy home environment, there is very little the school can do for the large majority of the students that pass through.
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A good home environment is a vital ingredient for a child to be raised healthy and happy and to promote growth and development. However children who don't have that can and do take refuge from the horror of their lives in a place that is dedicated to their well-being and nurturing their minds letting them play and have fun with their peers can lift a young mind from despair to hope. So it's important not to discount the school environment as it could well be the only salvation they get and can lead to an escape from their lives in a day to day but in the long term as they grow into adults and break the cycle.
So I say investment in those schools is not a significant contribution be it your time your money your food and school teaching aides plus something special that brings the WOW factor to those resilient children.
Amazing that the world's most powerful and wealthy country has a situation like this!
So I say investment in those schools is not a significant contribution be it your time your money your food and school teaching aides plus something special that brings the WOW factor to those resilient children.
Amazing that the world's most powerful and wealthy country has a situation like this!
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Could you please post instructions for how to donate to this school?
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As an interested reader who is also a New York City teacher, I'd advise you to send an email to any members of the staff listed on the school's page of the NYC Department of Education website http://tinyurl.com/hhcmjwc or to phone the school at the number listed on the page. I'm sure the school's PTA will be happy to help you make a tax-deductible donation. Other schools with more affluent parents are able to raise huge amounts through their PTAs, which accounts for some of the disparities in resources among schools.
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Being homeless involves a lot more than the loss of one's home. Poverty and the stress experienced by families living in transient housing often correlates with increased incidents of child abuse, emotional and educational neglect. We also know that the above factors lead to learning disabilities, another factor that impairs a child's academic success. These schools have to deal with problems that most schools do not have to deal with. These schools should receive special funding for after school programs, etc. that are so crucial for these youngsters.
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These schools have dedicated teachers who have to deal with highly emotional issues and a transient student body. The politicians have no clue how much school is missed by these children, yet the school and teachers are still evaluated by test sores. A school in Jamaica Queens which serviced shelter students was closed because of low tests scores. And many good teachers lost classroom positions. Imagine if the school was reorganized and instead serviced these children and their families and offered continuity with their education instead of constantly moving them around? I hope the City is reevaluating this problem.
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