Addressing Barriers to Education by Creating Opportunities

In reading A Path Appears by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, it was clear that poverty, education and children were some main focuses of the authors. Reading this book definitely opened my eyes to the complexity surrounding these issues and how there are a myriad of ways that people wanting to make a meaningful difference can get involved. As we have decided to tackle the issue area of education and youth services, I found a lot of the topics discussed in the book to be relevant and to reflect what we've been discussing as a class.
Childhood poverty is inextricably linked to issues in education. In our world today, education is a key to moving up in the world and is a stepping stone to opportunities that can allow an individual to escape the cycle of poverty. Early education is also a crucial part of childhood development and plays a large role in the success of the child later in life. When considering the links between poverty and education, it is important to understand that children who start out their lives in poverty or in unstable household situations are innately starting their educational career and chance at opportunities behind the starting line. In order to ameliorate the issue of poverty, every child must be given a fair chance at taking advantage of opportunities and making a better life for themselves, regardless of their background, socioeconomic status, race, etc. To achieve this and to make sure that children are starting their educational careers at the starting line of other children, we must understand and work to ameliorate the underlying barriers to education that children born into poverty face. This article from the Huffington Post reveals some of the common barriers to education many low-income children face, including exposure to books and lack of home stability. Exposure to books was also discussed in A Path Appears, where it said that there is a 30 million word gap between 4 year olds born into low income versus higher income families. This inequity can really impact low income children as they enter preschool or kindergarten, as they are already behind the other children in terms of literacy and familiarity with books and words. Stability in home life has also been shown to have an important impact on a child's brain development and their success in school and life in general. Children from low income families are more likely to live in single parent households, be exposed to drugs and alcohol from an early age, and be involved in criminal activities as they get older. A person's background is one of the major determinants of where their life goes, because their only experiences are with what they grew up around. As a result, children who grow up in families where neither parent finished their high school education, for example, are less likely to finish high school education themselves, because they are not necessarily taught to value education.
To turn these kinds of trends around, many experts agree that investing in children is an investment in the future, and "that the earlier the intervention, the better" (Path 112). In class we've talked a lot about the value of giving to causes that try to get at the root causes of issues, rather than simply treating the symptoms, and many of the anecdotes in A Path Appears mirror this message, advocating that "it's far more cost effective - and fair - to prevent problems from arising in the first place" (Path 96). One of the main themes discussed in the book that stuck with me as being relevant to what we are trying to accomplish in class regarding our issue area was the concept of creating opportunities for children to build confidence in themselves, dream about their futures, and work hard to achieve their goals. In the chapter that talks about the impact of the chess club in the lives of inner city, public school students from diverse backgrounds, the authors suggested backing programs that "inspire children to realize that they can grow up to be more than pawns," (Path 100) because these sorts of opportunities can truly change lives and ultimately have to potential to ameliorate larger issues such as childhood poverty in the long run.
Some questions to reflect on:
-How did A Path Appears change or confirm your beliefs regarding philanthropy or social issues?
-What themes in the book did you find particularly interesting or relevant to things we are discussing in class?
-At this point in our grantmaking process, which finalist organization do you believe has the most meaningful impact in addressing barriers to education or creating opportunities for children?