By Ryan Blake, Children’s Program Director
I think there is a direct correlation between poverty, homelessness and self-esteem. Many children are embarrassed to appear poor. That's why you'll see children receiving free school lunches with a nice outfit, expensive shoes, and a new cell phone. They want to look like the middle class students.

We have a Community LINC Teen Facebook page where teens can keep in touch with us. None of the teens have wanted to join the page, because they don’t want their friends to know they lived here.
I also noticed that sometimes the school bus lets out our children around the corner from our building. When I asked why they get dropped off over there, the kids told me they don’t want people to know where they live.
Self-esteem is a major topic that we talk about with our students. I want them to see a connection with making the right choices and feeling good about themselves.
A month ago I was teaching a class of 5th grade boys about self-esteem. When I asked the class if where you live affects your self-esteem, 10 year Jamal silenced the class with his answer.
Jamal said, "I think it’s harder for people who live in the hood to have high self-esteem”. He explained that “there are people doing drugs, hookers, and killing people, and tons of crime in the hood, it’s harder to be happy with so many negative things happening every day.”
A month ago I was teaching a class of 5th grade boys about self-esteem. When I asked the class if where you live affects your self-esteem, 10 year Jamal silenced the class with his answer.
Jamal said, "I think it’s harder for people who live in the hood to have high self-esteem”. He explained that “there are people doing drugs, hookers, and killing people, and tons of crime in the hood, it’s harder to be happy with so many negative things happening every day.”

No comments:
Post a Comment