The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor

[BrotherIvan]

139. ^^This!^^

I worked in a very economically challenged neighborhood as a high school teacher. The teachers were the only college graduates and middle income people many of the students interacted with regularly (that and their PO officer). The majority had immigrant parents who had not gone past 5th grade. The most successful teacher and role model was a 30 year-old family man who taught math who was from this neighborhood. The students could relate to his stories and just hung out after class to be near him as he offered tutoring and basically talk sessions. I also had many students who I couldn't get rid of at lunch or after school.

I was always shocked at what they didn't know: how to fill out a form, including a job application. How to read a public transportation map and plan your route. I could list a million things. It eventually got so that their parents were bringing in legal forms or medical forms for help. While I protested, they were so sad and desperate, I tried to help by merely translating the meaning and giving them instructions. They did not know about many programs that could help, such as Medicaid, food stamps, I even helped one widow sign up for VA benefits her husband should have been getting for 25 years.

And because they did not have the same life lessons that middle class people and more educated people take for granted, they were often taken advantage of. Sleazy employers would steal from their paychecks or not pay the hours and overtime they were owed. Landlords would cheat them or refuse to keep the apartment up to basic code. Mechanics overcharging them on bills they couldn't read. I realized how much these people were in desperate need of help and education. But when you're working three jobs and barely getting by, how can you take the hour trip into the city center to get these services?

It often seemed like the plan to educate as many people from economically disadvantaged areas and then subsidize them to move back to these areas is the way to go. I have often heard of this on Native American reservations. The community needs mentors that helps everyone, that provide role models for the kids, that think like a wealthier person. I do believe that would really help because most of these parents were very proud. They wanted to take care of their children and provide a good life for them. They didn't want handouts and often they were too ashamed to ask for help. But they did need assistance to deal with more complicated things and someone to be their advocate.