HOW YOU CAN HELP STUDENTS LIVING IN POVERTY – THINGS YOU CAN DO
are people who are born with a silver spoon and
there also people who aren’t. It is believed that
there are some students all over the world, that
live in poverty, and these students find it difficult
to concentrate due to the fact that they lack
some important things they need to utilize in
school. The lives of poor students are often very
different from those of their more affluent peers.
These set of students cannot look forward to an
abundance of presents on their birthday. There
back-to-school shopping is not an exciting time
of new clothes and school supplies. Even small
outlays of money are significant to students living
in poverty; a locker fee, a soft drink for a class
party, or a fee for a field trip may be out of their
reach. In addition, because they do not wear the
same fashionable clothes as their peers, poor
students are often humiliated.
Talking about the economy, disadvantaged
students have a very difficult time with
succeeding in school. One of the most
unfortunate results of their economic struggles is
that students who live in poverty often drop out
of school, choosing a low-paying job to pay for
the luxuries they have been denied instead of an
education to follow up.
THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE POOR
STUDENTS
In spite of the contemptuous feeling and disdain
these students do have, as a patriotic human, you
can do a great deal to make school a meaningful
haven for them. Here are some things you can do
to help these students.
1. Keep your expectations for poor students high.
Poverty does not mean ignorance.
2. Give money, scholarship, clothing and shelter
to the poor students if you’re opportune.
3. Students who live in poverty may not always
know the correct behaviours for school situations.
At home, they may function under a different set
of social rules. Take time to explain the rationale
for rules and procedures in your classroom.
4. When you suspect that their peers are taunting
disadvantaged students, act quickly to stop the
harassment.
5. Students who live in poverty have not been
exposed to broadening experiences such as family
vacations, trips to museums, or even eating in
restaurants. Spend time adding to their worldly
experience if you want poor students to connect
their book learning with real-life situations.
6. Listen to disadvantaged students. They need a
strong relationship with a trustworthy adult in
order to succeed.
7. Work to boost the self-esteem of students who
live in poverty by praising their school success
instead of what they own.
8. Provide access to computers, magazines,
newspapers, and books so low-income students
can see and work with printed materials. School
may be the only place where they are exposed to
print media.
9. If you notice that a student does not have
lunch money, check to make sure that a free lunch
is an option for that child.
10. As a teacher/lecturer, be very sensitive to the
potential for embarrassment in even small
requests for or comments about money that you
make. For example, if you jokingly remark,
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” you could
embarrass one of your low-income students.
Make it clear that you value all of your students
for their character and not for their possessions.
Among all the above mentioned ways you can
help poor students, I know you’re in one category.
Always play a role in assisting low-income
students so as to make life a better place for
everybody. Please NEVER ask the poor to do
something you know that is not good for you
before you can help them. Always know that
there’s a blessing that follows a free-will gift to
people in need. Make life enjoyable!
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