A Hard Week

This week was a bit difficult in our class as we addressed children living in poverty and/or abuse situations. It is hard to know that so many innocent children are suffering. We watched a video on a school called Whitney Elementary in Las Vegas Nevada. This is one of the poorest schools in Las Vegas. They have over 500 children that live in poverty that attend their school. My heart was broken as I heard of what these children had to go through each day. The part that stood out to me, and what my classmates and I talked about in class, was the children that were taking home a handful of ketchup packets so they could eat "ketchup soup" for dinner that night. Another thing that stood out from the video was the fact that many of them were not aware that people celebrated their birthdays. Wow. I had know idea that this was happening in our country. The video does end on a happy note as the principle is working miracles and giving those children amazing opportunities and assistance for success now and in their future. I recommend watching it. Here is a Link.

It might be hard to not judge those caregivers of these children. I know it can be easy to point a finger. Our professor must have known that we might be quick to blame and had us do a simulation activity to see if we could survive for one month on a limited income. You first get to pick out a job, find health insurance, and then it takes you through a number of real life events to see if you could survive for an entire month. I remember that I was excited to see that I had about $250 left in my bank at the end of the month and thought, "Yes! I did it! I could survive!". Then I hit the next button and it said my rent was due the next day. I was about $600 short! I really did not make it. Reality hit hard. My group at my table all failed also. It was a good wake up call for us to not judge all those caregivers that struggle just to make ends meet. You can't point a finger and just tell them to get a job. It is a horrible cycle and it is hard to find a way out of it. I learned a lot just from this activity. If you are interested here is the link to be able to do the simulation activity yourself. I really did learn a lot this week.