Essay on Descriptive: Middle Class Individuals

| Myths about the Culture of Poverty | | | | |

With the 2012 election coming up this November we often hear a lot about education reform, better jobs, assistance for seniors and minorities, and how they will create a “better world”. I ask you, “Do one per centers really want a world that is equal, where everyone has the same advantages of the upper class?” Where lower and middle class individuals have the same career advantages, educational programs, health care, and living conditions that no longer put limitations on their full potential. Basically categorizing the less fortunate as the underserving poor, where they are not given the tools to succeed and not only prove to others and themselves they can rise above the myths of culture poverty. In Gorski’s article,” The Myth of the Culture of Poverty,” Paul Gorski explores some of the common myths of culture poverty and how educators and society can prevent themselves from falling into the myth trap. Many may assume certain things about their students without being aware that they are doing so. By looking into the myths associated with poverty in cultures, we are moving closer to crushing those myths and giving examples by giving every student a chance. One of the biggest myths associated with the poor is that low income people are not generally motivated and have very little, or weak work ethics. Truth be told, their work standards are no different than there wealthier counterparts. The only problem is low income people make lower wages causing them to work multiple jobs at a time just to make ends meet. They are in situations where there options are very slim and they may not be able to get to the fortune 500 company that will allow them to do very little work and get paid very high wages. Not where they get taxed on their income like the middle and lower class does. In saying that lower class individuals have very little time to be weak and unmotivated due to the fact they are constantly trying to come out of the rut they were put in. Another myth Gorski examines is that poor parents are not involved in their children’s lives. The truth behind this myth is that poorer parents are just as concerned about their children’s education and learning abilities; they just may not show it as much as they would like. This is because they lack the access to the things that allow them to show concern. Such as transportation and affordable childcare, also some are single parents working jobs were their schedules conflict with their abilities to participate in school activities with their children. Drug and alcohol abuse is another myth that always generally associated with poorer families but not necessarily true. Sources show drug use among wealthy and poor individuals is equally distributed across the board. In fact, “alcohol consumption is significantly higher among upper middle class white high school students than among poor black high school students” (Gorski, 2008). To put it simply, wealthy high school students have more access to high end drugs and alcohol than low income high school students and are more likely to become substance abusers themselves. Gorski cautions educators with a “myth of a ‘culture of poverty’ distracts us from dangerous culture that does not exist-the culture of classism” (Gorski, 2008). In addition, “And, worst of all, it diverts attention from what people in poverty do have in common: inequitable access to basic human rights” (Gorski, 2008). Gorski also describes how the deficit theory is perhaps one of the most destructive tools for educators, stating “Implications of deficit theory reach far beyond

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