Sufficient schooling during the early ages is an essential factor of positive future developments. Quality education is a necessary part of a growing individual’s life, allowing them to obtain access to unique possibilities and securing a successful path. Availability of primary teaching options has been shown to be highly dependent on the economic status of the adolescents’ family, which might increase or decrease the subsequent potential to receive certified education (Chaudry & Wimer, 2016). The phenomenon of poverty, often studied by scholars, has significant ramifications that extend to multiple spheres of the affected individuals’ lives. Numerous families suffer from the consequences of impoverishment, which often reduces school admission rates or produces declined academic achievement levels.
The necessity to live under demanding conditions can adversely affect the process of learning, substantially hindering it. Although governmental authorities often seek to aid impoverished families with monetary donations, it is also crucial to examine the influence of poverty on children’s education, assessing its main effects and constructing additional strategies of assistance. Recent research has focused on the issue of low economic status, comparing various degrees of income and ascertaining their value for young people’s education (Morrissey & Vinopal, 2018). This paper will address the following question: “Does poverty negatively affect children’s education?” providing scholarly evidence that economic deficiency hinders youth’s academic advances.
Relationship between Impoverished Family Status and Children’s Education Quality
The economic welfare of a person’s relatives bears a vital significance for their future, promoting or halting particular experiences. While rich and well-endowed parents can significantly increase the educational and professional potential of their child, a low degree of monetary wealth might diminish such possibilities. Statistical and forensic evidence states that the quality of received education is exceptionally influenced by a family’s prosperity, with the lowest levels of affluence dangerously impacting children’s academic developments (Morrissey & Vinopal, 2017). Parents who encounter complications of poverty and diminished resources are generally unable to secure efficient education for their offsprings, forcing them to rely on cheaper methods of learning. Figures received from impoverished families report that guardians who struggle with economic difficulties resort to less time and resource-demanding strategies, such as homeschooling (Morrissey & Vinopal, 2018). Inability to purchase required materials due to low monetary supplies results in parents teaching the children independently according to the knowledge available or relaying this responsibility to other relatives or neighbors (Morrissey & Vinopal, 2018). Given the scarcity of information accessible and lack of educational standards, these adolescents gain an inferior type of learning, significantly hindering their future progress.
A remarkable concern connected to the family’s wealth status is the psychosocial mediator involved in the process of upbringing. According to Garrett-Peters et al. (2016), a tremendous amount of information accumulated during early ages is the social and psychological knowledge transferred from the members of the family. Although school programs are essential for successful academical advances, the environment at home is also imperative to consider, as parents can inspire their children to achieve such results or instill the notion of education’s necessity. Addressing a young individual’s school developments and providing the additional information largely increases their potential to fulfill their educational goals, accounting for a better quality of learning (Dermott & Pomati, 2016). In comparison to affluent families, impoverished parents might lack the resources required for supplemental teaching, namely books, academic materials, and spare time (Erola et al., 2016). Such scenarios often result in children relying on their own capabilities regarding education, which originates failures, fears, and absence of motivation.
Parental support is one of the indicators of remarkable accomplishments in numerous fields, including learning. Studies demonstrate that applying efficient nurturing practices during adolescence positively affects academic developments, creating surroundings that contribute to prosperous outcomes (Dermott & Pomati, 2016). However, when presented with scarce economic supplies, parents are frequently pressured to devote less time and attention to their offspring’s upbringing, consequentially depriving young people of proper social skills, motivation, and psychological well-being (Chaudry & Wimer, 2016). Compelled by the circumstances to direct most of their activities to alter the monetary funds, guardians might impact the children’s attitudes and beliefs, additionally enforcing distant and passionless relationships (Garrett-Peters et al., 2016). Individuals raised in low-income families might be dissuaded from accomplishing academic feats, thus accomplishing lower degrees of academic and everyday knowledge.
A prominent example of household alterations initiated by diminished funds is the lack of general organization within the family structure. Contemporary findings declare a connection between the phenomenon of disorganization and school participation in early childhood, proposing that excessive disturbance drastically changes young people’s abilities and desires to become involved in educational activities (Krashen, 2016). According to the authors, poverty-stricken families are often forced to stay in noisy and cluttered accommodations, for instance, share their living quarters with other people or reside in turbulent environments (Garrett-Peters et al., 2016). Constant inclusion of distracting sounds and interaction with other individuals downgrades the adolescents’ capability of concentration and lessens the comfort of learning, resulting in poor performance.
Achievements at School and Levels of Neighborhood Poverty
An important factor of a thriving upbringing is the surrounding social and community environment. Quality of neighborhood resources is a critical element in received educational standards, impacting overall academic achievements. Scholars claim that district poverty can substantially affect the youth, as the attainment of higher learning scores declines with the upheaval of neighborhood impoverishment (Wolf et al., 2017). Furthermore, mathematical, reading, and behavioral proficiencies are modified as well, with poor intellectual abilities evident in adolescents from low-income families (Tran et al., 2017). Another consequence pertains to social habits, as such individuals are more expected to engage in delinquent behavior, from mild deviancy to aggressive acts (Morrissey & Vinopal, 2017). Access to appropriate education and suitable teaching conditions drastically reduces the likelihood of acquiring vital skills obtained during school participation, subsequently altering the development possibilities available.
Further insight into the link between community welfare and children’s educational outcomes uncovers more distinct repercussions of the phenomenon discussed. As learning conditions worsen, with fewer academic options and higher levels of poverty present, negative effects become more evident. On the authority of reported figures, grade repetition and the necessity for special education and individualized curriculum programs can be observed, often leading to academic failures and school dropouts (Chaudry & Wimer, 2016). Pressured to battle the consequences of family poverty and provided with insufficient learning materials, children start struggling with the requirements of the school, producing negative impressions of the institution. Given the lack of parental support, most students linger on the program, which, in the long term, might cause them to abandon education (Chaudry & Wimer, 2016). Altogether, the dimensions of family and neighborhood poverty coincide, originating low levels of academic achievements.
Developing Social and Emotional Skills: The Impact of Poverty
An imperative foundation is established over the course of school participation, which is social-emotional knowledge. Numerous scholarly claims address the issue of noncognitive development, which is comprised of creativity, problem-solving, and self-control abilities (García & Weiss, 2016). In addition to improvements to intellectual and cognitive functions, namely mathematical and motoric competencies, the process of learning is devised to expand the range of social interaction possibilities and establish necessary emotional versatility. Entering an environment that necessitates accomplishing successful communication with peers and other members of the community allows adolescents to evolve mentally and personally, adapting them to the nuances of human interaction (García & Weiss, 2016). Nevertheless, children from impoverished households might be denied such advancement options given their family’s economic status, as well as decreased levels of school participation. Individuals under the stress of diminished resources and poor social status can be oppressed by other students, teachers, or the overall environment, prompting experiences of anxiety, loss of interest, and decline in cognitive abilities (García & Weiss, 2016). Feeling inferior and not belonging to the social group, children tend to undergo particular changes in their emotional intelligence, which manifests in decreased noncognitive proficiencies.
Social knowledge acquired during school years is a tremendous advantage for children’s future advances. While cognitive skills, for example, reading and writing, can be taught at home given sufficient parental education, avoiding the need to pay schooling fees, noncognitive abilities can only be improved through social interaction (Chung et al., 2016). The school setting appears to be the perfect environment for such communication, offering students multiple options of increasing their capabilities (García & Weiss, 2016). However, as stated before, estimates of family poverty and school participation decline simultaneously, meaning that the young individuals affected are deprived of necessary surroundings. These events might potentially lead to disruptions in social interaction, as well as deficits in emotional intelligence. Overall, children from impoverished families can suffer not only from the lack of educational materials but also the absence of proper peer communication, decreasing the likelihood of prosperous noncognitive development.
Parental Income Manifested in School Participation
Additional complications in securing basic education can be observed in the family status inequity, a core characteristic affecting successful academic accomplishments. Given the distinctions in monetary wealth, which are easily observed by schoolchildren, some students can be demotivated to achieve better results, thus presented with an extra challenge. Young people from more affluent households often have access to supplement courses and activities that enhance their productivity and educational capabilities (Gewirtz, 2017). In contrast with such youth, impoverished adolescents are forced to study with limited sources available, which greatly hinders their future developments.
The necessity to confront issues related to poverty can become a significant obstacle on the path to academic success. In addition to the aforementioned predicaments, insufficient economic funds might also compel young individuals to seek other opportunities of establishing a proper income for their family, starting a professional path at an early age (Gewirtz, 2017). The intention to assist their relatives and create a more beneficial environment leads to adolescents’ involvement in endeavors that contribute to their parents’ monetary welfare (Gewirtz, 2017). Furthermore, some individuals might feel entitled to aid their family instead of interacting with a demotivating environment present at the school, thus furthering their desire to abandon education. These activities greatly diminish the amount of time left for education and leisure, originating a remarkable difficulty.
Conclusion
To conclude, the primary effects of poverty on children’s education were discussed in detail in this paper. It is evident that there are several major complications connected to acquiring proper schooling during childhood years, which manifests in multiple spheres of everyday life. Family welfare and quality of neighborhood resources appear to be tremendous factors of academic achievements in adolescents, who are largely susceptible to decreases in educational opportunities. Establishing a household environment in which learning advances are encouraged and treasured demands participation from the parents and other immediate relatives, which is often impossible in impoverished families. Furthermore, parental practices have been shown to be an essential element of successful upbringing and establishment of personal attitudes in children, who can be largely affected by their guardians’ lack of time and attention, resulting in poor educational outcomes.
Consequences of low neighborhood standards are reported to be even more detrimental, causing reduced attendance, demotivation, and increased rates of dropouts. After that, it is necessary to consider the development of cognitive and noncognitive skills, with the latter being drastically influenced by the absence of inclusion in school activities. Finally, as the environment surrounding learning institutions becomes more difficult to manage, children can be prompted to abandon their attempts at securing a successful education rather trying to assist their household members. Altogether, the scholarly evidence examined clearly states that impoverishment negatively affects children’s education, hindering the improvement of diverse social and cognitive skills and severely impacting the individual’s future.
References
Chaudry, A., & Wimer, C. (2016). Poverty is not just an indicator: The relationship between income, poverty, and child well-being. Academic Pediatrics, 16(3), S23–S29. Web.
Chung, E. K., Siegel, B. S., Garg, A., Conroy, K., Gross, R. S., Long, D. A., Lewis, G., Osman, C. J., Jo Messito, M., Wade, R., Shonna Yin, H., Cox, J., & Fierman, A. H. (2016). Screening for social determinants of health among children and families living in poverty: A guide for clinicians. Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, 46(5), 135–153. Web.
Dermott, E., & Pomati, M. (2016). ‘Good’ parenting practices: How important are poverty, education and time pressure? Sociology, 50(1), 125–142. Web.
Erola, J., Jalonen, S., & Lehti, H. (2016). Parental education, class and income over early life course and children’s achievement. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 44, 33–43. Web.
García, E., & Weiss, E. (2016). Making whole-child education the norm: How research and policy initiatives can make social and emotional skills a focal point of children’s education. Economic Policy Institute. Web.
Garrett-Peters, P. T., Mokrova, I., Vernon-Feagans, L., Willoughby, M., & Pan, Y. (2016). The role of household chaos in understanding relations between early poverty and children’s academic achievement. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 37, 16–25. Web.
Gewirtz, S. (2017). Rethinking education and poverty [Review of the book Rethinking education and poverty, by W. Tierney]. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 38(7), 1081–1088. Web.
Krashen, S. (2016). The purpose of education, free voluntary reading, and dealing with the impact of poverty. School Libraries Worldwide, 22(1), 1-7.
Morrissey, T. W., & Vinopal, K. M. (2017). Neighborhood poverty and children’s academic skills and behavior in early elementary school. Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(1), 182–197. Web.
Morrissey, T. W., & Vinopal, K. (2018). Center-based early care and education and children’s school readiness: Do impacts vary by neighborhood poverty? Developmental Psychology, 54(4), 757-771. Web.
Tran, T. D., Luchters, S., & Fisher, J. (2017). Early childhood development: Impact of national human development, family poverty, parenting practices and access to early childhood education. Child: Care, Health and Development, 43(3), 415–426. Web.
Wolf, S., Magnuson, K. A., & Kimbro, R. T. (2017). Family poverty and neighborhood poverty: Links with children’s school readiness before and after the Great Recession. Children and Youth Services Review, 79, 368–384. Web.