Joshua Finley

Monique Williams

English 1A

03 October 2013

            When school is getting ready to start everyone is running around trying to get all the things they need to start school. We all want new clothes to look good, but when you get into class you feel good that you have all the materials you need to be successful. It makes you feel that if you don’t have any materials you are not ready to begin school which would distract you from learning and have to ask other students for materials. Having those materials give you that motivation that you want to do and shows you are prepared and responsible. In an article I found called “The Exchange: Why School Supplies Matter” by Kalon Gutierrez he talks about how he traveled through different countries and observed how kids struggled through schools because they lack the supplies they need to succeed. In the article he said, “Many were writing on every tiny square inch of paper, with whittled down pencils, housed in makeshift bags that had been hand-sewn time and again.” He decided to help make a change for these kids by creating Schoolbags for Kids which consists of every schoolbag sold , one Schoolbag is given to a kid in need. Each school bag includes supplies that can help the children succeed in school. I found Kalon’s research very influential because many people know that schools nowadays are a struggle, so by seeing someone putting in their effort to make a difference maybe it would encourage others to do the same. Kids having the materials and supplies to be able to accomplish their work are something they use as motivation.

            The goal through education is for kids to successfully learn and experience things as they do it. In order for kids to be able to learn, supplies and materials are a mandatory necessity. If we look in the aspect of school activities we constantly see supplies used during these programs. School activities are not only for kids to have fun but as well can be used to an advantage by getting involved in social learning. So if not having these supplies and materials were not important then it would be taking away from other ways kids can learn from one another. A quote I found in the book Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol, he said, “for the brightest kids, the ones who have a chance at four year college, we cannot provide an AP program. We don’t have the funds or facilities.”(181). Kozol explains how the kids that have the knowledge to be able to attend four year schools don’t get the upper classes because of lack of money. This is very significant because it shows how schools can’t supply the kids with the things they need to continue to be successful. If those kids had the AP program then they would have the opportunity to prepare themselves more for college, but with the lack of supplies and materials programs are at a minimum.

            As parents send their kids to school they intend that their children are being taught everything that they need to be taught. Parents may not know that the school their children are attending may be a low funded school and materials are very limited, so kids are not getting the full education they deserve. This gets into how citizens can be neglected by the lack of materials provided from schools. When students have no supplies or materials they become less achieved then with schools with these necessities. Kids obtain less knowledge because teachers can’t provide full lessons with insufficient materials. Also students could tend to become on different socials levels by not getting all the fundamentals they get through reading textbooks. A blog I found by Morton, Jaosn called “teachers lament lack of money for needed school supplies” he said, “it takes longer to teach a thirty minute lesson because we have to pass around the books and other resources as we go”.(Tuscaloosanews.com). What Morton explains is that with the kids having lack of supplies they have to share which takes more time. It also takes away from the students because it doesn’t give them the personal knowledge they need. This shows how the lack of materials can affect students, which ultimately affects the production of our citizens in the future.

            After talking about how the lack of materials can give less achievement to kids, which affects how they will turn into successful citizens. Accepting the problem is the biggest part because if you don’t see the problem there then you can’t find a way to fix it. Another way it can affect how they produce is they can become very irresponsible. When students get textbooks it is their responsibility to take care of it as if it was their own. If students do not have the opportunity to obtain their own materials then they don’t get to learn how to be responsible. The lack of materials sets up the kids to be less organized because they don’t get to experience having certain material where they have to bring it to class every day. Lynn Yellen a teacher in Brooklyn said, “The children without pencils learn to pretend that they don’t care about being prepared, but clearly a source of stress”. Lynn expresses a good factor which connects to how kids obtain the irresponsibility from the lack of supplies. If they don’t have their pencils or paper why should they care to do the work? If these supplies or materials are not there then the kids feel like they don’t have to do the work. Responsibility plays a huge role in society and if kids aren’t taught the trait of being responsible then it will continue with them in the future.

            Does reliability effect how students become successful citizens? Actually it does, low funded public schools suffer because they get lack of materials and supplies to help students. When students attend class in these schools, everything they do has to be shared, whether its textbooks or even paper and pencils, this affects how kids can grow up through life because they learn in school that they would always share so it would continue into their professional life or even their careers. When kids are given their own materials it gives them that individual feeling that it is their own. How the students have to share textbooks or computers, gives them the feeling they have to rely on one another. If you go through life relying on people the only one who suffers is yourself. A personal experience I have had in school is from a classmate, we had to share the same study guide for a huge group exam I relied that he was going to bring it to class. I said, “Hey, make sure you bring it to class” he said, “okay I will.” The next day he didn’t bring the study guide and we could not study which reflected my grade. This explains that when students have to rely on sharing supplies it gives them the focus that it is okay and may create a bad habit.

            If you go around your city where your school is located you can observe many people doing fundraisers for many other foundations or charities, but not really education. I tend to ask myself what can we do for schools that don’t have materials or supplies needed to be successful? One thing is start fundraising, people from the communities from where their schools are can get together and fundraises to collect money for supplies and materials for the schools. Fundraising is a huge factor because people want their kids to be successful, so if they see a cause for the better than they will donate to support the cause. Also give encouragement to let them know how schools are struggling, and it helps to get support from families. In the book Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol he said, “Takes me into see the auditorium, which he says, was recently restored with private charitable funds raised by parents” (151). The parents of the kids that go to Morris High in the book noticed that the school was struggling, so they came together and helped the school improve for the students. So understanding that when students go to their schools knowing they lack the materials to work, the community should take control and try to help the school as well as their children.

            We can look at fundraising as the first source to help schools with the lack of school materials and supplies. Another way we can improve schools that are low funded is to influence people to get involved with education. As we see how the schools that are poorly funded do not get any attention. There can be volunteer programs for communities to attend where they can learn about their schools and what the schools struggle with, which in this case are school materials. A big focus that needs to be pushed is to advertise to get the help from the government. The goal is to have education equally funded, so getting the government involved to show that kids need these materials and supplies to succeed should influence them to do more for school communities. John F. Kennedy once said, “The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth”. This coming from one of our old presidents should explain a lot of what education is worth. If our government says education is so important then we shouldn’t have inequity in schools. Kennedy’s quote is important because he gives influence on education and what it is worth, we need to gain influence on getting materials and supplies to be supplied to low funded schools.

            As I have gone through school and experienced the lack of materials and supplies and how much it can affect how you go through school and succeed. Fundraising and gaining influence through the community and people are important ways to improve success in changing these problems. One more huge way that can get attention of others to help is to protest this mayhem. Protesting can be very significant because it is demanding change to a certain situation. Education is important to all of us, what makes it fair that low funded schools get fewer supplies than highly funded schools? I have been a part of a protest and personally it is very persuasive. Many people agree to situations and accept to change. Rene Gutel a student from Arizona school scheduled protest that they were cutting millions of dollars from Arizona Schools. Gutel said, “Protestors estimated at more than two thousand walked from the state lawn to capitol building. University Arizona student Paige Bo said, she was here to save Arizona Schools” (NPR.org). This relates to how protesting is good for students on school materials and supplies because it gives the students and teachers a chance to have their voice heard; however they are the ones suffering in education. Protesting could be a drastic change to how low funded schools are perceived and hopefully create a better plan for education.