The central argument and purpose of the film Poor Kids is to highlight the issue of a child living in poverty in the United States. The film follows the stories of three children, Brittany, Kaylie, and Johnny, to provide a unique perspective of the struggles that poverty brings. It illustrates their families’ challenges and how poverty has impacted their lives. The film also analyses the importance of support systems such as the school’s “nutrition club” and the Salvation Army shelter in helping these children and their families.
The documentary follows the stories of three children, Brittany, Kaylie, and Johnny, all living in poverty in the United States. Brittany is nine years old and lives with her family of four. Her mother suffers from mental health problems, and her father lost his job, making it difficult for the family to pay the bills (Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline 2020). They are forced to downsize to a much smaller home, and Brittany talks about being hungry and missing the healthy food that her family used to eat. She receives a bag of food from the school’s “nutrition club,” which provides poor students with food on Fridays. Kaylie is ten years old and lives with her single mother, brother, and a baby on the way. Her mother is still studying with limited time to earn a living and cannot afford to pay the bills and buy food (Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline 2020). The family moves into a motel room, and Kaylie is not enrolled in school. Johnny is thirteen years old, and his family lives in a Salvation Army homeless shelter. His father is looking for a job to help the family get back on their feet. All the children talk about the scuffles of poverty and their hopes for their future.
The film uses rhetorical and persuasive strategies to support its argument. It presents facts about the issue, such as the statistics on child poverty in the United States, to show the magnitude of the problem. It also uses the stories of Brittany, Kaylie, and Johnny to illustrate children’s struggles living in poverty. The film does not address any counterfactual information about the issue but instead focuses on the stories of the three children and their families to illustrate the challenges of being poor (Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline 2020).
The structure of the film helps to achieve its purpose by showing the stories of the three children in a personal and intimate way. By following the stories of Brittany, Kaylie, and Johnny, the film can demonstrate the impacts of poverty in a more personal and emotional way. It shows their challenges, hope, and resilience as they struggle to break out of poverty (Gadsden, 2021). The film’s argument is valid, as it is supported by facts and stories of the children and their families. The film does not contain any fallacies, contradictions, or inconsistencies.
The documentary affirmed my knowledge of poverty by showing these children’s difficulties due to lack of extreme neediness. It showed these families’ challenges of job loss, mental health issues, a lack of housing stability, and hunger (Van Lancker & Parolin, 2020). It also showed the resilience of these children as they tried to get a better life and follow their dreams (Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline 2020). The documentary challenged my knowledge by showing the importance of support systems, such as the school’s “nutrition club” and the Salvation Army shelter, in helping children and their families (Van Lancker & Parolin, 2020). This emphasizes the need for more support systems to help those in poverty and shows how they can help those in need.
References
Frontline. (2020). Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline (video). YouTube. Web.
Gadsden, V. L. (2021). Literacy and poverty: Intergenerational issues within African American families. Children of Poverty, 85–124. Web.
Van Lancker, W., & Parolin, Z. (2020). Covid-19, school closures, and child poverty: A social crisis in the making. The Lancet Public Health, 5(5). Web.