Our Children Are Our Future

The Silent Ones

Children throughout America are silently suffering. There are about 15.5 million children under the age of 18 who are suffering within the poor communities of our country. Poverty can be generational; therefore the debts of a parent will get passed on to the child, leaving the same fate for each generation to come.

According to Children’s Defense Fund, our youth is  forced to live in homes where often the daily budget for a family is below $70. It seems like that is a doable budget, but when one realizes that this money is not just buying food, but paying for clothing, bills, and other necessities, it is put in perspective how unreasonable this is.

A Better Tomorrow for our Youth

The best bet for America’s youth to have a fighting chance may just be through better education. Education can supply a numerous amounts of opportunity. This idea that we must educate our children in order to take care of them, and America, has many levels to it. To educate of the era and the rough times that our country faces is one form of verbal education that parents can supply, whereas a formal in-school education is another. Fixing the educational system, along with the way funding is distributed based on zoning, will ensure that we can “overcome the Educational Equity Gap” which the Center for American Progress is determined to achieve. So with this knowledge, in order to guarantee that this vicious cycle ends, we must send the youth to school, give them medical and health care, as well as financial support.

Although this will take time to achieve, we can continue to spread the word on child poverty, for with each bit of knowledge shared comes a chance for a better tomorrow.

Media v. Poverty

The showdown

Media has a major effect on how the public views poverty. The well-known image of an elderly man standing in some foreign country asking for us Americans to donate to these areas is the way media portrays “real” poverty.Tttt There are no commercials with an older man asking us to please donate to our children within the U.S thththough. “Why is that?” you may wonder? Sadly, the norm has been to ignore the poverty levels that exist here within our country, for it is easier to look at poverty as an outside party. We have a hard time seeing the problem within our home. In thinking that poverty can only harm another country we develop a false sense of safety and state of mind. Luckily, this is changing and poverty is becoming quite the topic of concern, but still, it needs an extra push.

So who is to blame?

With such a profound impact that media makes, one would assume we could use it to our advantage and spread the word on poverty in America. Media has the potential to manipulate its viewers into dressing, speaking, thinking and acting in certain ways. However, as Global Issues so nicely puts it, “It’s difficult for the average American to acknowledge the problems within the USA due to media omissions.”

With these “omissions” in media, a false sense of prosperity is instilled. The recent economic problems finally put a spotlight on America’s position, introducing the working poor, individuals and families who live paycheck to paycheck and can never catch up. Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, authors of The Rich and the Rest of Us, continuously say “Keep on pushing.” For years the stereotypes of the impoverished have delayed the steps to improvement. There is more to the poor than simply being on welfare, or living off food stamps. There are people that take on whatever odd end job they can, but the media, when, and if, they focus on poverty, omits this because it is easier to ignore the cold truth that the impoverished can work just as hard, yet continue to struggle. Once the media can “keep on pushing” audiences past acknowledging the truths of poverty, we will then be able to address solutions. By thus looking over the problem the media has contributed to it, but it can just as well be part of the solution.

Media and a voice for change

If media can portray the crises which exist elsewhere by transporting us through interesting news casts, and hooking articles, then it is time to do the same for our own country. Whether it is the televising of Germany’s Berlin Wall destruction or Haiti’s Earthquake Efforts, media has been able to expose serious situations without us even having to leave our couch. Americans need to speak up in order to swift the media’s focus to problems that center on us. With the help of media’s influence we can start solving the problems that are most important to us. America’s poverty is national news, so why not get it out there and make a change.

 

America, the Land of the Free?

What is it about Poverty?

Poverty exists closer than we think. So many people are trapped in this poverty, ironically, in a place nicknamed“The Land of the Free.” Everyone has heard of the word ‘poverty’. All too often poverty is a word we relate to other countries of the world, forgetting the impact it has on America. Poverty exists dramatically throughout the states, where 16.7 million children, since 2011, have lived in hunger. No matter how much we would like to ignore this, poor is poor, and it exists right here in America.

Leaving those to live a lifestyle that remains invisible to most others is not how we accumulated the nickname of The Land of the Free. We, as a nation, are on the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of wealth, and the chance to be a self-made individual. In seeking a better future for ourselves, and our families, we have to see what is happening right here in our country.

  

Let’s make it visible then

Oddly, most of us have seen poverty in America, but are we truly acknowledging it? We all have pictures painted in our minds when we think of the poor in America; some images are nicer than others. The pictures conjured up in your mind may be of a young child playing in rags as clothes, near a dry or deserted area. Maybe the picture is of the booming New York City sidewalks flanked with homeless people. When I think of poverty in the United States, I think of a group of young boys and girls playing in the street on a hot day near a fire hydrant that they managed to steal water from. I would see this all too often throughout the “rougher” areas of Queens, which is where I grew up.

“There are nearly 150 million poor and near poor people in America who re not responsible for the damage done by the Great Recession. Yet they pay the price.”- The Rich and the Rest of Us

The sad truth is that poverty is all some will ever know. The impoverished get stuck in a rut where they lack proper schooling, making it difficult to find better jobs, which forces them to either take on side jobs or ask for loans, but the cycle rarely ends. You need money to make money; meaning without the help of some cash to spend it is hard to stop this cycle. Money is necessary to buy proper attire to obtain a job, afford necessary items for a better schooling, or simply to uproot one’s life to live in better surroundings. So as one can tell, this is a problem for those who want to change this trap of an impoverished life.

And the poverty levels?

Although a smaller increase than it has been in the last two years, poverty levels have nonetheless increased by 0.6 percentage points between 2010 and 2011 according to the U.S Government census. States, such as, New York, California, Florida, Arizona and more, have 16% or more people living in poverty. That’s huge.

A Bond for Better Days

If the people that generate the wealth of a county define poverty, what do you think they would define it as? Where do the generators of the wealth stand in the grand scheme of wealth or poverty?

I walked around Cortland and interviewed various students, who preferred to remain unnamed, but the general response was that they could easily differentiate the people who live in Cortland and students of SUNY Cortland.

When asked whether one would consider Cortland poverty stricken county, SUNY Cortland Junior, Brittany, reacted with a sense of excitement and eagerness to let her feelings about Cortland County be heard:

     “I think I would consider Cortland a very impoverished county because any time I    
     volunteered at the soup kitchen, no matter what day it was, it was packed out. I compare
     that to my soup kitchen in Suffolk County, where it would only be crowded in winter, and
      Cortland is always over packed and lacking enough soup”.

Not all SUNY Cortland students share Brittany’s sympathetic and understanding view of poverty in Cortland or elsewhere. Among the 25 students I randomly sampled on the question of poverty in Cortland, I was shocked to hear a number of students make insulting comments about poor people in Cortland.

This negative view of poverty is not limited to Cortland, however. As Tavis Smiley and Cornell West, authors of Poverty in America, explain, the middle class denies the reality that they might face the struggles of poverty one day and how the reality of poverty is due to a stigma that people who live in poverty, once made choices that eventually lead to those unfortunate circumstances. A general, but false, assumption from the middle class is that they are immune to poverty, making it easier to negatively judge those who are affected by it. In reality, the issue of poverty is a problem throughout all of America.

The crucial issue here is that the SUNY Cortland students are too removed from the community of Cortland County. SUNY Cortland students are just like the rest of middle America: in denial about poverty in America and how it relates to them. The stigma needs to be broken by diluting the gap between students and community members. Doing community service for the purpose of gaining words on a resume is not the way Cortland students are going to begin the gradual process of ending this stigma of poverty. We need to build a bond between the two so there is no more stereotyping, no more judging, only a bond that helps us help each other. We need to find a way to shy away from the “us” and “them” and create one community as a whole. 

One way to erase that separation is by getting involved in community programs or events. By helping Cortland maintain its local pride and community strength by ensuring that the Wickwire pool continues to be a source of pleasure and pride for citizens of Cortland, strength in community will be crafted. The Wickwire pool is a place where Cortland residents can go and feel welcome, something that may not be obvious to Cortland students, because many have the privilege of owning a pool in their own backyyyytards. In the chaotic world we live in today, it feels good to be able to have a sense of weight lifted off your shoulders as you slip into a refreshing pool. The Wickwire pool is a place for people to join together in relaxation, a safe haven from the struggles of our world. Through a bond of college students helping a Cortland county community, Cortland will see better days.

What SUNY Cortland Can Do for Cortland

What SUNY Cortland Can Do for Cortland

From the look of Main Street as it is pictured on the SUNY Cortland website homepage, Cortland is the place to be. People mill in and out of stores, coffee shops, and local bars and restaurants, giving the appearance of a thriving local economy. The people who put the majority of money into this county, college students, need to find a way to give back to the community that serves them in infinite ways This picture of Cortland is also reflected in the County of Cortland’s website:

“The county features a high quality of life and excellent educational resources.” A high quality of life must mean the people are happy and successful. Excellent educational resources must mean students are getting beneficial skills to help them find professions in life. Sounds pretty good on paper, but if we look closer, we see another picture of Cortland.

 The issue that becomes apparent as you look at the bigger picture is that students who get a lot of benefit from the community need to find a way to give back to it.

 

The college is the highest employer in the county, giving it priority and power when it comes to resources. The SUNY Cortland website claims; “With more than 1,400 employees, we are the leading employer in the City of Cortland and the County”. The problem is that the major jobs are in the college, and many other jobs in town are taken from college students. 

As a college town, benefits or profit usually go back to the college and therefore do more to aid the students. This sense of struggle is apparent throughout Cortland, which is reflected by the thirty three percent of individuals who live below poverty in Cortland. Poverty is a cycle that is hard to break. 

The students of SUNY Cortland need to realize the realities of the struggle in the Cortland community so that they can act with the respect they have for the town and help in any way possible. One perfect way to do so is to help the community save the Wickwire pool, which is a cherished part of the Cortland community. Unfortunately the pool is in jeopardy due to lack of economic resources to restore it. SUNY Cortland students need to show their gratitude for the County of Cortland. The perfect way to give back to the Cortland Community, which gives so much of aid to the Cortland College, starts with helping preserve the culture of the county itself. Volunteering to help preserve aspects of the Cortland County that have great value, but are suffering due to difficult economic times is a fine way to give back to this beautiful community.

Cortland in the Past

Cortland in the Past

From SUNY Cortland perspective, it is safe to say that many are unaware of the history of Cortland and what it was like before the College was founded. In May of 2011, Wilma Staiger, a historian, wrote on a website about the history of Cortland in terms of economic success:

It was a period of  slow but sure growth in all directions; the establishment of new business enterprises to meet the wants of the increasing population; the multiplication of churches and schools; the beginning of manufacturing in a small way; the clearing of lands in the country districts, with improvement in the methods of farming and the development in the later years of the dairying interest.

 Cortland was built on industries, both agricultural and manufacturing, and began to grow as it became highly reliant on agriculture and the production of milk and crops.

In the late 19^th century, however, the demand for milk and crops declined and Cortland began to face hardship economically. According to New York State Associations of Counties (NYSAC), “Consistent with the pattern elsewhere in New York State, the number of farms has declined” in the early twentieth century. The issue was that the demand for milk and crops declined as human resources began to be replaced with more efficient machines. Cortland began to face an economic struggle and began to suffer from dwindling jobs and economic success.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Wickwire Brothers wire mill was the leading industry in Cortland County. This was an essential industry during this time period, but in the mid twentieth century it was shut down due to diminishing demand. The changing economy and changing demand was crafting a new market that caused the death of many industries.

The economic decline in Cortland affected various other industries and farms. Many industries that once supported Cortland County eventually shut down, went bankrupt or were sold to be changed into something else. The farms that once used human labor to produce valuable crops were now competing industries that used machines to mass-produce goods. The industries that existed in Cortland were now continuing to produce products that were no in demand for the changing time period. The human resources that built Cortland County into the once prosperous county were suddenly disappearing. Cortland was left with unemployment levels previously unknown in Cortland, which led to the part time job increase, rather than the full time jobs that were once so available. The loss in the Cortland County was not only the loss of industry and jobs but also the cultural resources of the county.

Therefore, esources such as the Wikwire pool, which were once valued, are now in unfortunate conditions due to diminished resources.  The Wickwire pool was built during the time where industries were flourishing and Cortland County as a whole was prosperous. The pool was a safe haven for people to escape to and to relax from the stress of the world. In an act of appreciation and respect for Cortland County, I ask the students of SUNY Cortland to join hands with the individuals of Cortland County to help restore the cherished Wickwire pool.

It’s Time for an International Makeover

We all must step out of our self-sufficient, withdrawn bubbles and start to realize that our residential and global environments are withering over time. This deterioration directly affects our families, future generations, and the world as a whole. We are provided with a mass of opportunities to explore and share content in cyberspace, so it’s time to get active.

The Internet is a widely public space which is easily accessible. This networking system allows us to quickly and successfully broadcast important messages to the world. We must start speaking out on behalf of the needs of our communities.

The Web allows for us to “Think Locally and Act Globally.” In other words, we will think small and within the physical margins of our communities, but we will act and write to a larger, global audience. Internet users across the world have the access and ability to read our posts and watch our videos. Therefore, you can support a worldwide social change by publishing and sharing content online.

A Global Movement
We live in a democratic society where our concerns and viewpoints are important. If we all work together and advocate for change and transformation, our collective voice will be heard. By utilizing online social networks, we can spark the attention of advocates worldwide and gain global cooperation. It’s time to get socially active in order to improve our communities!

The Impact that One Person Can Make

When a person is isolated from society, they’ll begin to believe that they have no real purpose or impact on the world, social situations, or generally anything. Viewing yourself as a mere solitary being is completely incorrect. Although you may literally exist as one physical body, you are naturally connected to your community from day one.

We all experience an innate urge to connect with something beyond ourselves. We all meet with the desire to be a part of something bigger then our physical makeup. Therefore, we all develop a natural relationship between the self and the larger local community.

The Theory of Natural Connection provides us with an understanding about a deep fear found in all humans: loss of connection and meaning. In order to overcome this instinctive fright, you can freely bond and unite with your nearby neighbors.

You Hold the Power to Promote Social Change
Centers within the community provide a place for people to connect and communicate. As a contributing member, you’re empowered to make a substantial impact. You represent the local public when you act and speak out in the community center.  All you need is the courage to express your thoughts.  Every single voice has value, and your contribution does make an impact.

I Dare You To Think…

About a place where you’re able to comfortably socialize and mingle…

About a specific location where you could possibly meet a best friend, lifelong mate, or even a friendly neighbor…

About an enjoyable spot where you can safely let your children run, play, swim…

Community centers are free, public spaces that offer neighborhoods a multitude of opportunities for personal enjoyment, relaxation, and family gathering.  Program leaders work together to organize events and recreational activities for people of all ages.  Here, residents are able to voluntarily engage in enthusiastic group discussions, exciting contests, eco-friendly action, fundraisers and programs for the needy, annual trips, and support for their home sports teams.  Local participants aim to take beneficial action in support of their community.

Public Centers Serve as Powerful Foundations for Social Change
Large assemblies of unified neighbors act as strong and influential forces within their community.  As a cooperating group, they hold the power to press for any necessary changes, or preservation of beloved recreational centers, in their surrounding areas.  These worthy taxpayers are certainly entitled to speak up and act out appropriately.  Their collective voice will be heard.

                   

When you utilize the local community center, you’re able to communicate with others about public issues of concern, such as pollution or neglected grounds. Open discussions and debates are often held within these public spaces exposing any problems or distress within the local vicinity.

When members unite in the local community center, they’re able to act as a team. Neighbors are encouraged to form and maintain relationships between one another and their surroundings. As healthy relationships and proposals develop, members are making rewarding social connections. Therefore, by working as a team player, the community is strengthened and stands powerful.

By becoming involved in your local community center, you can help to advocate for a valuable change. It’s time to realize that the power to improve lives and living depends on you.
I Dare You to Act Now, Act Today.

Technological Access to Community

There are many ways to learn about the community you live in: you can learn from books, people or websites.  Luckily, the public library is a very dependable location at the heart of every community where one can go to collect data about one’s hometown.  An example of what a great community resource the local library can be is the Cortland Free Library, in Cortland, NY. One of the resources that Cortland Free Library houses several databases that people can access.

The internet is one of the most useful resources at the hands of people today, but that is an enormous understatement if you are unable to access it.  The free library has a Public Computer Center that provides citizens with a way to access internet.  Also, the library holds classes about how to use computers, keeping everyone up to date with the fast pace of new internet applications.  Having access and the capacity to use technology allows people to look up answers to questions on numerous topics.  Not to mention, it allows them to communicate with others through emailing capabilities, instant messaging and social networks.

To ensure that all citizens receive assistance with technological problems, the library has walk-in hours in which people are available to answer questions.  The hours are:

Monday, Tuesday, and Friday 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.

 

Also, if you need help with research, there is a librarian on hand to answer questions throughout the day.  There are also other resources available through the website for the Cortland Free Library such as multiple links that provide information about various topics germane to Cortland locals such as links that help research newspaper archives and also links for connecting people to local history.

 

                    Cortland Free Library

 

The Cortland Free Library is part of the Fingerlakes Library System that combines multiple libraries in the area, allowing books to be shared so that the resources of various communities can come together to collaborate information.

It is necessary for members of communities to have this access to resources that extends beyond their own hometown.  This allows everyone to interact with the rest of the world and to have the necessary skills for knowledge-acquisition in the fast-paced world that we live in.  Even as books are becoming one of the less frequent resource methods, local libraries continues to act as a place to go in order to learn new information, and it should be greatly appreciated by all.