Impact of Poverty and Socioeconomic Status on Education

       Millions of children in the United States live in families with incomes below the federal threshold. Poverty is linked to children’s lower success rates overall, but particularly in educational performance. Home life greatly influences a child’s decisions and abilities, which then translates into everyday life. Low socioeconomic status affects the physical health, mental health, diet, brain development, and learning conditions of developing children in school. The poverty of a child’s parents negatively impacts a child’s education because of the poor conditions they face physically, mentally, dietarily, and developmentally inside and outside of the classroom.

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       Low socioeconomic status directly impacts a child’s physical health. Parents who fail to provide suitable living conditions for their children put them at risk for many health problems and poor hygiene. “With stressed-filled homes, shaky nutrition, toxic environments and health-care gaps of every kind, kids in very low-income families may never catch up when it comes to their health,” (“Key Facts: Poverty and Poor Health | Health Poverty Action”). In these toxic environments, children are more prone to sickness because the atmosphere in and of itself is hazardous. Once children become very ill, parents do not always have enough money to give them the required treatments or necessary medications. In addition, when children are ill, they do not attend school because their immune systems are weakened and it is prohibited to ensure the health and well-being of other students. This eventually would transform into poor attendance which negatively impacts a child’s grade, which ultimately affects their education. “Poverty is one of the primary causes of school truancy and dropouts,” (Cuthrell 2010). Evidence shows that a child’s attendance directly corresponds to their education overall. Attending classes is so important because it allows children to be taught by a teacher, rather than trying to teach themselves, and they can ask for help from their friends or teachers. When children stay home, they make it much more challenging for themselves because it forces them to become independent. However, if they are physically unhealthy, they might not be able to teach themselves because someone’s physical well-being directly affects their mental and emotional health, which would ultimately have a negative toll on their education.

       Poverty’s effects on physical health directly correlates with children’s mental health and self-esteem. It starts with parents failing to properly parent and treat their children. Due to parent’s high stress levels in the household, they often take it out on their children, or even neglect them. “These stressors can increase parental risk for mental health problems and substance abuse, which can diminish their capacity to engage in positive parenting practices,” (Hodgkinson, Godoy, Beers, & Lewin 2017). When children have parents that get into trouble themselves, they do not set a great example for their children and often neglect them. This neglection gets into children’s heads and can leave them in a terrible state of mind, which can even lead to depression. “This reactionary state seems to become hardwired into children who face problems early in life which leads to both greater participation in risky behaviors such as underage drinking and drug use… What’s more this alternate wiring of the brain can additionally lead to increased risk for mental health problems in adolescence including depression and anxiety,” (Childs Work Childs Play). When children feed off of bad energy, it translates into how they take care of themselves everyday. The way children look matters a lot now in school, which can affect self-esteem and relationships. This often leads to children feeling embarrassed or ashamed that they cannot afford the same luxuries as other kids. For example, while more privileged kids can afford to present themselves well everyday, those in poverty cannot. This creates a poor mindset for a child and can take a large toll on their self-esteem and social interactions. “…if the home remains poor as the children grow up, antisocial behaviour becomes much worse over time compared to children living in households than are never poor or later move out of poverty,” (“Long-term Poverty Affects Mental Health Of Children” 2006). Children can develop antisocial behaviors which would set them back even further when trying to create strong bonds with other people. Antisocial behavior in school among children and teens creates relationship problems and disorders, which can stunt their growing minds.

       Positive nutritional habits are vital for young, developing minds and bodies. Malnutrition negatively affects cognition, memory development and language aptitude. Unfortunately in the United States, undernutrition is at epidemic proportions; “… studies estimating that nearly twelve million American children consume diets drastically lower than the nutritional recommended allowances,” (Brown, & Pollit). There is a great deal of potential limitations for the impoverished youth because it is evident that the lack of significant nutritional dietary necessities have the potential to have detrimental effects on the developing brain, which can further lead to disabilities and behavior disorders. Even though the United States of America spends billions of dollars providing public assistance and free public education, most of this money is wasted when a child attends the classroom and is malnourished. In addition, despite the fact that government assistance is widely available through programs such as food stamps or EBT cards and WIC, often times these funds are misused or abused. For example, rather than using government funds created specifically to help provide for children, the cards are often sold for cash to buy non-food items, non-approved items, or even drugs and alcohol. Even parents with good intentions believe that nutritious, healthy food is simply too unaffordable, and instead buy cheap, filling food. “This had noticeably led to an increase in incidences of diabetes and obesity in children living in homes below poverty standards,” (Fennal, & Brown). The emotional effects of the lack of nutritional food can lead to devastating body image distortions, body dysmorphia, and eating disorders, which would be even another factor of stress. In addition, the lack of knowledge and apathy about healthy nutrition leads to a lifetime of poor eating habits and health habits. “All of these are co-contributors to the increasingly high morbidity rate among children and families living in poverty,” (Fennal, & Brown). A nutritious diet is essential to healthy brain development and simply a healthy life in general. In conclusion, a child’s diet is dictated by poverty and it drastically affects their educational development.

     Brain development is of vital importance to the cognitive, emotional and social growth of children which affects their education. “In physiologically terms, at birth the brain weighs 25% of what it will at adulthood. From birth till the age of three, the brain undergoes rapid development and enlargement,” (DiPietro). In fact, the weight of the brain will triple during this time. Synaptogenesis, also known as brain cell growth and development, is so profound that the density of the brain’s cells is higher than it will be at any other point in its life span. In addition, it is “fifty percent denser than the adult brain,” (DiPietro). Because the enlargement and evolution of the brain is so intense in someone’s childhood, socioemotional development, language development and motor skills are highly sensitive to both positive and negative environments. On another note, ceaseless environmental determinants such as: poor nutrition, inadequate nurturing, and little healthcare can rapidly destroy vital brain development during the early stages of childhood development. Since the brain is in critical mass maturation during the early years as it is forming, inadequate supply of emotional and physical requirements can negatively affect emotional development and expression, stunt physical growth, and prohibit the development of higher level brain capacity.

       One of the most profound and dramatic effects poverty can have on brain function is the physiological impairment to the human capacity for memory development. “There is a formidable relationship between memory acquisition and the income-achievement gap,” (Evans, & Schamberg). Human physiological development has shown negative response to the stressors of the chronic demands of indigence. While studying the physiological effects of an impoverished existence, “… stressors such as hunger, abuse and neglect are measured in indices termed allostatic loads,” (Evans & Schamberg). More specifically, allostatic loads are a scientific measure of the wear and tear being poor causes to the health and development of humans. “The duration of childhood poverty and the subsequent exposure to elevated allostatic loads is expressly proportional to the diminution of the developing child’s functional memory,” (Evans and Schamberg). Elevated chronic stress throughout someone’s childhood created by poverty is a well- established basis for a decreased adult functional memory. Even though research exists demonstrating the effects of poverty on the childhood brain development, the emotional impact of being poor on the developing child is far from peripheral. Glasser theorized the basic emotional needs of children, including: love, fun, freedom and survival. Children who have been reared in a void of these emotions and exposed to stressors unique from these basic needs will fail to develop a strong sense of trust, self-worth, and belonging. Without these basic needs being fulfilled, children can develop a “flat effect” (Gold, Samuels, & Southall) in which normal reactions to negative stressors receive little to no response. Gold et al. (2003) explain that a prolonged withholding of basic needs like food and love from a child can create instinctively protective, almost lifeless reactions to stimulus that would, in a normally developing child, create feelings of chaos, havoc and distress. This self-numbing has also become evident in attitudes towards education as well. Impoverished children enter the classroom already having strikes against them. Sadly, the impoverished children are environmentally, socially, and developmentally behind their typically developing peers. In addition, they are then expected to adapt and perform in a classroom environment that has been modeled around standard middle class socioeconomic standards, which suggest that young impoverished youths lack aspirations and motivation towards education. Furthermore, their realities are based more in survivability and maintenance of the lifestyles to which they have become accustomed to instead of pursuing higher education.

       As a result of the rising number of children in poverty with poor development skills, learning conditions are impacted everywhere. Parents in poverty face so many struggles on their own that they have less time to care for their children than those more fortunate. “Parents with low incomes, on average, have less time to read to their children, no-funds for pre-school, and less stable home environments,” (“How Does Poverty Impact School Success” 2018). As a result of this, children in poverty come into the classroom knowing less than the rest of the kids. In addition, children will also be less likely to perform academically outside of school. “Statistically, low income children will hear 30 million fewer words by the age of five. These children are also less likely to read in their spare time, or have trouble reading all together,” (“How Does Poverty Impact School Success” 2018). The less guidance children are given for school, the worse they will perform in the classroom. Not only will they perform worse academically, but also behaviorally. “Students who come from low-income families are seven times more likely to drop out of school than those from families with higher incomes,” (The Effects of Poverty on Teaching and Learning). Children who are not taught how to act properly in the classroom or around adults and other kids will face other challenges that will occur both outside and inside the classroom. Overall, those who come from poverty are much more likely to get in trouble or fall far behind in school compared to those more fortunate.

     The poverty of a child’s parents negatively impacts a child’s education because of the poor conditions they face at home and in the classroom. Low socioeconomic status directly impacts a child’s physical health which translates into a negative educational experience. Poverty’s effects on physical health directly correlates with children’s mental health and self-esteem. A child’s diet is dictated by poverty and it drastically affects their educational development. Brain development is of critical importance to the cognitive, emotional and social growth of children which affects their education. As a result of the rising number of children living in poverty with poor developmental skills, learning conditions are impacted everywhere. In addition, home life heavily impacts a child’s decisions and abilities, which then translate into their everyday life. Poverty is related to children’s lower success rates overall, but more specifically in educational performance.

Works Cited

The Effects of Poverty on Teaching and Learning, www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/poverty.

Childs Work Childs Play. “Science Shows How Children’s Home Life Affects Brain Development.” Childs Work Childs Play, childswork.com/blogs/childswork-childsplay-blog/science-shows-how-children-s-home-life-affects-brain-development.

Cuthrell, K., Stapleton, J., Ledford, C. (2010). Examining the culture of poverty: Promising practices. Preventing School Failure, 54(2). doi: 10.1080/10459880903217689

Evans, G., & Schamberg, M. (2009). Childhood poverty, chronic stress, and adult working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(16), 6545-6549. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0811910106

Hodgkinson, Stacy, et al. “Improving Mental Health Access for Low-Income Children and Families in the Primary Care Setting.” Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, Jan. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5192088/.

“How Does Poverty Impact School Success.” Operation Warm, 2 July 2018, www.operationwarm.org/blog/how-does-poverty-impact-school-success/.

“Key Facts: Poverty and Poor Health | Health Poverty Action.” Health Poverty Action Key Facts Poverty and Poor Health Comments, www.healthpovertyaction.org/news-events/key-facts-poverty-and-poor-health/.

“Long-Term Poverty Affects Mental Health Of Children.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 9 Feb. 2006, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060206171449.htm.

“Poverty and Child Health.” HealthyChildren.org, www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Community/Pages/Poverty-and-Child-Health.aspx.

Sosnowski, Jana. “Statistics on How Poverty Affects Children in Schools.” Education, 29 Sept. 2016, education.seattlepi.com/statistics-poverty-affects-children-schools-3636.html.