There is a notion that poor children achieve less success at school because they are less clever. In this paper, some arguments to support and oppose this view will be investigated. Despite the idea that living in poverty may be characterised by low school readiness, negative educational outcomes, depression, and malnutrition, children from low-income families will not necessarily tend to achieve less at school, as they still have the possibility of developing their individual skills and knowledge, they can take advantage of a family educational heritage and use opportunities offered by the government.
Arguments For
People live in a competitive world where they have to deal with numerous tasks, choose between options, and make fast decisions that determine the quality of life. The government takes steps to provide citizens with appropriate living conditions and promote their development (O’Connor, 2013). Governments are interested in increasing student satisfaction and the number of students with high academic ratings (Douglas, Douglas, McClelland, & Davies, 2015; Sternberg, 2014). However, these attempts are not enough to solve current problems. It is expected to pay attention to the challenges and problems poor children and their families may face in their lives (Spodek & Saracho, 2014). Some arguments may not be as strong as they should be, indicating that more research should be conducted in this area.
In the United Kingdom, there are still many poor families with children. Wickham, Anwar, Barr, Law, and Taylor-Robinson (2016) find that approximately 3.7 million children are living in poverty, meaning that 3 in every 10 children are poor. The connection between countries’ economies, human poverty, and the education system is hard to overlook. Statistical data show that poverty levels continue rising, and the number of poor children is not decreasing (Bradshaw, 2016; Mansour & Curran, 2016). This fact shows that poverty remains a problem for society, and its growth can influence the field of education in multiple ways. The rise of child poverty in the United Kingdom is remarkable: nine children in every classroom of 30 students are officially defined as poor (National Education Union, 2017). Their parents work to earn a living. Still, the social background of such families is not as enriching as it could be, and children are denied similar opportunities and cannot achieve similar academic success.
In addition, poverty may influence academic success. In their investigation, Wickham et al. (2016) connect living in poverty with school readiness. They conclude that at the ages of 5 to 11, children from poor families are on average already several years behind the expected norms of development (Wickham et al., 2016). Students are unprepared for the tasks they have to deal with in the classroom. Therefore they think that they are not smart enough in comparison to their peers from richer families.
School unpreparedness due to poverty may be explained by certain difficulties and differences in brain development. Poverty may change the human brain and make it cognitively less effective (Hair, Hanson, Wolfe, & Pollak, 2015; Luby et al., 2013). Therefore, poor children may think that their intelligence is not enough to succeed in education. Their parents observe the results of their work and achievements and use low income as a reason for smoking, alcohol, and inadequate physical activities. All these decisions become risk factors for poor cognition and other brain problems (Blair & Raver, 2016). If parents are able to deal with these challenges, not all children will demonstrate similar results and suffer from negative educational outcomes.
Poverty may cause certain health and behavioural problems. A poor living environment, inadequate sanitation, and hunger lead to poor learning (Bradshaw, 2016; Spodek & Saracho, 2014). Some UK students have signs of malnutrition after their holidays, which are caused by an inability to receive extra meals at home. In many schools, not only holidays but regular weekends create new health problems because pupils are able to eat only one meal per day. It is terrible to realise that not all students are happy with the fact that their vacations are coming. Some of them are afraid of not receiving regular meals, as they do with school lunches. Such facts can lead to depression and other psychological problems.
Problems with financial resources and the inability to buy what students need or want can be causes of depression and stress (Blair & Raver, 2016). Though children are not responsible for family purchases or income, they experience uncertainties, challenges, and negative outcomes that affect their mental well-being and emotions (Bradwhaw, 2016). Though many schools and the government try to help children from poor families and provide them with adequate opportunities in education, depression and stress remain problems for many children and their families (Connelly, Sullivan, & Jerrim, 2014). Depression may have different outcomes for child health, behaviour, and acceptance by the world.
Arguments Against
At the same time, it is wrong to believe that poverty is the reason children from low-income families achieve less at school or think that they are less clever than the children of other families. There are many cases where poor children demonstrate high achievements in different fields due to their personal skills, great understanding, and genetics (Blair & Raver, 2016). These factors tend to show the weakness of the argument above and can be used to explain why poverty should not be a challenge for children in education.
The statement that poor children demonstrate poor academic results because they are less clever can be disproved. First, if a person observes and investigates academic achievements for a time, it will be found that there are many rich children whose academic results are far from impressive. Therefore, financial status cannot be defined as the only reason for success in education (Bradshaw, 2016). People should have a chance to become educated regardless of the fact whether they are poor or rich. There are many other factors that should be connected with cleverness.
Poverty may be a less noticeable reason for a gap between students when people start focusing on students’ skills and attitudes toward their required work. Poor children may try to work hard and learn the material independently to demonstrate good results in education. Connelly et al. (2014) focus attention on the role of genetics and its consequences. Parents may be bright and have an amazing store of knowledge that becomes a significant benefit for their children. However, due to external factors or unpredictable situations, bright parents may start suffering from poverty and cannot provide their children with a safe future. Families face certain financial problems and challenges that deprive children of an opportunity to study at the best schools and demonstrate their potential. Still, there is always a possibility that children can make use of their heritage and achieve high results in various fields, proving that genetics and money have nothing in common. Knowledge is what can be developed independently.
To show that financial means and intelligence are different, one can examine the ways children may be supported in their acquisition of education. There are three main fields in which the question of child poverty and its impact on education may be addressed: early childhood education, income redistribution, and employment improvements (Wickham et al., 2016). These steps suggest that children are capable of demonstrating their skills and knowledge despite a limited financial background. If they have something to share, they are welcome to show what they can do, and the support of the government cannot be ignored. There are many examples of how the government support children from different families by introducing new programs, promoting new regulations, and cooperating with different organisations at local and regional levels (O’Connor, 2013; Sternberg, 2014). Poverty may be a reason for stress or depression. However, the government continues taking the steps so that poverty cannot influence academic success of children.
In the United Kingdom, the government plays an important role in child education. The Labour Government aimed to reduce child poverty in the country through a number of laws and regulations. For example, the Child Poverty Act was introduced in 2010 (Mansour & Curran, 2016). Between 2010 and 2015, the Conservative-led coalition government took several steps to improve policy measurements and identify all possible drivers of poverty that might influence low academic achievement. The priority of reducing the attainment gap in education cannot be neglected (National Education Union, 2017). Children should take advantage of their opportunities despite their origins and current living conditions. Education is the future of the country, and the United Kingdom cannot allow poverty to lead to negative outcomes for its future. Regarding these factors in educational attainment and explanations for them, I believe that poverty cannot define cleverness among children.
Conclusion
Poverty and education may be interrelated and influence each other in different ways. However, the statement that poor children tend to achieve less at school because they are less clever cannot be called correct because there are many other factors that influence academic development and progress, including genetics, the government, and personal attitudes toward the learning process. The amount of cash in parents’ pockets is no reason to believe that one group of people is smarter than the other. Education may have its price, but smartness, cleverness, and intelligence are priceless.
References
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