Poverty in Schools

Today is Blog Action Day. A day where bloggers everywhere unite and tackle the difficult topic of poverty.

It’s a difficult topic because there aren’t really any simple solutions.

As a teacher, I see poverty every day. It’s heartbreaking. It really is. Some kids come to school with new pencils, a backpack, brand new clothes, and a healthy and plentiful lunch every day. Whereas other kids come to school with no material, hand-me-down clothes, and little or no food.

Fortunately our school has a breakfast program and a lunch program. I know that without these programs some of the students would be in a real bad spot.

But they are not. This works. These students aren’t starving. They have access to clean water every day. We have water fountains at the school. We have washrooms inside the school. Every child at our school has everything he or she needs to have a successful day at school. When they go home though it is a different story. But at least at school I know they are looked after.

We are truly lucky to have clean schools with water and electricity. We are blessed that breakfast programs, lunch programs, and after-school programs exist. We should never take these things for granted. Many children in other parts of the world go without these basics.

That’s why I think we need to support Unicef. It’s also at this time of year that this wonderful organization does some great work. Unfortunately trick or treaters won’t be carrying the tradition orange donation boxes this year. But there are other ways to donate and be involved.

Teachers, check this website for links to lesson plans.

http://www.trickortreatforunicef.ca/teachers_room_curr.html

It is really great and doesn’t require you to actively fundraise in the school if you don’t want to. The lesson plans tie into the Social Studies curriculum and really get the kids to think globally. This is exactly what we need. We need to educate our kids. They are the future and maybe the future will be bright. Let’s hope so.


4 responses to “Poverty in Schools”

  1. You are right, there aren’t simple overarching solutions to poverty. But I think its fabulous that you are involved in a community that is doing small, simple things that will hopefully form part of the bigger solution…

  2. Having spent some time in the Dominican Republic and having had a look at some of their schools, I agree with you that we’re truly blessed to have the schools we do that take care of our children. Clean water alone is amazing.

  3. Hi Sugarpuff,

    I think that may be the solution right there, community. If we all acted in the best interest of our communities and everyone did simple things, we could make a difference.

    Thanks for the comment.

    Hi Oktober Five,

    I don’t think the students at my school realize how lucky they actually have it. I am going to use some of these resources to help educate them about these global issues.

    Hi Vered,

    I’ve seen this too many times. I don’t know what to do about it either. For some kids, the only food they get is from these school programs because the cupboards are bare and the fridge is empty at home. That’s why I am gald we have these programs at my school.