Unequal Childhoods Summary

Nicole Giannecchini 5 Nov. 2014 English 101 Ware So Smart yet So Stupid In Chapter four of Outliers Malcolm Gladwell suggests that somewhere lost in the hierarchy of our society is the reason that specific children succeed. Gladwell explains that while every child has a right to be curious, and to learn some have it a little easier than others.

These effects additionally bleed into the subsequent generation. Arleen and Vanetta’s children were not given the opportunity to settle in a single neighborhood, matriculate at a single school, and build long-lasting relationships with peers and mentors. This cycle of poverty speaks to the greater effects that a trend can enact on a

Children of color are over-represented in single-parent households with fifty-five percent of Black children and thirty-one percent of Hispanic children being raised in a single-parent household. (Vespa). The lessons parents will teach their son or daughter help provide the children with the skills and traits that will prepare them for adulthood. When one parent is missing, more specifically the father, the effect has an everlasting feel to

The video “Tale of Two Schools: Race and Education on Long Island” presents David and Owen, two African-American students with similar backgrounds and grades who attend two different high schools in separate districts that have drastically different access to resources, community support, income, etc. Wyandanch Memorial High School is located in a poor district, while South Side High School is located in Rockville Center which is a more affluent and diverse district. The effects of the districts having varying levels of access to quality resources and diversity is exemplified throughout the video with regards to the way the students interact with each other, their grades, and their careers after high school. The lack of resources of Wyandanch

A student’s home life and schooling experiences have seen to be heavily affected by their race and the way in which they were raised. In “Of Borders and Dreams” by Chris Liska Carger, the lives of the Juarez family, who are Mexican-American Immigrants, are explored through their educational and home experiences living in Chicago. Due to their race, class, and parent’s level of education, the opportunities in which they were granted were heavily limited. Dumais writes, “Children who have more cultural capital (having been exposed to it in their upper-class families will feel more comfortable in the school setting, will communicate easily with teachers, and therefore will be more likely to do well in school” (Dumais 2005, p. 421).

Throughout the preface, Hirsch indicates how passionate and devoted he is by writing about Cultural Literacy and wanting to have reform. He is motivated by the fact that he truly believes that Cultural Literacy would benefit many citizens, especially, “disadvantaged children” because of the opportunity it constitutes. It allows them an opportunity to be able to flee from the path of a future where no progress or success is sought. Hirsch discovers, that through changing the curriculum and breaking the cycle, there will be more cultural literacy and more success in those disadvantaged children, as well as, many other people. Since this discovery, he is making an effort to convince his audience of how beneficial changing the curriculum and education

The sequences and rates of each aspect of development from birth to 19 years are part of a Holistic process within the education system. This means that everything and anything has a fundamental part to play on a whole. For example, the holistic point of a mobile phone has many functions and is intended to be used in a variation of ways. Without its charger, UVB charger or the motherboard components, the phone would not operate. The same applies to children and young people.

In the article, “Stop Blaming Black Parents for Underachieving Kids”, Dr. Andre Perry defends the negative comments being thrown at black parents based on their child’s academic success. He expresses his feelings and ideas in forms of anecdotes and factual evidence. He also uses his knowledge as a dean of urban education. In his article “Stop Blaming Black Parents for Underachieving Kids”, published in the Washington Post, Dr. Andre Perry defends black parents’ participation in their kids’ education by providing facts and anecdotes discussing what the parents are willing to provide for their children’s education.

Children of any culture require nurturing in order to grow to become a productive member of society. However, In African American communities often children are left to fend for themselves. In a one-parent home all responsibilities fall on the shoulders of one person, by default creating a

Explain the reasons why children and young people’s development may not follow the expected pattern: The reasons why children and young people’s development may not follow the expected patters is due to them maybe having a disability, emotional influences, physical influences, environmental influences, cultural influences, social influences, learning needs and communication skills. Children with disabilities require a lot more support than those without a disability in order to help them develop their skills and become more independent. Disabilities can affect more than one area of a child’s development depending on what disability they have and what support is available in order to help improve the child’s needs etc. Emotionally children are affected due to them maybe having signs of depression where they are quiet than the rest of the children and they shy away from joining in with different activities and getting involved with other children.

According to Hodgkinson et al, there are “disparities in poverty rates depending on age, race or ethnicity, family structure, and geographic location. Although the largest number of poor and low income children are white, minority children are disproportionately affected, particularly African American, American Indian, and Hispanic children. In 2013, Hispanic and African American children were ~3 times more likely than white and Asian children to be poor. Children raised by single parents and children raised in the South or West are also more likely to be poor or low income than children residing in the Northeast” (Hodgkinson et al, 2016). Children and youth are a vulnerable population because they have no control over their situation or environment;

Additionally, high-income and highly educated parents are more likely to be involved in their children’s education, which is a key factor in adolescents’ educational successes”. (Pennsylvania State University) The key takeaway here is the acknowledgment that parents with higher income and who are better educated will have much more of an

In spite of this, economic segregation continues to plague America. However, society isn't talking about this inequity, instead the narrative has become about gender and race issues. As a white child born into the perils of domestic abuse, whose mother escaped into hiding with nothing more than the clothes on her back and her four children, it is difficult to identify with the stigma of privilege that looms over society. In present day America, injustice is experienced by those who have a disadvantaged background. To put it plainly, struggle doesn't discriminate and inequities are not served upon a single gender or race.

Vonnie McLoyd discusses in the book Child Development that black families are more likely to face poverty in America and the effects that poverty has on those children. McLoyd states that children that have faced poverty in their lives can have “impaired socioemotional functioning” (McLoyd 311). As a result from job loss creating parental stress, parents often become

In his novel, The Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell makes note of this several times. When discussing that practice was all that was necessary to reach to the top of their field, referring to it as the 10,000th hour of practice, Gladwell acknowledge that “You can’t be poor, because if you half to hold down a part-time job to make ends meet, there won’t be enough time in the day to practice enough” (Gladwell 42). Gladwell observes the different parenting style from rich parents to poor parents contributes to the struggle that children face. While low-income children were more independent,and discipline, they were never imbued with the sense self-importance necessary to thrive in modern society (Gladwell 104). In his autobiography, Black Boy, Richard Wright retells at several times how the poverty he was brought up in and the strict discipline and parenting he faced left him reluctant to challenge authority.