> My neighbors have money. They spend it extremely poorly. It's a single mom with 2 kids. Both kids have iPhones, iPads, PS4s, cable TV, you name it.
iPhones and video games are very cheap compared to good schools and safe and mentally stimulating childcare.
A poor person's children having an iPhone and PlayStation is no more an indication of their having money than my kids not having those things is an indication that I'm poor.
If anything the correlation is slightly on the opposite direction: I can afford better (expensive) activities for my kids (i.e. horseback riding camp, after school enrichment classes), which cost me tens of thousands per year.
Poor people routinely occupy their children with an iPhone with Candy Crush, which is cheap by comparison. Those things create the temporary illusion of prosperity, both for those in poverty, and for observers like you.
> Just recently he boasted that his mom is going to buy him a brand new $1500 gaming rig. I remarked that seemed quite expensive and wondered where the money would come from. "tax return" he replied non-chalantly. He also said once they got their tax return they would be going to Disneyland.
You shouldn't necessarily believe everything that a child in need says about what their family is purchasing. People (children and adults) do a lot of wishful thinking out loud. Some of it is to assuage themselves, and to feel normalized among their more privileged peers.
> These kids need mentors more than they need cash.
Families need cash to reduce financial stress levels. Being a single mother on govt benefits isn't the cakewalk you make it out to be. And absolutely, kids need mentors, but good mentors also don't come cheap, and they usually aren't willing to work with kids who has behavioral issues originating in financial stress and cheap entertainment distractions.
Volunteer mentors want to work with the "diamonds in the rough" kids, because the reward for mentorship is feeling like a super hero who "made a difference in one child's life".
That approach doesn't scale. The mentorship program that scales is
the one right on front of us: financially stable parents and community, who have an inherent interest in the child's development.
Those things are cheap only if the kids have enough food to eat. I buy a few nice things, but I don't have that much even though it is safe to assume I have 4 times the income (including welfare). My family eats good food, and my kid does well in school.
I'm not against the poor having nice toys, but the priority is not toys. Yet I see the poor spending a lot of toys that are often discarded in a short time.
iPhones and video games are very cheap compared to good schools and safe and mentally stimulating childcare.
A poor person's children having an iPhone and PlayStation is no more an indication of their having money than my kids not having those things is an indication that I'm poor.
If anything the correlation is slightly on the opposite direction: I can afford better (expensive) activities for my kids (i.e. horseback riding camp, after school enrichment classes), which cost me tens of thousands per year.
Poor people routinely occupy their children with an iPhone with Candy Crush, which is cheap by comparison. Those things create the temporary illusion of prosperity, both for those in poverty, and for observers like you.
> Just recently he boasted that his mom is going to buy him a brand new $1500 gaming rig. I remarked that seemed quite expensive and wondered where the money would come from. "tax return" he replied non-chalantly. He also said once they got their tax return they would be going to Disneyland.
You shouldn't necessarily believe everything that a child in need says about what their family is purchasing. People (children and adults) do a lot of wishful thinking out loud. Some of it is to assuage themselves, and to feel normalized among their more privileged peers.
> These kids need mentors more than they need cash.
Families need cash to reduce financial stress levels. Being a single mother on govt benefits isn't the cakewalk you make it out to be. And absolutely, kids need mentors, but good mentors also don't come cheap, and they usually aren't willing to work with kids who has behavioral issues originating in financial stress and cheap entertainment distractions.
Volunteer mentors want to work with the "diamonds in the rough" kids, because the reward for mentorship is feeling like a super hero who "made a difference in one child's life".
That approach doesn't scale. The mentorship program that scales is the one right on front of us: financially stable parents and community, who have an inherent interest in the child's development.