Poor Kids Documentary Summary

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Recommended: Poverty and the effects on children

“Poor Kids,” by PBS Frontline is a documentary that focuses on the children of three families living in poverty. The documentary gives a better understanding on how children are affected by the poverty they are faced with. The majority of the film focuses on their lives and it shows how they are living five years after the initial recording. It gives insight on how each family faces different circumstances due to their poverty. I believe that my opinion on these families falls into the Symbolic-Interaction theory. My immediate thought is to blame the victims of poverty and I dislike that I think like that. I know that my opinion could be completely different if I knew more of their backgrounds and how they got to where they were, but most of society holds a lot of value in first impressions. I also think that economic inequality is completely unfortunate. Seeing that the highest 20 percent of U.S. families earns about 48.9 percent of all income is confusing and feels unfair. It is really hard knowing that so many children can starve and go without, while another family is spending thousands on an outfit, but that is our disheartening reality. After watching the video, I felt very sad for the children. Having two children of my own makes me sympathetic towards the kids that have to live in …show more content…

They need to realize that any work is better than no work at all and I think the wives should have worked as well. I guess I find it very hard to believe that it was not possible for any of them to find jobs and they should have gone to a workforce or someplace that could help them. The biggest thing that could have helped them was finding an opportunity. Some trade schools offer free classes and some jobs help you pay for college to find a better career. The main focus should have been on finding a stable career and I think that five years was more than sufficient time to accomplish

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