roots

As mentioned in my earlier post, I had the opportunity to join a BSM volunteer group this past week as they went out to West Philadelphia.  It was refreshing for me to experience a different part of Philadelphia, particularly other areas of deep poverty.  There's kind of a lot of it in this city.  We volunteered through a group called WePAC (west philadelphia alliance for children), serving an elementary school in a really rough part of town.

Their statistics are staggering.

As you can imagine, these were difficult kids, even though we only worked with k-2nd grade.
Capturing their attention was difficult, and when given the chance, they would run EVERYWHERE.  The teachers were simply amazing - their commitment to these kids and the respect they maintained were highly impressive.  Teachers out there, I salute you.  This brief experienced reinforced to me how much the home life negatively affects these kids.  The signs can be suttle, but SO informative about how kids grow up to have so many problems.

1. Parents brought their kids in to school throughout the day.  There was no sense of punctuality.  This was a reflection of greater issues of little to no parental involvement in the school.

2. A popular game of kindergardeners at recess was robbing a bank.  They really enjoyed having "shoot outs"

3. I observed a project that was posted in the hall from a class writing about whether they would have a whale or a cat as a pet.  A vast majority selected a whale because a cat "would not hurt them."

I use these examples NOT to say "shame on them for being bad," but to remind you all that you are born into systems.  To those of you who wonder why poor people can't "climb out" of poverty and "stop getting arrested," take some time to visit schools such as these.  You will come to realize that the roots of these problems lie in how kids grow up.

Think of your own life.  The fact that you are reading this post right now means you've had a wealthy enough upbringing to have a computer and most likely GREAT access to thinks like education and...HEALTHCARE.  "Being grateful for what you have" is so much more than being thankful to your mom and dad.  It should be about recognizing that you are born into your situation and life should be about giving ALL people EQUAL opportunity.

Check out the link to WePAC above again and think about the statistics.  Schools in impoverished areas have VERY SMALL amounts of funds to spend on their schools.  Do the research.  Realize the poison in the roots.  Realize the calling we have to work toward equal opportunities for kids such as these.