What is Poverty?

       Poverty is not something that is going away. Poverty is not something that is foreign to most teachers.  Being in education, we see that children from poverty stricken homes are in almost every school. Can we fix it? No. Can we address it head on so that the impact is minimal in the classroom?  Yes.  First, we must have a greater understanding of what poverty is.  Everything is relative. Being poor in a First World country is not neccessarily the same as being poor in a developing country. However, there are some basic concepts that effect all.
       The dictionary discribes poverty as "the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor." A more vivid picture comes directly from the site http://www.fightpoverty.mmbrico.com/poverty "Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom. Poverty is a call to action - for the poor and the wealthy alike - a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities. Poverty is the state of being without, often associated with need, hardship and lack of resources across a wide range of circumstances." 
      We cannot and should not judge those who come from an impoverished background. Unless we take quality time to learn about the parents as individuals, we, as teachers, cannot assume that it is any fault of their own.  Some of the hardest working people I have ever met are also some of the poorest. Unfortunately, no matter what their story is, the fact remains that children who come from poverty stricken homes will be impacted in the classroom sooner or later.