Essay On The Effects Of Poverty On Children

Introduction

The impact of poverty on children has been described by ( ) as having a "cascading effect" in that one factor leads to another resulting in a distinctly negative culmination. Based on an analysis of current relevant literature, this paper will delve into the concepts of denial of opportunity and social structural inequality and how these manifest into adverse effects on a child's physical health, cognitive abilities, self-perception, academic achievement and their capacity to be a well adjusted member of society. Going into this topic, this paper assumes that the different situations that a person encounters throughout their life can have a considerable impact on the way in which they develop. Similar to the theoretical notion

However, in cases where they are categorized as being in "the dumb class" so to speak, this can severely impact their mental health to the extent that it makes them more prone to depression, social isolation and introversion. Gándara (2010) also presents the notion that class diversity (i.e. different ethnicities and social classes in a classroom) plays a crucial role in enabling students to be more well adjusted when it comes to encountering people from different races and economic classes. In the case of the tier system, since minorities are at times from low income families, this creates a situation where most of the children in the lower level of the tier system are minorities. This lack of diversity supposedly impacts a child's ability towards proper social adjustment since they are isolated towards either people from their same ethnicity or their same social class (Gándara,

Problems related to childhood obesity, diabetes and heart problems are among the few problems currently plaguing children from low income families as a result of unhealthy eating habits (Wood, 2003). Insights into the degree of the problem reveal that on average only 42% of low income children who come to school actually opt to eat at the school’s cafeteria (Wood, 2003). Lunches that are brought from off campus sources usually consist of various unhealthy food options such as burgers, fries, soft drinks and chips bought from the local Mc Donald’s or a variety of other establishments scattered around the surrounding neighborhood. The problem is connected to the fact that some parents simply cannot afford the monthly bill for the school lunches and, as a result, have to resort to giving their children fast