Essay about Finding Strength in Poverty in There Are No...

There are No Children Here – Finding Strength in Poverty Being privileged is something that I didn’t understand until I read There are No Children Here, by Alex Kotlowitz. The truth is that I knew I had it better than others, but the absolute difference was not truly recognized until I met the boys Lafayette, and Pharaoh. These boys were presented to me by Kotlowitz, via his book, and the evident pain and sorrow that these young men went through on a daily basis was more than most privileged people experience in an entire lifetime. That is what being privileged is. When I started reading this book, I thought that is was going to be another poor me story about some poor black kids who got a raw deal. That was my ignorant,†¦show more content†¦The grass was green, the flowers were all around, and the hallways seemed to go on forever. Their family was the first to move into the homes, and at that time, they were proud of that. Here they were, in a nice, affordable place where they could raise their children in a descent environment, around other people. As more families moved in, they relied on each other, and would gather in the court yard to talk and enjoy each others company. The times sure changed though. The Chicago Housing Authority started neglecting the Homes. Grass would go months without mowing, the appliances would deteriorate without replacement, and the plumbing was left to self destruct. When the CHA didn’t control the Homes, and the police wouldn’t enforce the laws, crime soon ran free to torture the inhabitan ts of the once grand Henry Horner Homes. The people of Henry Horner, especially the good people, longed for a place that they could sit up at night on a porch without fear. They had a dream of a place without the violence, but many of the people here became so conditioned to think that this is the way it was supposed to be, that a thought of getting out was a fleeting one. Pharaoh, the youngest of the two boys, was a daydreamer in the beginning of the book. The child had his head in the clouds, and often times dreamt of a place that offered safety, and a piece of the American Dream. The progression in the boy was evident from the summer of 1987, the beginning of the book,Show MoreRelatedDifferent Groups Of Vulnerable People1316 Words   |  6 Pagesthe United States. There are different types of child abuse; including physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. About five children die every day due to the abuse or neglect they have faced. This problem is increas ing because of the lack of reporting of these incidences, and the lack of information that people have. The children are unware of the problem, and therefore do not tell anyone that they are being abused or neglected. 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