Poverty In America

The youth face many difficulties when dealing with poverty and homelessness. After reading Jessica's and JR's stories it makes one realize the struggle kids have to go through. Many children and teenagers have stories like Jessica, where they are deprived of a normal child life. Jessica was in charge of taking care of her brother and sister while her dad worked to provide what little money he could to support the family. Many older children have to look after siblings because the adults are away at their jobs. It was also mentioned that it is extremely hard for kids in poverty to accomplish their dreams and goals. In JR's case, he too was deprived as a child. He had to move from shelter to shelter and transfer to different schools. Just the stress of that alone could be hard on a child and that doesn't include being in poverty as well. It is sad that so many children are struggling everyday just like the ones in these stories.
As the teacher it is my job to make sure I can provide as much help as possible to the child in need. I would be there to help the child if they needed any assistance on their homework. I would need to keep in mind that the child might not always be in the right mental state to pay attention to school. I could also provide help to the family by finding support groups or agencies that could help them out with their problem. It is important for a teacher to be very supportive and encouraging to children facing these issues.