Growing Up Poor in America

I am always aware that my children, a son and a daughter, have hit the lottery; so have the children of my friends. Not only were they born into privilege, but they have the gift of parents who have nurtured that with classes, schools, and emotional encouragement.

But what about those who do not? in the article "Growing Up Poor in America" in the 10/30/2016 NYT, it is evident that the system is stacked against certain children, who grow up not just without privilege, but without the basics: food, running water, a calm home. Imagine. Like the young boy Emanuel Laster, aged 13, who is in an after-school program for at-risk youth in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, who gets A's and B's in school, but goes hungry at home and the power is periodically cut off. There are so many Emanuels, and the truth of the matter is, these children, sometimes, have so many deficiencies at home, that those good grades are hard to maintain. Their very foundation is missing, and without the foundation, it is hard to build the building. Nicholas Kristof, in his article, addresses the terrible challenge of chipping away at the cycle of poverty. Talent is universal, but opportunity is not. And what can we do, what have we-as a nation-do to make the world a better place? Can we? We have to try, some way, for those who have lost the lottery of life.