2008 Woodie Awards
Sharing the Wealth
Children in Orlando suffer in poverty while we enjoy the luxuries of privilege.
Karina Mc Cabe
Issue date: 11/5/04 Section: Features
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Disgracefully, the U.S. ranks among the 17 leading industrial nations with the largest percentage of their populations in poverty, according to the United Nations Human Development Report.
Before you dismiss this fact as inconsequential to your life and return to the soy, mocha-chip latte in your hand, think for a second about the person who prepared that drink. This person may survive on a minimum wage income, and cannot even afford to purchase the drink you thought was a necessary caffeine pick-me-up. According to Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, it is necessary to work two full-time jobs at minimum wage simply to keep a roof over one's head. That is eighty hours a week with no job security or good benefits just to have a place to sleep.
Now that you have taken the time to think about it, do you care? An astounding thirty-one percent of Americans believe that these "poor people have it easy" (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation). Typically at Rollins we are financially secure, meaning that most of us have never had to worry about whether our parents can make enough money this week to pay rent or to feed us. Yet, what hard work have we done to deserve this security? Do we deserve to be in this position anymore than the twenty-seven percent of children under the age of eighteen in Orlando deserve to be in poverty (en.wikipedia.org)? Hardly.
The argument that most students are able to study at this institution because they studied hard in grade school is a farce. For one, not everyone receives the same standard of education. Since funding for public schools comes directly from the property tax of the districts they are located in, it seems entirely conceivable that students from more affluent areas attend schools with better teachers and better facilities, hence they receive a better education. Students with wealthy parents are also able to afford tutors to make them more competitive for standardized tests such as the SAT and, as a result, the scores from this test show direct correlation with socioeconomic status. This is not some warped statistic created by a bunch of crazy liberals; it is the assertion of John Katzman, the President and founder of the Princeton Review. He states that "It [the SAT] is biased, measures nothing, and we should get rid of it... It is a scam." More importantly, he says, "the SAT was very coachable. There are also kids out there spending a year and twenty or thirty thousand dollars prepping for the SAT (PBS.org)." In turn, these students leave their wealthy parents, go to good colleges, and get well-paying jobs with good benefits.
On the other hand, I have many friends who write at a far superior level than anyone I have encountered here, and yet these people are unfortunate enough to have to succumb to life's tragedies. Their parents are either alcoholics, incarcerated, or deceased, and they are working at Mc Donald's and Wal Mart to support their families and ensure that their siblings do not have to suffer the same fate that they have. Do these people not deserve to be at Rollins either? Do they "have it easy"? No, poverty is not a result of laziness; it is a structural problem that is a result of public policies and a lack of community support to endure life's problems.
There are children in central Orlando currently preparing to endure this poverty trap, while we, in nearby Winter Park, enjoy the splendor of our surroundings, and whine about our hardships of homework and classes. How do these two societies exist side by side? More importantly, why do we let this occur?
Currently, the nation has succumbed to election fever, and everyone worries that his or her vote will count, but what about the responsibilities that accompany this right? One of these is ensuring that the members of our community all have a good standard of living. Unfortunately, in an economy such as ours, extreme poverty goes hand in hand with extreme wealth. Therefore, since most members of the Rollins community do not occupy the former category, this responsibility is ours.
Dr. Papay's Visions of Harry Potter RCC has been working with the Boys and Girls Club at the Coalition for the Homeless shelter in Downtown Orlando this semester. They have noticed first-hand how the unlucky children live deprived of adequate living necessities, homes, and facilities.
The children have no drawing paper and there is barely enough food to go around at snack-time. More importantly, the complex cannot afford to have enough care-providers to look after the children, and this forces the ones that do work there to be strict with the children simply to maintain order and ensure that all the children are safe. This, however, does not provide for the nurturing environment that upper class Americans have determined is necessary for children to grow to their fullest potential, and what is good enough for their children ought to be good enough for the children of any homeless or impoverished parent.
It is our civic obligation to ensure that these children, undeserving of a life in poverty, are provided with both the tools necessary to succeed in life as well as the basic requirements for living.
Dr. Papay's class has organized a donations drive project, "The Order of the Phoenix" (a secret society in the Harry Potter series), in order to help combat this economic gap. If you would like to help, you could donate either cash or something from the list of supplies on this page to boxes outside the C-Store, the Bookstore, or by emailing features@thesandspur.org.
SUPPLIES
Crayons
Pencils
Drawing Paper
Napkins
Paper Towels
Hand Soap
Paper Cups
Kid-safe Scissors
Tape
Flip-flops
Stickers
*The children would also appreciate toys/games, snacks (not candy), juice boxes, and other art supplies.*