There are no Children Here

Alex Kotlowitz’s book, There are No Children Here, is a story about two boys, Pharoah and Lafeyette Rivers growing in the late 1980’s in Henry Horner, a housing project in Chicago. The boys try to retain their youth while they see constant gang violence, death of close friends, their brother in jail and their dad struggling with a drug addiction.

In Horner, there are two gangs that claim it as their turf, and the Rivers family is constantly ducking from shots of gunfire there. They live in an overcrowded apartment with leaky facets, heating problems and animal carcasses in the basement. The boys’ mother, LaJoe, tries to keep them away from gangs and violence since her eldest children fell to the harsh reality of the neighborhood. The children constantly have to protect themselves from danger and quickly lost their childhood along the way. LaJoe even has to purchase burial insurance for her children because she fears the worst due to the severity of Horner.

The boys find it difficult to have friends because most of the other children are involved in drugs and gangs. Pharoah desperately tries to cling to his innocence and is very conscientious in his studies. Unfortunately, Lafeyette made friends with a mischievous boy named Rickey and was lured into a gang.

There are many problems in the neighborhood and even with LaJoe’s positive and upbeat attitude, she cannot move her family out of the projects. Luckily, Kotlowitz is able to fund the boys’ education to attend a private school. Even though this helps them receive a better education, they are still faced with other problems.

The Ecological Theory is strongly related to the theme of family in violence in this novel. This theory examines how children develop based on the environment that his/her family resides. The development of a child is based on the interactions between their biology, family and community. To fully understand the development of Pharoah and Lafeyette, we have to understand the context in which they live: both their family environment and their global environment. By keeping them away from the violent subculture as much as she could, the less they were able to conform to the norm and resort to violence.

According to this theory, external forces can influence the development of emotions. A child can mature a lot quicker when they are placed in an environmen...

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...y other child but because of their environment, they have a different perspective on life.

This book also made me realized that I should not take my life for granted. I think that many people, myself included, fail to realize that this type of poverty does not just exist in third world countries, they exist in America. I think that all people need to realize something like this either by reading a book or by becoming involved in volunteer work in that type of environment. We live with blinders on and for a change to occur, people need to become more aware of the problems others face. I have learned that children who are easily influenced by their peers may become gang members and involved in drugs. These kids who live in the projects are just kids and should not have to lose their childhood and innocence at such an early age.

My increased knowledge on this topic makes me want to help these children. I am going to college to become a School Psychologist and I know the impact of this book will carry on with me in my career. I now feel that I have a better insight about the true problems that exist in this type of environment and will be better prepared if I will be working in it.