Low Socioeconomic Conditions

1484 Words3 Pages

When struggling with the economy, choosing the right school and neighborhood may be not an option. The options for their children to choose formal and extracurricular education are limited, for instance, extracurricular classes may be difficult to afford. Children from high poverty school districts may not have the most competent teachers and children may not have good role models in education; usually competent teachers can select which school to work for and select more convenient districts.
Low socioeconomic status also negatively affects children’s mental well-being. Children who experience some periods of poverty can suffer from emotional and behavioral problems (Pettigrew, 2009). Furthermore, children without access to life-sustaining …show more content…

Low socioeconomic conditions negatively influence school readiness, academic achievement, and overall school success. Socioeconomic conditions and school readiness are developed long before the start of children’s formal education and previous learning environments vary across social lines (Pettigrew, 2009). For example middle and upper-class parents frequently enroll their children in daycare programs that offer curriculum adapted to develop and prepare the children for formal education. However, low-income families lack the means to provide such educational programs. Many economically disadvantaged children can miss the knowledge and abilities needed for kindergarten. In addition to the few options in education, low-income parents could lack the technology that would further develop academic skills (Pettigrew, 2009), few or no books in the home, and do not engage their children in learning activities such as taking children to the museum, library, concerts, theater, trips, or the …show more content…

Because students from lower income levels are more likely to exhibit inappropriate behavior, communication between school personnel and lower income parents is often negative involving complaints. Thus, lower income parents regularly view any contact with school staff as confrontational. Furthermore, because of the problems just mentioned, parents from lower socioeconomic groups are not willing to be active members of committees or any function at the school because they don’t have spare time to attend school functions if they need to work expensive hours to provide for the family. Although the lack of parents’ participation in the school cannot fully explain the achievement gap between lower and affluent children, it is logical that parents who stay connected to the school are more involved and informed. Unfortunately, however, because of the constraints placed on parents’ finances and time, lower income parents are less involved in their children’s education (Pettigrew,

Open Document