Children in public housing suffer in school
An article in The New York Times yesterday showed that children living in public housing in NYC preform bad in school. This follows up on the discussion we had in class about how much your environment affects your performance in life.
The researchers suggest that public housing’s culture of poverty offers young people few role models to stress the importance of education, limits their resources and exposes them to crime or widespread peer pressure from those not doing well in school. Another possible reason is that families who live in public housing may differ from other poor families in ways that are hard to measure.
There is a large number of public housing residents who are unemployed, disabled or receive public assistance. Of the 112,000 children ages 5 to 18, roughly 95 percent are black or Hispanic, and 56 percent live below the federal poverty level. Many households are headed by single mothers.
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:29 am
I believe that is article is definitely correct. Children in public housing have many troubles besides those within the classroom which distract them from their studies. These children aren’t given the same chances as students that aren’t living in public housing.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
i agree. These students suffer the psychological effects of living under such circumstances and definitely have a tougher time staying focused in school. The problems they deal with at home and in their communities far outweigh the problems they deal with in the classrooms.