REFLECTION
This article was very relatable to me right from the beginning. Growing up, my family struggled a lot with money. There were days where it nearly seemed impossible to ever move out of my small town and make better money. Just like the article says, we are living in an economy with no mobility. Here is a link given in the article. I found it very useful because it shows statistics of how unlikely a child born into a less wealthy family is to become wealthy in their future. The facts were very shocking to me. Personally, growing up with little to no money always inspired me to want more for my future. I was very surprised to see that most kids don't grow up and try to make a different, better life for themselves.
However, it does make sense when you start to think about it. If you come from a family with little money, you have no one to support you financially while you begin to better your life. This is why I have very strong feelings about how expensive college tuition is. I definitely related to the small percent of kids mentioned in this article, who bettered themselves financially. Through many loans and scholarships, along with a part time job, I was the first in my family to attend college (other than my mom).
I could also, however, relate to the kids that did follow their family's footsteps in income. My brother did not have any of the motivation to change his life like I did. By 16, he dropped out of high school. Though he is doing a lot better now, there were many years of seeing him living at home, sad and jobless. He used my dad's unemployment as an excuse to not need a job either. It was a really hard thing for me to watch at a young age, but thankfully, it only motivated me more. It encouraged me to get extremely good grades, and work my hardest to get into a good college! Having personal experiences to both sides of this article (me and my brother), this article made me think a lot. I realized that this issue is not discussed as much as it should be. More research should go into the kids that follow their parents financial footsteps, in order to figure out how to stop it. We should be economically encouraging these kids to go out there and achieve big things. Motivation is so important for kids to have if they want to succeed in their educations and futures, and it can be hard to get motivation in a house full of struggling, unmotivated families.
QUESTION: What can teachers do at school to help motivate their students? It can be hard to want to learn when you have a bad home situation. How can we get through to kids and send them the message that education is important?
I liked reading your response! I am glad that you got to change your life around! I always question myself as well on how can we tell kids that education is so important! I honestly never knew how important it was until the end of my senior year in high school because no one really told me that education is SOOO important.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
ReplyDeleteYour blog was super interesting to read! you brought up some really important topics, and I especially like your question at the end. I think it is important to us as students aspiring to be teachers to think about questions such as these. Helping to motivate students and keep them interested in education is essential to their success. I hope this comes up in discussion during class! Great job!!
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ReplyDeleteI liked the way you stated your reading response. I can completely relate to the article and to your Blog because, for me growing up, it was tough with money. I am also as well on both sides of my family, (mom and dad) the first, to attend college. So I understand and relate to your story a lot.
The other thing is, I like the questions you asked. Not a lot of children gets education and that's hard..
I relate to this a lot. I come from a similar situation. It's tough to move up especially when the system seems to keep knocking us down.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this response because I can relate to it as being one of 5 kids. I agree that personal motivation also plays a major role in social mobility and if teachers are able to find a way to foster this motivation it could help enable children to better their social and economic status from that of their parents.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is great! And I really like your reflection on the article. I also really like your question of what can teachers do to help motivate their students? I try to inspire students that have come from similar backgrounds as me to strive for more and to not let their financial status and upbringing hold them back.
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