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.
