Poverty affects children as well as it does adults. Poverty affects the self-esteem of children as well as their education, social life, and health. Kids need to have a sense of acceptance and belonging to the societies in which they live, and when they encounter levels of poverty, they are bound to feel excluded and alienated. It deprives them of the happy childhood that they are entitled to have. As the film depicts, kids continue to encounter poverty that is impacting their lives negatively each day. The three families that are featured in this movie try to work their way out of poverty whose stories are similar. Some events that happen to children can be attributed to poverty which in turn affects their lives even to adulthood. Poor grades in school, dropping out of school, early pregnancies, poor mental and physical health, as well as early adulthood, are factors that come about because of poverty.
The film highlights just but a few issues that children who are being raised in poverty go through, and it brings to light their predicament warranting action that will ensure poverty is eradicated throughout the United States. The emotional and social functioning of these kids is also significantly affected, and children from backgrounds that are stricken by poverty often do not qualify for Medicaid (Huston 1). Communities with low-income families should lobby for charities to raise the chances of the children that live within these communities accessing good medical care and education. Poverty also affects the way children interact with their peers and the public in general, hence it clearly poses a threat to their individual lives (Maholmes& King 342). The government also needs to enact policies that provide support programs for poor families to help the kids from these backgrounds lead ordinary lives that will result in the realization of their dreams.
Work Cited
Huston, Aletha. Children in Poverty: Child Development and Public Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Print.
Maholmes, Valerie & King, Rosalind. The Oxford Handbook of Poverty and Child Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
