Johnathan Kozol
Amazing Grace
Thinking Piece number 2 Reflection
This
was an interesting article to read about New York. I always loved New York, but
never really knew or thought about the atmosphere. It’s really interesting how
they said from Manhattan to the South Bronx. that your one of the richest when
you jump onto that train to go there, but by the time you leave your one of the
poorest. It’s pretty sad to be reading about these children who go to church
just to get food, comfort and to play, as their parents are praying at the
church. It’s said to be that they are the poorest people in New York. I never
knew that poor people go to church to pray.
I
honestly think that it’s a really good idea for children to receive free/reduced
lunches. I have some poor families in the center I am at. Children can get
their own lunch, or we cook lunches. The state pays for a lot of the children
in the center. They also can get reduced lunches. Some of the children have
smelt so bad before that the other children would be like what is that smell.
Some days it’s so bad that we have to just wash them down with a wipe or
something.
It’s
sad to read about how the children in Mott Haven suffer from depression and
that they will cry and cry but they won’t tell you why they are crying. Some
children I have worked with were exactly like this. I kind of knew the life
they were living at home because the child was old enough to tell me things,
but some days they were quiet and didn’t say a word. That’s when you as a
teacher begin to wonder if the parent hurts the child in some type of way. Also
children there have to live with asthma. Imagine having asthma when you’re a child,
and having to be on breathing machines. Which that also costs money so if you’re
poor you can’t even be cured for your illness.
Think
about the cold winter nights for a second. Imagine having to sleep in a
freezing house in the winter because you don’t have money for oil. Imagine what
the homeless people feel like on these nights! I like how I read that the city
sometimes distributes electric blankets, space heaters to its tenants on really,
really cold nights. It’s sad to even think that they go to sleep cold and just
hope that they wake up the next morning. Having rats in your house sound so
gross. But having to live in poor neighborhoods it’s going to happen and you
will have to live with rats. However I never knew that they terrorize the
children in their cribs! I feel like if they have children in their homes and
they are poor and have rats in their homes that the city should do something
about it. Put rat poisoning out. It costs money so obviously they can’t just go
out to the store and buy some when they can’t even afford heat.
Lastly
living in these types of neighborhoods can be so dangerous. With reading this
article and the other articles so far I learned that being poor can cause people
to be angry, and be frustrated with things very easily. Living in these types
of neighborhoods you don’t feel safe and shouldn’t feel safe. People can shoot
you and your family at any time. This article mentioned a lot of stories where
people were shot and the kids even watched and saw the whole thing.
Question/Thought to think about: In
the article it said that the children saw the parents/people getting shot. I want
to know, what’s it like for children to grow up in those neighborhoods?
I found this link interesting. I
was scrolling New York Times and found this link and it shows you the best/worst
places to grow up in.
I felt the exact same way while reading this article. I love New York and it was very hard to read about its reality. You highlighted some very important things people need to realize in the article. The map that you linked was also very surprising to me. To answer your question, I think the kids get impacted by this life style more than they might let on. It probably affects them emotionally into adulthood, sadly.
ReplyDeleteMarissa, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Last year I went to school in New York and participated in a service project in which we went into the city and passed out food and clothing to the homeless. The stories they share are truly devastating. Like you said, it’s heartbreaking to think about and hard to imagine it as a reality for so many. In response to the question you pose, I cannot even imagine what it is like to live in neighborhoods like the ones mentioned, especially for a child. Like you said, children are extremely resilient. However, they should not have to be. Great work.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about this. I also didn't know that the rats terrorize the kids in their cribs. That is terrifying and scary to think about. I bet the stories from these kids growing up in neighborhoods like this are crazy. I could not imagine. Just thinking about being in NYC late at night on a trash day and seeing all the rats scurry around is one of the grossest things I've seen, I could imagine having that all the time.
ReplyDelete