Global Changes and Children’s Lives
Katz: growing Up Global, Chapters 3, 6, and 7
Capitalism is often depicted as a deluge that sweeps away and drowns all that comes before it. Yet it is, of course, more complicated than that. As Stephen J. Gould pointed out years ago, Darwin was drawn to study earthworms because their mundane and incremental actions transform the world. As I began to see in the study, capitalism is more like Darwin’s worms than a deluge. But it doesn’t have the earth to itself. People encounter, oppose, and absorb the transformative effects of capitalism in the course of producing their identities, doing their work, playing, imagining themselves, constructing alliances, and carrying out their everyday lives. The incremental dislocations, reinventions, and removals inherent in such daily routines reveal — and create — a world of difference.
Katz, Growing Up Global, p. 22
Perry-Castañeda Library,
The University of Texas at Austin
Throughout this course, we have considered the fact that there is not one childhood but many childhoods. This week, we are reading significant sections of geographer Cindi Katz’s long-term ethnographic study of how global economic change with its accompanying changes to the world of adults is reflected in the daily work and play of children. Katz studied the daily life of children in the Sudanese village of Howa over the course of more than twenty years. During the study, Howa experienced major economic and social changes as a result of development projects meant to shift the local economy from subsistence farming to farming a cash crop for sale on international markets. In the book (parts of which we will not read), Katz compares changes in the lives and imagined futures of the children in Howa with the lives of children in New York City, where the loss of industrial jobs and the divestment in public services has also dramatically changed children’s daily lives.
http://www.explore.org/
In many ways, the children of Howa are astonishingly familiar. Not so much in the content of their daily lives, but simply because over the 20 years, they continued to play and work as they always did. Chapter Three contains a description of this play and work, which is perhaps the best we have read this semester. It shares with earlier theorists a Vygotskian framework about the cognitive functions of play and also a strong understanding of the role of fantasy, drawn from Walter Benjamin, in imagining possibilities. Like most of the authors we have read this semester, Katz documents that children are smart and resourceful in using what life has given them to make meaning for themselves.
Unlike many of our readings this semester, Katz does not worry about the morality of the children’s play. Throughout the semester, we considered questions of how adults use the idea of childhood as a screen for social anxieties, that position children as either the best hope for the future via fantasies of childhood innocence or that imagine a much degraded future as a result of the corruption of children through such things as electronic media and popular cultural. Katz focuses directly on the place that so many others who talk about children seem to ignore: on the fact that the times and spaces and materials of the children’s daily lives are not of the children’s own making. Rather, the children of Howa, the children of New York City, and children everywhere live in an economic world that is largely not of their own or even their parents’ making.
As we finish this course, it is important to consider the following idea. Perhaps the energy adults spend talking about children and childhood — claiming to protect children, claiming to cherish and love childhood — functions primarily to disguise the fact that, in some fundamental ways, we live in a world that is hostile or destructive at worst and indifferent at best to the lives of the majority of children. As Katz’s chapter on New York City makes clear, the kind of public support that should follow from claims to care about children are not made available to the majority of poor and working class children.
Check out this 2018 piece from the New York Times, entitled America is Guilty of Neglecting Kids, Our Own. In it, Nicolas Kristof argues that “there’s a very direct link between the mistreatment of immigrant children at the border and the indifference toward low-income children all across the country. The core reason …is a lack of compassion.”
According to the Federal Government, the poverty line in 2022 for a family of four living in the 48 contiguous states is $27,750. Yet according the Living Wage Project at MIT, a family of four needs an income of $55,000 – $85,000, depending upon where they live, to cover basic expenses. (The New York times reported in 2018 that anyone making less that $117,400 in San Francisco is “low income”.) Using this standard, 42% of children live in low income families.
Poverty and Race
According to the Kids Count Data Center website, the following breakdown of these figures indicates that poverty differences dramatically in the U.S. by ethnicity:
- 12 percent of white children live in low-income families
- 34 percent of black children live in low-income families
- 28 percent of Hispanic children live in low-income families
- 12 percent of Asian and Pacific Island children live in low-income families
- 34 percent of American Indian children live in low-income families
(Again, remember that these numbers double if we take seriously the difference between the poverty line and what constitutes a living wage.)
04 November 1987. AccuWeather, Inc.
25 March 2011. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Further, according the the National Center for Children Living in Poverty, “Immigrant families are disproportionately likely to experience poverty and other hardships that can place children at risk, and research points to significant gaps in meeting their needs. Immigrant families have high employment rates, but immigrants are more likely to receive low wages than native-born workers and less likely to benefit from government work supports. Changes to federal welfare and immigration laws in 1996 reduced immigrants’ access to public assistance, and while some states have tried to fill the gaps created by federal laws, others have enacted further restrictions. Young children of immigrants have less access to prekindergarten programs than children with native-born parents. And immigrant families face barriers accessing the health services they need, particularly in the area of mental health.” (NCCP)
About half of all children living in poverty are non-Hispanic white, but as a percentage of the population, poverty rates are much higher for blacks and other minorities. White children make up 57% of all rural children living in poverty and 28 percent of all urban children.
Poverty and Age
According to the 2015 U.S. Census, 13.5 percent of the general population lived in poverty. Broken down by age, we find these percentages of Americans living in poverty:
21% of all people under age 18
12% of all people 19–64, and
9% of all people ages 65 and older
According to a 2009 Washington Post story, we need to revise our thinking about who those living in poverty are:
26 November 1987. AccuWeather, Inc.
(AP Photo/Craig Sailor)
…Administration officials acknowledge that the economic crisis is turning stereotypes on their heads. “The typical homeless person has changed to become less focused on the chronically homeless or single-individual homeless to somebody who is part of a family, whether it be a mother or a father or a child in a homeless family,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said. “I think what that tells us is that the economic crisis is forcing more families who had previously been well-housed into homelessness”
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/story/2009/07/12/ST2009071200799.html?sid=ST2009071200799, retrieved 7-24-2018).
That this trend is continuing even in the economic recovery is confirmed by a 2016 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, which notes: “564,708 people in the U.S. are homeless. According to a recent report, over half a million people were living on the streets, in cars, in homeless shelters, or in subsidized transitional housing during a one-night national survey last January. Of that number, 206,286 were people in families, 358,422 were individuals, and a quarter of the entire group were children.” The report goes on to state that 15% of the homeless are those who are chronically homeless, 8% are veterans, and 50% are over the age of 50 (http://www.socialsolutions.com/blog/2016-homelessness-statistics/)
February 18, 2005 via Flickr,
Creative Commons Attribution.
Globally, the situation for children is even worse. According to www.globalissues.org:
Number of children in the world
- 2.2 billion
Number of children in poverty
- 1 billion (every second child)
Shelter, safe water and health
For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
- 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
- 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
- 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)
Children not in school worldwide:
- 12.1 million
Survival for children
30 July 1973. AccuWeather, Inc.
(AP Photo/Alan Rockoff)
- 10.6 million died in 2013 before they reached the age of five (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece, and Italy)
- 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation
- 22.000 children die daily from the effects of poverty
- Every year, 6 million children die from malnutrition before their 5th birthday.
Health of children
Worldwide,
- 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized
- 15 million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS (similar to the total children population in Germany or United Kingdom)
Child slavery
According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), “an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year to be used as domestic servants, factory workers, camel jockeys, child soldiers and sex slaves” (https://bianet.org/kadin/politics/93837-unicef-urges-action-against-child-trafficking, retrieved 8-12-2021).
Contemporary cases of children held in slavery have been reported in all fifty U.S. states (United States Department of Education, https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/oshs/factsheet.html)
A success story that gives reason to hope…
On September 11, 2022, Jason DeParle’s New York Times article “Expanded Safety Net Drives Sharp Drop in Child Poverty” provided a much-welcomed update. Here’s some encouraging news: “A comprehensive new analysis shows that child poverty has fallen 59 percent since 1993, with need receding on nearly every front. Child poverty has fallen in every state, and it has fallen by about the same degree among children who are white, Black, Hispanic and Asian, living with one parent or two, and in native or immigrant households. Deep poverty, a form of especially severe deprivation, has fallen nearly as much.” (DeParle) The reason? According to Robert Greenstein of the Brookings Institution … “the increased effectiveness of government programs” (DeParle).
In a September 13, 2022, Washington Post opinion piece titled “The stunning drop in child poverty is a huge story,” Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent discuss the new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities about the effectiveness of “aggressive public spending,” such as the expansion of the child tax credit. But that tax credit expired at the end of 2021, with a trend afterward of children falling back into poverty. Waldman and Sargent write, “That only reinforces what a success story pandemic relief was—even if some of its effects were temporary.”
And so…
When reading statistics such as the ones above, it can be tempting to divide the world into people who “work hard” or “care” about their children and those who don’t, or to think about “good parents” and “bad parents” or “good communities” and “bad communities.” But reading Katz challenges any such simple thinking. In Katz’s work, it is clear that the parents of the children in Howa work hard to care for their children. They care about their present and future. But they face the reality that most of the conditions of their lives are out of their control. Nevertheless, I hope you will remember that our authors all semester have shown us the incredible ingenuity and initiative of humans – adults and children – to persevere in the things that matter to them, despite living lives that are often not of their own making.
As we finish our semester together, consider that one point of these difficult facts is to ask what we really mean when we say that we “love children.” What do we think love looks like? Which children live lives that are treated, by global, national, and state policies as disposable? And what might love look like when it is in a home or family or community that is different than our own? Can we imagine it?
In a July, 2017 New York Times opinion piece entitled “Let Black Kids Just be Kids,” Robin Bernstein, professor of African American Studies at Harvard argues that the idea of childhood innocence was never one that included children of color. She provides as good a conclusion to our class as any:
It’s time to create language that values justice over innocence. The most important question we can ask about children may not be whether they are inherently innocent. Instead: Are they are hungry? Do they have adequate health care? Are they free from police brutality? Are they threatened by a poisoned and volatile environment? Are they growing up in a securely democratic nation? All children deserve equal protection under the law not because they’re innocent, but because they’re people.
A few quotes really stuck out to me in this week’s gallery post: “Like most of the authors we have read this semester, Katz documents that children are smart and resourceful in using what life has given them to make meaning for themselves… perhaps the energy adults spend talking about children and childhood — claiming to protect children, claiming to cherish and love childhood — functions primarily to disguise the fact that, in some fundamental ways, we live in a world that is hostile or destructive at worst and indifferent at best to the lives of the majority of children.”
These quotes speak to me because they acknowledge a realist and perhaps cynical view of our world, one which I often agree with. That is, that majority of people don’t even care about children the way they ought to. Children (and perhaps the elderly) are the most neglected and impoverished demographic in this country (see sources above). In a country in which there is a very big emphasis on the individual rather than the community, it is no surprise that children – who rely on grownups for almost everything – are left by the wayside. How can we expect such an individualistic society to give selflessly to children when they often have nothing to give back?
This is furthermore depressing when the global statistics of poverty are viewed (above). By comparison, the children of the U.S. have it good, in many ways, which is a troubling thought. Children ought to have inalienable rights and advocates no matter where they were born and what the privilege of their family is.
Hi Akiva,
The quote you pulled out from the exhibition also resonated with me. You point out that relative to other places in the world, kids in the U.S. have it okay. Something I thought about in chapter 3 of Katz’s book as well as in Born Into Brothels is the institution of universal education. I recognize that what I’m about to say is a value statement based on my own perspective and that global economies create vastly different conditions under which education may not be the best use of children’s time (re: earning money for their family and learning by trade, etc). That being said, the bottom floor in the U.S. is too low, but at least we do have an education available to children now. We also have programs like Head Start and various welfare programs which aim to uplift the poorest people of our country. Now the U.S. needs to seriously tackle accessibility for these programs and schools (re: undocumented migrant children, etc.). Is there any government-managed safety net for the kids in Howa or Canaansburg that we read about last week? Or India? Or are the poorest families just relying on the generosity of private charities and religious groups? Thanks for your post!
Hi Akiva,
You hit the nail right on the head!! I am also confused about WHY children go through so much neglect and abuse. This situation requires collective efforts to battle out issues that are affecting children worldwide. There is still hope to eliminate abandonment and abusive behaviors against children while ensuring that proper resources reach those who need them the most.
Hi Akiva. Thank you so much for your meaningful post in response to the main exhibit. It is extremely troubling to hear (and see) about the immense neglect that so many children across the world face. It makes me continue to wonder why no one is speaking and standing up against these injustices. As a teacher, I see way more instances of neglect and abuse than I would like to admit because as much as I try to do to help children they are always put back into harms way. It almost makes me like like no one even cares about the well being of these children who are our next generation.
What is the role of play for children? Katz focuses on how the Sudanese children she began to study combined play with their work. “When they worked, they often played at the same time or carved out time for play out of their work time” (Katz, 101). Katz then states that dramatic play “enables [children] to fantasize about and deal symbolically with the social roles and responsibilities they will be expected to assume as adults” (Katz, 96). Children learn by “playing with such things as power, control, symbol, gesture, and routine, while being absorbed by their creative projects, social interplay, and imagination of mastery” (Katz, 97). Unstructured and imaginative play is valuable and has many benefits. Our culture and society has moved more to structured play and organized activities. Are we losing these benefits of unstructured and imaginative play?
The comparison Katz makes of the Sudanese children and the New York children is interesting. She concluded that both “were being ill prepared for the futures they were likely to face.” (Katz, 179) My first thought was that our world is changing at an ever rapid pace. Few children will live as adults in the same type of circumstances that their parents experienced. I often asked myself as I was raising my sons if they were being prepared for the type of future they would live in. It is certain that we often can’t even imagine or know what we are preparing children for. The Main Exhibit above notes that “Katz documents that children are smart and resourceful in using what life has given them to make meaning for themselves.” (Main Exhibit 205) I believe that fostering and encouraging resiliency in children is valuable. We need fair and equal education in ways we can forsee and we need to foster resiliency and creativity in children so they can thrive in whatever new circumstances they will live in.
Finally, I was disappointed in this last Main Exhibit. It felt like more of a political rant than a balanced look at the issues. This exhibit implies that government policies are the only way to solve problems for children. However, others are making efforts that make a difference especially when governments are unreliable or have proven that they waste money–money that never gets to the problem (often including our own government). What about people like Yassah who volunteer at One House at a Time and who is a founder of Aid for the Children of Liberia? What about churches like my church which last year alone donated over $1 billion to help those in need throughout the world with a wide variety of projects that often focused on self-sufficiency? What about programs like the one that germinated at BYU (where I did my undergraduate work) that sponsor Micro Loans for women in third-world countries so they can start small businesses in their homes (for example–a Micro-loan to buy a sewing machine that could be used to make income)? The conversation here has often focused on governments and big corporations, leaving out the good that can be done by individuals, both through actions and donations. We should really be asking ourselves, what actions can I take to make a difference?
Hi Marylynne,
Your question: What actions can I take to make a difference?
This reflective question holds enormous power. The question triggers us into thinking about what we can do as individuals to contribute positively to the world instead of waiting for solutions from the government. As we thrive to educate ourselves, we can learn of issues that affect children and find the root causes and potential solutions. Moreover, we can use our voices to support change by advocating for policies that promote fairness, integrity, and sustainability. Additionally, it is essential to support initiatives both in your community and worldwide. Are there programs in your community that support education, healthcare, or vulnerable children? Volunteer your time and spread awareness. Over time, little actions can add up gradually. Most importantly, we have to share what we have learned, engage in positive conversations, and assist others understand the importance of being a part of a solution rather than contributing to the problem.
Thanks Marylynne.
Yassah. You have a powerful voice backed up with wisdom. Thank you for these concrete ways to make a difference. During this class I have been thinking about the types of things that I have done, things I am doing now, and considering what I could do in the future. I hope to make a difference within my sphere of influence.
Marylynne, I enjoyed reading your reflection to this main gallery post. Your insights all course are ones that I consistently commented on for good reason.
I’m going to comment on the first point of your reply which discussing the role of play for children. I agree with you that play is a fundamental need of children (as mentioned by Katz in this week’s reading). When you asked “Are we losing these benefits of unstructured and imaginative play?” I tend to answer “yes.” As an educator I can see first-hand the negative effect that the lack of play has on children – both behaviorally and academically. It makes me concerned for my own children’s education when the focus in Kindergarden (where my firstborn will be attending soon) is on reading/writing rather than play-based learning.
The most I can do, is try to infuse the Science curricula at my school with a project-based-learning approach, which has many qualities of play older kids: imagination, open-ended questions, loose parts and materials. It’s quite a challenge when children are so used to worksheet and pencil learning, and if often takes baby steps to change, but I have to start somewhere!
Akiva. I wish you great success in your efforts to incorporate elements of play into your Science curricula. It sounds exciting!
Akiva, it’s wonderful to hear about your Science curricula! Best wishes from me also. I’d love to make a suggestion about a book that could connect with your work. It’s Marilyn Nelson’s Carver: A Life in Poems. Your mention of “loose parts and materials” brings to my Nelson’s poem “Chemistry 101.”
A canvas apron over his street clothes,
Carver leads his chemistry class into
the college dump. The students follow, a claque
of ducklings hatched by hens. Where he
sees a retort, a Bunsen burner,
a mortar, zinc sulfate, they see
a broken bowl, a broken lantern,
a rusty old flatiron, a fruit jar top.
Their tangle of twine, his lace.
He turns, a six-inch length of copper tubing
in one hand. “Now, what can we do with this?”
Two by two, little lights go on.
One by hesitant one, dark hands are raised.
The waters of imagining, their element. (37)
Nelson, Marilyn. Carver: A Life in Poems. Asheville, North Carolina, 2001.
Marylynne, your discussion about this mixture of work and play has me thinking that so much of a sense of well-being is feeling belonging and appreciation. I’m remembering, for instance, Sami’s activity making charcoal. Cindi Katz writes, “His playful work offered Sami a sense of mastery and his workful play produced small amounts of charcoal for his appreciative mother” (83).
Thanks for your honest and considered feedback on this last Main Exhibit! I love your ideas and question about actions we can take to make a difference. I will make sure this exhibit is updated for Fall 2024 to reflect your feedback.
Hi Marylynne,
I enjoyed reading your post and have been thinking about your comments “The conversation here has often focused on governments and big corporations, leaving out the good that can be done by individuals, both through actions and donations. We should really be asking ourselves, what actions can I take to make a difference?”
While I do feel our government needs to take responsibility to assist with detrimental issues affecting childhood. I agree with you, whole heartedly, that it is the individuals who volunteer that makes a huge and positive impact.
A quick analogy… A few years back, when we were in the middle of the attack of the lantern flies, I was watching my son’s soccer game when a lantern fly landed on my leg. After a failed attempt to swat it, it flew a few feet away. Of course, being the nature loved that I am, I was off chasing it. After a few ridiculous leaps, I was proud of my victorious kill. The gentlemen next to me laughed and said “You know that’s a waste of time.” He rambled on about statistics and how we would soon be overwhelmed by lantern flies. I didn’t say anything, but thought… well, if we all just sit around on our butts and throw our hands up in the air and declare defeat before it happens… then yes, I guess we are doomed. However, if we all, working together to each kill as many lanternflies as we can, the world would be than much better off, perhaps not perfect, but better. This story leds me to my analogy… if we all volunteer, even in small ways, as much as we can, whenever and however we can, the world would be than much better, perhaps not perfect, but better.
Thanks for sharing Marylynne!
Karen, thanks for sharing this story with us! I loved reading your thought affirming the value of even small actions. This morning, I read the entry for April 14 in Anne Wilson Schaef’s Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much, and the featured quote is from physician and author Christiane Norhrup. In this quote, Northrup writes about the physical effects of negative mental chatter in our heads. For me, your agency in that moment is so healthy because it’s affirming … and volunteering in small ways matters.
Schaef, Anne Wilson. Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much, Revised and Updated Edition. New York: HarperOne-HarperCollins Publishers, 2004.
Karen. I agree that government policies have a role, but that individuals can have an effect as well. I love your story about the lantern flies. What a great example of how we could each do things to make the world better. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and this example.
Marylynne, you were absolutely correct when you said – “Few children will live as adults in the same type of circumstances that their parents experienced…It is certain that we often can’t even imagine or know what we are preparing children for.” How do you prepare a child for a future that is rapidly changing and that contains ideas/technology/objects that didn’t even exist in the parents’ lifetime?
The readings from Cindy Katz this week were fascinating, and this exhibit did a great job diving into the intricacies covered in Katz’s work. One statistic jumped out at me the most from your exhibit – that worldwide, 1 in 2 children lives in poverty. That is truly shocking, and disappointing. The pandemic relief funds you referenced did provide some relief to some of those 1 billion children (and relief to many schools, as well!), but it has been short-lived. When we can raise up the foundation for the most disadvantaged people, we can all go farther. I appreciated Katz’s in-depth description of how capitalism and globalization intertwine to impact communities in related ways. Even more fascinating for me was her descriptions of children’s play. It made me smile to read about the shepherds and the girls playing house. Play is a universal need for children. Katz captures the universal purpose beautifully on page 96/97 – “While the script may be one that follows and closely mimics certain familiar material social practices, such as those associated with farming, school, or shopping, each enactment is original. … “But perhaps more potently, the children were not simply rehearsing, or rehearsing for, the social relations they saw around them, but playing with such things as power, control, symbol, gesture, and routine, while being absorbed by their creative projects, social interplay, and imagination of mastery.” (Katz, C., 2004, p96-97). I found myself observing and reflecting on the indoor recess play of my students today in a different way because of this idea.
Cara. I also agree that “Play is a universal need for children.” Play helps children sort out their world and their abilities in that world. They can try on different roles and experiment with social relationships. I love that you are looking at your students’ recess play.
Cara,
The text on play also resonated deeply with me this week. You pulled a great quote that demonstrates the universal need kids have for play. I think about the upper-class bougie (probably White) parents in New York, and what their reaction would be if told that their kids were no better off in their very expensive preschools compared to kids in Sudan. They would be outraged! The pandemic was such an interesting time in private Education because parents were able to see that the very expensive education their kids were receiving did not teach them how to read nor meet their developmental needs. It’s disappointing that as a society we’re given so much stock (and resources) into programs that do not allow kids to just be kids.
Cara,
I think your post goes back to the reading we did on the play parks, where the children were allowed to play whatever they wanted outside with adult supervision. When children are allowed to play in ways that help them explore what they like to do and how they like to do it, they discover things about themselves. However, we have a tendency to put a stop to this kind of play, or we don’t give them enough time for this play due to the structured environments we place them in: school, homework, after school activities, then bedtime. When do they have time to play? I wonder what we take from our children when we take this away from them?
Thank you for sharing.
Carrie
Hey there Cara! I was equally shocked by the statistics seen above. I agree with your stance on play, and I like how you deemed it to be a “universal need for children”. Also, I appreciate you sharing how your view on your students play experiences was affected by this week’s lesson.
“…. Imagine that in the beginning, you and your family slept on sidewalks and still often went hungry…. Imagine that there was one water tap for the whole camp, and no toilets, and that the men often drank and fought with guns and knives….” (Chawla, 2003).
This week main exhibit on, “Global Changes and Children’s Lives,” brings a huge flashback for me. ….1989…. The beginning year of chaos that I will forever remember…. West Africa…. Liberia…… Parents and children running from rebels…young children separated from parents…hiding in the woods during the day…. sounds of explosions and guns… people screaming for help…. people on fire…. buildings and cars on fire… dead animals…. seeing dead people…coming out at night to find food and water in dirty containers… young boys taken and trained into child soldiers… little girls becoming wives… and endless chaos seen in every corner of the country. As a child, I never thought I would ever experience just a life or stand in line for food on a refugee camp. WHY are children always the victims? Are leaders around the world unable to put their egos under the table and save innocent children from disasters? It is essential that children be defended from harm and be treated equally in all aspects of the law. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the legal system to make sure that children are not vulnerable. Instead, they must have opportunities to education, health care, and most importantly, have a life free of discrimination.
LIFE IS UNPREDICTABLE!! But if we cooperate, we can generate something beautiful despite uncertainty.
Quotes:
“With improvements in children’s physical well-being, the primary focus of child rearing shifted towards concerns with psychological development, with cultural materials scrutinized for their potentially damaging effects upon children’s mental health” (Jenkins, 1997).
“Children are both our reason to eliminate the worst aspects of armed conflict and our best hope of succeeding in that charge.”—Dame Graça Machel, human rights activist, former first lady of Mozambique and South Africa (1996).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9209349/
“…the use of children in conflict is a horrible example of the deteriorating standards of human rights that can potentially entail serious consequences for societies as a whole and as well as for neighboring countries” (Haer, 2019).
Reference:
Chawla, L. (2003). Special Place: What is it? Secret spaces of childhood. Goodenough, E. ed. Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Press. pp. 215-235.
Haer, R. (2019). Children and armed conflict: looking at the future and learning from the past. Third World Quarterly, 40(1), 74–91. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2018.1552131
Jenkins, Henry. (1997). Innocent Child and Other Modern Myths. Children’s Culture. pp. 95-129.
Yassah,
Your statement: “It is essential that children be defended from harm and be treated equally in all aspects of the law” really speaks to me. I agree that children should be protected. I think leaders get so caught up in us vs. them, or worse, pointing the finger at who they feel are other to distract from the real problem: children living in violence in poverty. I wish we could get past pointing fingers and realize the only way we can move forward is to cooperate. Our leaders need to cooperate to provide more funding for childhood education, medical care, and housing. Thank you for sharing!
Carrie
Yassah, it is powerful and moving to read about the flashback to the trauma you experienced. Thank you for sharing this with us. As the first sentence in the article from Roos Haer states, “War is arguably the most catastrophic event known to humankind, entailing particularly grave consequences for children in terms of survival, development and well-being.”
I think I mentioned Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier earlier in the semester. In reading your post, I’m remembering this quote from his memoir:
“When I was very little, my father used to say, ‘If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die.’ I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn’t know where I was going. Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive” (54).
The second sentence from Haer’s article fits with Beah’s experience: “Children are not exclusively the passive victims of conflict between armed groups; in fact, they have been increasingly recruited by such groups, assuming both ancillary and more active combat roles.”
I love your statement about generating “something beautiful despite uncertainty.”
Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York, NY: Sarah Crichton Books-Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2007.
Yassah,
Thank you so much for sharing what was undoubtedly a very difficult part of your childhood. Your story makes me think about the children in wars in Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine. These children are stuck in the middle of a conflict that they don’t understand and don’t deserve to experience. Unfortunately, as you point out, adults don’t think about children, and children, like you, I am sure, have to grow up fast. They become more knowledgeable about the cruelties of the world. I agree with you that it is the responsibility of the legal system to make sure that children are taken care of. Without the help of government agencies, many children are left without proper health care and nutrition. I also think it is important that where we can, we get involved, especially when electing officials.
Yassah. Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. It breaks my heart. You are right–children, and also women are always the victims of unrest and war. I have often wondered about the drive for power and money that causes the suffering of children and women. I love that you seek to create beauty. You are a beautiful example of resilience.
I found this week’s reading very interesting since it focused on how children adapt to their environment. The boys found ways to play while herding animals and weeding. The girls played with their dolls while collecting water and fuel for the house. While the children were required to participate in supporting the family, they found ways to play and spend time with their friends while doing so. It reminded me of our reading from the beginning of the semester when we discussed the differences in raising Puritan children and Native American children. The Native American children were expected to learn how to support their tribe through play and chores, and when Puritans were taken captive, they often wanted to stay with the Native Americans due to more fair treatment.
As I read our gallery this week, I thought about a couple of quotes:
In “America Is Guilty of Neglecting Kids: Our Own” by Kristof, it states, “Since about 1970, however, as other countries provided universal health care and built up social safety nets, American kids have been dying at higher rates. A child is 57 percent more likely to die by the age of 19 in the U.S. than in our peer countries, according to a study published this year in Health Affairs” (Kristof, 2018).
After I read this, I looked up some articles on current policies that affect children in the U.S. and found:
https://wearefamiliesrising.org/key-us-child-welfare-laws/
https://supportkind.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/23_Keeping-Kids-Safe_U.S.-Policies-and-Laws-Affecting-Children-on-the-Move.pdf
I was honestly disappointed in how little we seem to be doing as a country to keep children safe. There is a focus on protecting children in the foster care system, with an increased focus on preventing human trafficking, but it seems that the safety nets children need to be kept out of poverty and have access to medical care aren’t as robust as they need to be. If we can’t have universal healthcare for everyone in the country, why can’t we have universal healthcare for children under the age of 18? It seems a small step to ensure children are being taken care of medically. I know I have all this worry looking at statistics and policies, but I also know that I grew up well under the poverty line–I didn’t even think about it at the time unless I was hungry. We really do just adapt to our surroundings. I remember a lot of good times with the important people in my life.
Carrie, I agree. It can be VERY disappointing and upsetting seeing what little is done to protect our children. Every time I see something on the news or read another article on my phone, my stomach churns. It makes me physically ill to know that such little minds have to grow up knowing the harshest parts of this world without fully experiencing all the good it has to offer too.
Also, thank you for sharing your own experience, bringing to light how adaptable children are to their surroundings/environment. While every childhood is different, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be a good one.
Hi Carrie,
I appreciate the way you brought a connection between this week’s lesson and the one about Puritan vs Native American childhoods. As I read your response, it made me think about something that may or may not be accurate. Thinking as I write, I wonder if another difference is the way that children were/are taught to think about work. For the Puritan children, it seemed like work was this thing that they had to do in a particular way if they wanted to live and didn’t want to suffer any consequences. For the Native American children and the Howa children, it almost seems like work was something they GOT to do. Work was a privilege they engaged in as a way to help out their families. It was a different mindset. In every instance, the work was required and necessary for survival, but the way it was taught and thought about was different. Is this making sense? I’m not trying to say that any kids are “lucky” to work. Not at all. I’m referring only to the mindset with which they approach the work. One is positive and generous while the other is more negative and self-serving. Hopefully my point here is clear.
Kristi,
I agree–it’s the idea of being part of the community. They would get to work to help out their family and continue a way of life. Puritan work is very much the idea that you have to do a thing, otherwise there is a negative repercussion. I think it would be really interesting if we approached school in the same was. Students get to go to school in stead of they have to go to school. Thank you for sharing your perspective!
Carrie
Carrie, I thought it was powerful to read Katz’s description of what it was like to procure water from the Dinder. Not only was it physically demanding, but it was dangerous! I thought it was interesting also to learn that Howa’s first well was constructed in the mid-60s, and the important role of jemmam (75-76). I appreciate that Katz included a picture of Nowal drawing water.
I appreciate your including these links to “Key US Child Welfare Laws” and “U.S. Policies and Laws Affecting Children on the Move (1952-2022).” The visual presentation of the timeline highlighting policy milestones and international laws is very helpful.
Thanks from me also for sharing your experience. From my perspective, your insight about adapting to our surroundings is a core idea in our explorations of childhoods.
“Perhaps the energy adults spend talking about children and childhood — claiming to protect children, claiming to cherish and love childhood — functions primarily to disguise the fact that, in some fundamental ways, we live in a world that is hostile or destructive at worst and indifferent at best to the lives of the majority of children.”
This quote from this gallery really hits the ideas we have discussed throughout this course. Even with good intentions, what we project onto children isn’t always in their best interest. This course and the readings we have discussed have made me take a step back and really think about how I view childhood and what childhood actually looks like for our children, understanding that it looks very different for each child. I also realize that I am a perfectionist and I love to help make everything else perfect in other people’s lives. I began to ask myself the following questions:
1. Will I project that need for perfect onto my children?
2. How can I best protect my children without limiting their own self expression?
3. How does the world impact our children’s childhood? What should and shouldn’t I protect the child from?
In today’s day and age, it seems like kids have to be entertained constantly, and while that is necessary at times, ages, and stages, kids do not have to be entertained 24/7. As we see in our reading, girls and boys are “entertained” by their own imagination when allowed to use it. They can play while doing chores, make believe while driving in the car, use their imagination during bath time. Sometimes just involving kids in the everyday mundane allows them to come up with ways to entertain themselves. They don’t always need the shiniest new toy to have a good time.
Keeping all this in mind, we can’t forget to acknowledge the many children around the world and in our own country who are in poverty, in survival mode. Their childhoods looks much different than the one’s pictured in an ideal family setting. When we really begin to look at the number of kids affected by poverty, homelessness, absent parents, the foster care system, human trafficking, etc., it is easy to recognize the neglect they continue to face. As Chawla mentions, children’s special places aren’t just in the present, but in the imagination for the future. I can only imagine the intense need to hold on to imagination in order to escape some harsh realities. Children are so resilient as we have even seen with our recent pandemic. They rise to the occasion and push through when challenged to do so, even when they really shouldn’t have to.
Hi Melissa. Thank you for your thought provoking response to the main exhibit. Everything really got me thinking about what children would do if everything was taken away from them? If they didn’t have access to all their toys and technology would they begin to explore their surroundings in new ways and allow their imagination / creativity to soar? For example, I love how you mentioned imagination during bath time. As children now have all these specially made bath toys, but growing up my sister and I used kitchen items in the bathtub and had “concerts”. We weren’t given any fun special toys but used random items and had so much fun because we were able to transform them into anything we wanted.
Hey Melissa,
Great questions and great posts. I was especially drawn to your third question- How does the world impact our children’s childhood? What should and shouldn’t I protect the child from? For my initial comment I wrote about the quote from the exhibit this week about how hostile the world can be to and for children. I think we see some instances of helicopter parents who seek to protect their children from anything and everything, and how that ultimately does a disservice to kids.But then on the other end of the spectrum we see some kids not being protected at all or enough. There’s a healthy balance!
Hi, Melissa! I enjoyed reading your reflective questions. The second one really stood out to me, as I think there is a fine line between allowing a child to have freedom to become their own person and being protective enough that they are safe. I think about this concept a lot with playing outside. Many years ago it was more common for kids to play outside all day in the summer. They might stay at one person’s house, or they would go explore and be back by dinner. In today’s world, it seems like the children are not granted that much freedom anymore. While it makes perfect sense due to the different dangers, when does a parent let the kid be a kid versus the parent being in protective mode. Is our world just different today? Will we get back to feeling safe to let kids have freedom?
Hi Melissa,
That quote (“Perhaps the energy adults spend talking about children and childhood — claiming to protect children, claiming to cherish and love childhood — functions primarily to disguise the fact that, in some fundamental ways, we live in a world that is hostile or destructive at worst and indifferent at best to the lives of the majority of children.”) as well.
I was recently in Japan and was impressed by how many facilities are actually child friendly. For example, there are tiny little urinals in women’s bathrooms so moms can take their little boys to the bathroom with them.
For all of the luxuries provided to so many American children, this really is not a child friendly culture. It is especially glaring when looking over the global statistics presented in the gallery. With nearly half of the world’s children living in poverty, not having their basic needs met, how can we say that we, as a species, really care for our children?
Hi Melissa,
That quote (“Perhaps the energy adults spend talking about children and childhood — claiming to protect children, claiming to cherish and love childhood — functions primarily to disguise the fact that, in some fundamental ways, we live in a world that is hostile or destructive at worst and indifferent at best to the lives of the majority of children.”) as well.
I was recently in Japan and was impressed by how many facilities are actually child friendly. For example, there are tiny little urinals in women’s bathrooms so moms can take their little boys to the bathroom with them.
For all of the luxuries provided to so many American children, this really is not a child friendly culture. It is especially glaring when looking over the global statistics presented in the gallery. With nearly half of the world’s children living in poverty, not having their basic needs met, how can we say that we, as a species, really care for our children?
It is sad to admit, but thought this course my view was very narrow and I didn’t think too much about third world countries. As we were asked to read, watch videos, and discuss different topics my thought process always revolved around areas close to home. Im not saying that all areas close to my home don’t face challenges but none are quite like Howa; the Sudanese village discussed in chapter three.
As I read chapter three, it really made me realize that children are very resourceful, especially the children in Howa. These children didn’t know anything different than what they were experiencing and they didn’t know that play meant different things to others all over the world. Regardless, they were still able to enjoy play, it just may look different than what we typically expect. To me it shows the true creativity and power children have to create a life that allows them to feel happy and joyful. Also, it makes me really question how children now (around me) spend their free time and play. Children are so often consumed by technology or needing the next best toy, but what could they do when given minimal items or even nothing? Would they make greatness out of it and find a new form of play to incorporate into their everyday lives?
It makes me wonder how changing our children’s view of play could further benefit children around the world in poverty. Could parents spend money that would’ve gone to the coolest new gadget on necessities for children in need? Could adults donate more money to causes that bring water to third world countries? How could simple acts in the realm of play work to end poverty.
Megan,
You raise some thought-provoking questions here. I too wonder how our children’s lives would be different if they were introduced to all the different ways that children play around the world. What would happen if we taught games from other countries or did more with geography lessons than simply trying to show kids where a country is on a map? I would love to see us become more globally aware so that we could break this cycle of thinking only about those closest to us. And that’s not to say that I don’t do the same thing you describe here in my own life– because I absolutely do! It would just be nice if we could make global thinking more natural here. Does that make any sense?
Hey there Megan! I think every time we learn something new about the world and certain sad aspects of it that it always has an effect on our thinking. There is no need to feel sad to admit this, as we learn something new every day. I like how you pointed out the “resourcefulness” of children. This was something I was equally impressed but saddened by as well.
Like you, I guess prior to this course I kept my outlook on the world very narrow. I found it hard to think beyond my neighborhood, town, county, state, or country. Through this course, I learned to think bigger and to appreciate what I have. I like how you mention how the Howa people were so resourceful in their elements of play. It reminded of me when I was a child and begged my parents for a dollhouse. After holiday after holiday of being let down, I decide to make my own dollhouse. I spent hours, days, and weeks creating a dollhouse out of paper, tape, and staples. I decorated, drew, colored, and created every element of the house. Once I finished with my creation I was content with my play. I didn’t really want a dollhouse, I wanted to make one. I think kids are born with a creative, resourceful, adaptable nature to them, but what they struggle with is finding the opportunities to experience them because here in America, adults are quick to give a child what they want when they want it.
Lilyanna. I love that you made your own dollhouse! It is quite possible that this dollhouse meant much more to you than anything that could have been purchased. Sometimes purchased toys are exciting at first and then later easily forgotten. Our commercial society often eliminates these types of creative play experiences.
“Katz focuses directly on the place that so many others who talk about children seem to ignore: on the fact that the times and spaces and materials of the children’s daily lives are not of the children’s own making. Rather, the children of Howa, the children of New York City, and children everywhere live in an economic world that is largely not of their own or even their parents’ making.” This quote, taken from the gallery entry for this lesson, contains such an important point. So much of the world that our children are inheriting is not of their own making. They simply showed up via birth and are forced to deal with whatever circumstances in which they find themselves. Something interesting that stood out for me in this lesson, in addition to this quote, is the idea that children can play anywhere. We saw this idea in Huck’s Raft when Mintz described slave children playing. We saw it in discussion about The Land when children were playing with random things that many would consider junk or trash. And Katz shows us this again with the children of Howa. It’s clear that play is such an important part of a child’s existence that they find a way to make it happen in almost any situation. It wasn’t until we got to this lesson that this idea really became clear for me.
“When reading statistics such as the ones above, it can be tempting to divide the world into people who ‘work hard’ or ‘care’ about their children and those who don’t, or to think about ‘good parents’ and ‘bad parents’ or ‘good communities’ and ‘bad communities.’ But reading Katz challenges any such simple thinking.” This was another quote from the gallery lesson that stood out for me. In my mind, this is another one of those myths of America, this idea that a person can work hard enough to achieve all they desire–their American Dream here in the states. It’s an important reminder that people can work really hard and care about their kids a lot while also not making as much progress as they need to keep their kids safe and healthy. Sometimes “your best” just isn’t enough. And too often, we make the assumption that they’re just bad parents. Sometimes that isn’t it. Sometimes, apparently close to half the time according to the shared statistics, people just don’t have what they need to make life work for them.
Hey there Kristi! I like the approach you took at addressing the life children are born into. This is something that I think often goes overlooked and a perfect example in line with your commentary is the recent pandemic. Children were still being born during this time. They were essentially born into a global pandemic, and this was far from choice.
I find the concept of play interesting. As you mentioned, “play is such an important part of a child’s existence”. When I think back to my own childhood experiences I am quick to notice that I didn’t stop “playing” in the traditional sense until around 7th grade. Play included outdoor fun, imaginative games, doll/dollhouses, coloring, creating dances, etc. In today’s world, for example, my niece is in 5th grade and she doesn’t play at all. For her play consists of looking at videos on her phone. I guess what I am trying to say is that there is an obvious shift between what play looks like, but I am hoping that we can change the look of play once again and children can learn to enjoy the fun of play, rather than indulge in mini-adult-like behavior.
Kristi,
Your last paragraph really resonated with me. I think a lot of us grew up hearing that if people just worked harder, they could improve their situations. However, as you point out, sometimes, their “best isn’t good enough.” The lack of resources makes it difficult for many living in poverty to improve their situations, not to mention the discrimination they experience which also makes it difficult to achieve the “American Dream.” I think of the immigrants coming across the border – many of them are children. Discrimination, like those experienced by the people of the Canaanlands, will make it difficult for them to improve their lives. It is a shame because many come seeking a better life, and the life that they seek is one they want to improve the lives of their children. Unfortunately, these children get stuck in the middle of competing political ideologies.
Kristi, your mention of the Land brought back a childhood memory. When I was in 5th grade, my elementary school built what they called an “environmental playground” where everything was made from recycled items. It had a climbing wall made of old tires, a lumber fort that you could either climb up into by rope ladder or walk up into by ramp, and 2x4s as balance beams at various heights. It also had a pyramid-like stack of those big wooden electric company spools with a few of the side slats removed so we could sit inside of them like a playhouse. (see the photo for an example of these spools). Everything had been sanded down to prevent splinters and such, but all of the play was left to our imagination.
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-a-large-spool-of-electric-cable-wire-141944002.html?imageid=DAE343AA-AA09-4515-A831-BB36EA3D3C44&p=305649&pn=1&searchId=5621b1c17934f276c3f9ea2f60fbf094&searchtype=0
The section on child slavery really stood out to me this week. Child trafficking is a horrible occurrence and something that always leaves me feeling repulsed and saddened for its victims. It’s truly unfortunate that this phenomenon continues even today. There are many situations of child mistreatment and abuse. For example, I remember being in high school and silently reading a course mandated article on Ecuadorian children being used to harvest/ work on banana plantations. In fact, “Human Rights Watch found that Ecuadorian children as young as eight work on banana plantations in hazardous conditions, while adult workers fear firing if they try to exercise their right to organize. Ecuador is the world’s largest banana exporter and the source of roughly one quarter of all bananas on the tables of U.S. and European consumers” (Human Rights Watch, 2002). I remember this article striking me back then as something truly horrible, and although this article may be rather outdated (22 years ago), there is still cause for concern. There is even a modern-day article that still highlights this problems existence, as suggested by an article found on the National Consumers league, that “someone is paying a heavy price to produce bananas: exploited farmworkers, including many children” (Murphy, 2020).
This museum exhibit emphasized the bigger questions and concerns that are at hand in correlation to children. This includes but is not limited to poverty, hunger, trafficking, race, age, and even survival rates. This makes the term childhood go from an “innocent” word to a worrisome reality. Therefore, to reference the end of the last paragraph in the exhibit, “all children deserve equal protection under the law not because they’re innocent, but” and I would say: but because they are human beings and deserve the same rights and guaranteed protection as anyone else.
References:
Human Rights Watch. (2002). “Ecuador: Widespread Labor Abuse on Banana Plantations”. https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/04/24/ecuador-widespread-labor-abuse-banana-plantations.
Murphy, E. (2020. Not so Sweet Child Labor in Banna Production. https://nclnet.org/not-so-sweet-child-labor-in-banana-production/. National Consumer League.
Hi Julia,
Thanks for sharing the articles about the banana plantation workers. That must have made quite an impression on you to recall it so vividly today. When we talk about free trade agreements and global markets, as adults we tend to think of adult workers. Children are working within this capitalist system, too, and often families depend on their labor. How can we support children’s right to education and to play while not robbing families of livelihood? Thanks again for linking those articles!
Hi Julia,
I was also struck by the child trafficking statistics. It was certainly alarming. I like how you phrased this… ” “all children deserve equal protection under the law not because they’re innocent, but” and I would say: but because they are human beings and deserve the same rights and guaranteed protection as anyone else.” I agree!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Julia! I enjoyed reading the perspective you took here. I absolutely agree. Not only do I think the innocence of children is often being stripped away, but I am left with the big questions as well. What does it really look like to love a child, to do right by a child, to protect a child? As I have gotten older and have heard direct testimonies from children of what their lives look like, I often wonder the best way to help. To the point of all children deserve equal protection under the law, it feels as though we are actually failing our children in America. There are many that are suffering and it sometimes feels nearly impossible to get help. Where will this journey take us? If we are not valuing children the same, how are we expecting them to grow up to be valuable members in our society?
Hi Julia!
I also agree with you that the statistics were certainly alarming and somewhat disturbing. I have seen videos online of adults telling their story how they were either sex trafficked or kidnapped. I can only imagine how children who were either trafficked or kidnapped must feel. I also agree with you and saying that children should be protected simply because they are human and deserve to be protected.
Thanks for sharing!
A major quote that caught my attention from this week’s gallery article write-up was “ Perhaps the energy adults spend talking about children and childhood – claiming to protect children, claiming to cherish and love childhood – functions primarily to disguise the fact that, in some fundamental ways, we live in a world that is hostile or destructive at worst and indifferent at best to the lives of the majority of children”. This quote reminded me of the recent documentary that seems to be the talk of the town the Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kid’s TV. This documentary does a wonderful job of shining a light on children, specifically in the entertainment industry, and how adults claim to do all they can do to protect them, but the reality is they fail to do this. The developed settings are where children are being exploited, harassed, humiliated, and even assaulted on a daily basis. As a society as a whole, it is the job of adults to ensure that children remain children. Although this documentary was a challenging watch, it brought up much-needed conversations within society and hopefully that will propel changes to be made in the future.
Lilyanna – I enjoyed reading your post and you brought up a great point. We have come across a plethora of quotes that have resonated with me during this course. However, I think that the quote you referred to, takes the cake! I think that it is along the lines of an umbrella if you will, for a quote. It is the top that covers tons of topics beneath it that relate. That quote alone covers quite a bit of material that we have been exposed to throughout this course. This quote is a great conversation starter as it can get us thinking about the overall picture/issue with children in this world. Almost every topic that we have explored this course can be connected to this quote.
One thing that attracted my attention from this week’s reading was Katz’s discussion of the Harlem Hospital study which “linked the incidence of childhood injury in Harlem (among the highest levels in the city) to the deterioration of playgrounds, parks, and schoolyards in the vicinity.” (Katz, p 174) It made me reflect on the things I, and many other people, take for granted – things such as clean, safe areas for children to play. This study led to the development of the Harlem Hospital’s Injury Prevention Program where “hospital staff have joined with neighborhood groups to provide supervision and safe open spaces for children’s play in the area as part of their broader children’s injury prevention program. Their efforts to reclaim these sites—cleaning, refurbishing, maintaining, and staffing various play spaces in collaboration with other organizations, as well as with children, teens, and adults from the neighborhoods where they worked—resulted in immediate and measurable reductions in childhood injury.” (Katz, p 175) I was impressed with this program because I have always agreed with the old proverb “it takes a village to raise a child.” This collaboration to do what is best for the wellbeing of the children is vital and, in my opinion, this is what we should see more of in every community.
Hi, Karen! As I was reading your reflection, I liked that you mentioned this lesson made you think about elements that are sometimes taken for granted. I did not realize that I was so fortunate until I left my bubble and went off to college for my undergraduate degree. While I realize the great part about college is the blending of different values and upbringings, I remember being shocked at how others grew up, the struggles they had to face, and the safety or cleanliness concerns. I knew about the “typical” struggles that different families face, but the descriptions I heard blew my mind. This was the first time I truly realized what I took for granted. The fact that I had a stable home, both structurally and emotionally, felt love everyday, and was able to participate in being a kid. I loved that you brought this up!
Reading Katz’ descriptions about how the children of Howa intertwined work and play reminded me of the children in Born into Brothels. They seemed to embody Katz’ statement that “play is both a form of coming to consciousness and a way to become other.” (98) They would practice skills in preparation for adulthood but also found time to dream and imagine and pretend they led another life.
One thing is certain, the lack of appropriate play space and the time to engage in play results in losses in so many areas of development – “the gross motor and cognitive skills, cooperative and adjudicative skills, the development of self-regulation and mutual respect among peers, and all manners of serendipitous discovery from other kids” (178). I see some of this as a result of the isolation of Covid – children didn’t go to school or socialize at the local playground.
There was a statistic Katz shared that made me really think – “New York State has…both one of the ten highest poverty rates and one of the ten highest per capita income levels.” (161) I wonder if that is still true today? Are there cities within the US, or even in my home state of Pennsylvania, that contain the same disparity?
I can directly relate to her statement that “overcrowded classrooms make it difficult…for teachers to reach all students.” (168) As one of only two first-grade Catholic school teachers in 2003, I had 29 students – so many that there was only one way to position the desks, so they stayed the same all year. I could tell you who the highest and lowest skilled students were, but I did not know the middle group nearly as well. The following year another first-grade teacher was hired, and I had 18 students. I knew every student well that year and could differentiate to meet everyone’s needs. I had the space to reorganize every so often, to do group work, to enjoy more creativity, etc.
Hey Diane- I can really empathasize about the overcrowded classrooms and your story about having 29 kids.
I once had someone tell me ( I forget who or if I read it online or heard it in person!) But they told me to write a list of every student’s name in my class by heart. And that the last few kids I could come up with on the list, make it a priority to learn something new about their life that next week. I remember the few kids I wrote last, I was counting the list and being like who am I forgetting! Of course I felt bad about that, but I was listing 29 names, and the final few I had to sift through my memory because they were more averagely performing, chronically absent, super quiet, or perhaps a combination of them all.
Diane, I’m glad you’re wondering abut this statistic from Katz’s book! I don’t know about this combination of high poverty rates and per capita income levels. In one resource (Chris Gilligan, US News, May 3, 2023), I’m seeing that poverty rates ranged from 7.2% in New Hampshire to over 14% in the states with the highest poverty rates (Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Louisiana). This link (Statista) provides information about the poverty rate in Pennsylvania:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/205691/poverty-rate-in-pennsylvania/
A few different quotes stuck out to me this week, but for my comment I want to talk about the passage in this lesson that says: “Perhaps the energy adults spend talking about children and childhood — claiming to protect children, claiming to cherish and love childhood — functions primarily to disguise the fact that, in some fundamental ways, we live in a world that is hostile or destructive at worst and indifferent at best to the lives of the majority of children”.
I agree with this statement! And I think it speaks to a perhaps understated idea in our society today. From healthcare, to the working world’s lack of maternity/paternity leave, to more extreme cases like detaining children at the border or mistreatment/criminalization of certain children by police/law enforcement, we see a lot of hostility toward children. How can we build a society that supports, values, and sees all children? That’s a question I’ve been thinking about throughout this course.
Hi Lizzie, I agree, there is sort of a duality that comes from the rhetorics of politicians. They always claim they support children, but statistically, America has some of the worst maternity/paternity leave systems in the developed world.
Reading this week’s material reminded me of a mission trip I went on a couple of years ago. My church organized a trip to McDowell County, West Virginia. Living in West Virginia (but not being a native West Virginian), I was surprised to learn that McDowell County was once one of the richest counties in the United States, and was nicknamed the county that helped build the country. It was once a thriving and prosperous town due to the coal mines used for making steel and electrical power. However, in the 1980s, the steel mines closed down, resulting in a loss of mining jobs. Many miners left the area looking for new jobs and businesses began to close their doors and moved out of the area. As a result, the town of Welch, WV located in McDowell County quickly became one of the poorest counties in the United States. Like the manufacturing jobs that disappeared in New York City, the closing of the mines was the effect of globalizing capitalism. Unlike New York City, “knowledge-based” and service jobs did not replace the jobs lost in McDowell County. However, like New York City, the effects of the lost jobs were seen in the dilapidated conditions of the schools and the poorly maintained buildings and parks. Within less than five years, more than fifty percent of children were living below the poverty line. Illiteracy, unplanned pregnancies, and drug use increased. During our trip there, we interacted with the community and it was evident, as Katz (2004) suggests that they could see their “declining value.”
Katz’s Chapter on the New York Parallax spoke to me after seeing firsthand what can happen in a community when businesses leave an area. Those who are left behind often don’t have the means to seek new opportunities elsewhere. I think what also struck me as I read that chapter was the loss of play spaces for children. The areas, such as Central Park, received more monies for upkeep and became more policed while the play areas in the lower-income areas were left to deteriorate. Living close to Washington D.C., our evening news has been filled with stories of young teens, as old as twelve committing serious crimes against others in their communities – carjackings, shootings, and robberies. Often young children are caught in the cross-fire. It makes me wonder if safe play spaces would have made a difference in the lives of all these children. Would they have gotten involved in criminal activities if they had had places to entertain them? Would younger children have had different fates? I was encouraged by the work being done by Harlem Hospital to provide safer places for children to play. The results were fewer injuries and fatalities. Our cities and lower-income communities need more projects like those of the Harlem Hospital to help protect vulnerable children.
https://www.dewitzphotography.com/personal-photography-projects/west-virginia-coal-country-mcdowell-county-part-1/
Beth. Thank you for sharing this video about McDowell County, West Virginia. You can see how problems snowball to complicate the overall problem of poverty. I found the term “food desert” interesting. I just drove through a very tiny rural town in Utah that had zero commerce whatsoever…no stores, no gas station, no restaurants, nothing. Poverty was apparent. They must drive 45 minutes to get to any type of store. They also live in a food desert. Fresh food could be grown in the right season, but otherwise, getting fresh fruit and vegetables would be challenging. I also believe that knowing how to eat healthily can be a problem. Many people do have access to good food but don’t choose it. And so they are also eating in a food desert.
Marylynne, Yes, I’ve also heard the term “food desert” referred to in low-income neighborhoods in the cities. It is such a shame. In our reading, I was disappointed to learn how Mayor Guiliani’s initiatives took over many of the gardens planted by the people living in low-income areas, which I am sure worsened their healthy food access. As I was watching the local news the other night, they shared how the crime in the cities is helping to create these food deserts because the markets that sell fresh fruits and vegetables along with other healthy foods are leaving the area. As a way to encourage businesses to stay, trained neighborhood task forces are being formed to help not only combat crime but to also work with people experiencing mental health issues on the street.
Beth, thanks from me also for sharing this video. Did y’all see the bullet holes in the Welch sign? It’s powerful to learn that Welch was once considered “little New York” when it was thriving as a coal town. I lived in a small town in rural north Florida, and I can appreciate the challenges getting health care and fresh produce.
Hi Beth, thanks for supplying this video. Sometimes I think that these types of travel videos fetishize poverty, but I think this individual did a good job portraying it.
I enjoyed the readings throughout this module. There were a few points that really struck me as I read them. From Katz, the idea that, “children are smart and resourceful in using what life has given them to make meaning for themselves”. This spoke to me when mentioned in this exhibit because I do truly think children have more survival skills than the general public accounts for. The other topic that caught my attention was regarding immigrant children. I recently went to see the movie, “Cabrini”. It was about Italian immigrant children that are “saved” by an Italian Nun. The entire movie addressed the mistreatment that America places on immigrant children. This relates to the topics in this exhibit, as the children are much more resourceful than what you may expect, but also the general public does not treat each child the same. The last topic that drew me in was the idea of loving children. As I initially thought of this topic, I was split. A big part of me thinks I really truly do love children (generally speaking), but the other part of me thinks love is immense. You can love the ideas of someone, but to really deeply love them, you have to know them and be able to have personal connections with them. As I played with this idea in my head, I then thought of children as a broad term. The simple answer is yes, you can love children by wanting to help them, wanting to provide them positive thoughts and experiences, wanting to give them time and attention, and wanting to protect them. There is a sense of helplessness that draws in a stranger to assist a child. But how can the nation love children? There are programs in place to help children, but I am not sure the mental thoughts of the innocence of a child are loved. Loving is without evil. There is plenty of evil aspects in the world that are done to/with/around children. This topic allowed me to reflect and help redefine for myself what “loving children” truly means.
Antonia,
I enjoyed reading your post. In regard to the first part of your post – I agree with you. I do believe that children have survival instincts beyond what they are given credit for. Especially depending on their home life. I am a head start teacher and I often learn so much more from my students than I think they learn from me some days. As we have discussed in the very beginning of this course – the “innocent” child often opens my eyes up a lot in the classroom. I observe how they engage in play and I pay attention and make mental notes to the answers of some of the questions they are asked. I often reflect on “where did the shift change” so to speak from childhood to adulthood in the sense that adults do have survival skills, but it is more passionate and creative in children.
Gabrielle, my eyes have also been opened by some of the stories my students have told me about their home lives – sleeping on floors, hiding extra school lunch food in their pockets because there is little food at home, wearing the same clothes for 2-3 days because the adults can’t get to the laundrymat, one or both parents in jail, etc. Yet to watch them on the playground you would not be able to tell them from the rest of the class. This speaks to their resilience.
I thoroughly enjoyed this section and the book. I often declare each section as my favorite, but I believe this one truly deepened my understanding of the material and the text. Specifically, Chapter 6, “New York Parallax; or You Can’t Drive a Chevy through a Post-Fordist Landscape,” stood out to me—particularly the segment titled “Urban Disinvestment and Geographies of Children’s Everyday Lives.” This topic resonates with me daily as I work in the classroom. Discussions about poverty often overlook the profound and far-reaching impact it has on children.
As someone in the post-secondary education sector, I witness firsthand how poverty affects students aspiring to attend college or university and the myriad obstacles that arise from being impacted by poverty. Despite the U.S. being the wealthiest country in the world, a fifth of all children live in families earning less than $13,000 a year. This significantly influences the trajectory and navigation of their lived experiences. The book notes, “In the last quarter of the twentieth century, poverty became more concentrated among children and young people in the United States, while it decreased dramatically among those over sixty-five.” The disinvestment in public institutions and infrastructure profoundly affects the entire experience of childhood.
Khadyajah, I’m not sure that statistic of less poverty over age sixty-five is true anymore. I know two widows who in the past few years have had to sell their homes and move in with their adult children because the price of everything has gone up so much that they couldn’t afford to live on their own anymore (property taxes, food, healthcare, utilities, etc.).
Hi Khadyajah, I found your last sentence very profound. While there are issues with the public services for the elderly, it’s true that these issues are more pronounced in the services for children, which can be unhelpful or even harmful.
I wanted to comment on the portion of this exhibit at the end that poses the question of “what does it really mean when we say that we “love children.” What do we think love looks like?” I really enjoyed this question being posed because it is a great conversation starter! People tend to say that actions speak louder than words, which is true in most cases. However, in this case, I think our actions and our words together, are powerful enough to tell people what it really means to “love children”. I also enjoyed the second question being posed about what we think love looks like. That one is just as telling as the first question because each family is different. Each family interprets these questions in their own way. Each family is going through something and their version of love might look completely different than someone else’s version of love. Some things that come to mind that could potentially be what love looks like could be things that we do for our children, how we talk to our children, and what we buy our children. Some families could be very basic while other families could be very extravagant.
Gabrielle, I agree with you that the word “love” means different things to different people. Even as a child myself, I could see differences between my family and my friends’ families. Some always had the lastest clothing/electronics/etc. Some always hugged each other and spoke the words “I love you”. Some would go on vacations and educational trips. Some would have elaborate birthday parties while others had more simple ones.
Hi Gabrielle, I agree with you that the way we talk to children has great power to show our affection and respect for them. This can be felt by the kids themselves as well as any observers. This is something I talk to new teachers about a lot!
Gabrielle, I truly, truly loved your post this week. Your statement that actions and words together are powerful enough to tell each other what it means to love children was what I believe to be the true heart of our conversation here. Ironically, your ability to sum that up has put me at a loss for words, and for that I thank you.
As I write in my guest book signature, I found the concept of innocence vs. “knowing” childhood to be the most interesting in this semester and this particular exhibit. I was particularly struck by the last part of this exhibit wherein the author noted that innocence has been reserved for some children (white children) and not for others (Black children). This tracks with the other examples in the exhibit such as the photo of the Burmese child working with bricks. I have definitely seen this in my teaching experience working with a very diverse population over the years. I will go further with this idea in the guest book!
This week’s readings really resonated with me insofar as how race and class are so intertwined with childhood. I think it’s important to keep in mind how disenfranchised individuals are dealing with these issues from childhood and it necessarily effects their lives as adults.
One thing that stood out to me from this lesson was the section on poverty and age in the main exhibit. Wow. Reading those statistics are truly alarming yet saddening. It truly breaks my heart that children suffer the most from neglect and impoverishment. I wonder, how much has not been either reported or collected for data? Could these numbers be higher? I have noticed that I have some students at work whose teachers wonder what their home life is like but unfortunately, we cannot confirm anything without proof from the child. How can we expect children of the future to be self-sufficient and become thriving adults if they are neglected and not helped? How can children who cannot advocate for themselves receive help? To continue on, it was particularly disturbing to read that a child in the U.S. is 57% more likely to die than a child in another country. Is it because of the severe influx of shootings? Access to drugs? Alcohol? Neglect?
Kelcey, you bring up an interesting question at the end of your post. I did some looking around and found a few articles that touch on this subject. Unfortunately, there are so many different factors it’s hard to pin it down to one reason.
https://www.vox.com/health-care/2018/1/8/16863656/childhood-mortality-united-states
https://www.prb.org/news/dying-young-in-the-usa-americans-under-age-25-face-higher-death-rates-than-peers-in-other-affluent-nations/#:~:text=That%27s%20according%20to%20a%20new,people%20in%20the%20United%20States.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/08/health/child-mortality-rates-by-country-study-intl/index.html
The topic we covered this week has been a very tough topic for me to digest, not just because it is a heavy topic, but because there are some aspects to it that I experienced within my own childhood. It is so easy for people to completely disregard the struggle of maintaining a livable income while also being a single parent with three kids. My mom had worked often to help put food on our table, and even then some nights we had dollar store hotdogs and sliced bread. This is not to claim pitty, but rather to put into perspective that the things we learn about in class may not relate directly to you are still about the lives of real people. What’s worse is that poverty is more common than most would think, as proven by the statistics provided in this week’s readings. Incredibly shocking, yet not surprising.
For a long time, I have been perplexed by the idea of the federal poverty level. Because the dollar amount at that line is so low, I’ve been been curious about how the government rationalizes that anyone below that income line is in poverty but those just above that income level are not.
Prompted by this phrase from the gallery: “Again, remember that these numbers double if we take seriously the difference between the poverty line and what constitutes a living wage,” along with some google searching, have finally made it clear to me.
The federal poverty level is the income below which folks are eligible for federally funded assistance programs. Those above the level are still in poverty, they just are not eligible for federal assistance.
The living wage income level is the one that lets us know how much money is really needed to cover housing, transportation, food, medicine, and clothing in a given location. But even this is insufficient as an indicator of household wellbeing, as the living wage does not include allocations for savings accounts, household repairs, pets, or entertainment. The living wage is a wage that just covers immediate necessities. Folks with that level of income can be plunged directly into poverty with just one unexpected life event.