The definition of disadvantaged youth includes all children at or below eighteen years of age who are high-school dropouts, orphaned, homeless or living in poverty. It refers to all the children that are not considered to have the same educational and career opportunities as their peers due to geographical remoteness, disparities in wealth in demographic ethnic minorities, linguistic issues as well as but not limited to special educational needs. This very definition portrays them as a disabled and incompetent burden to society that has to be dealt with.
According to the social approach of psychology people build up their character and behavior based on their interactions with other people. Growing up to be healthy, ambitious and prosperous members of society sometimes proves to be difficult even for children who have been raised in loving and caring families; it is hard to imagine how much more difficult this process could be for somebody who is used to everyone looking down on him and categorizing him as “disadvantaged”. Perhaps one of the first steps towards creating more positive attitudes within the young people from any background is not labeling them and putting them into groups – an act which, in itself, diminishes their personal confidence. We live in a world which preaches equality; however, to paraphrase George Orwell, some seem to be more equal than others. Organizations that take up the responsibility of educating young people should make sure to treat everyone equally. This means that "disadvantaged" children should not be looked down on for coming from a more troubled background as compared to their peers, but they should also not be given excuses for not doing the work required. All children need to be educated to understand that the responsibility for their future is entirely theirs. Fortunately the world has changed dramatically in the past century and in most developing countries it is less and less important what family one comes from – success comes at one’s own merit, and therefore people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to lead a successful life. It seems though that not everybody knows this. Education should by all means be an advocate of this tendency and should make it known to everybody.
Discouragement is extremely dangerous among students of all ages and backgrounds. In his speech for Zeitgeist Americas 2013 Malcolm Gladwell summarizes the effects of competition within the classroom and the effects of not being at the top of the class. Using statistics Gladwell shows that students who go to elite educational institutions (like Harvard for example) but are not at the top of their class are doing worse than almost anyone else who doesn’t go to such elite institutions but is at the top of their class. This would illustrate that competition has a huge impact on a student’s motivation to study hard and do his work well. Going back to the point about equality, educators need to make sure that a child is not put at a disadvantage (is not considered to be at the bottom or anywhere under the top of his class) just for coming from a troubled background. The effects of this would be limiting this child’s potential and increasing the feeling of inferiority in comparison to his peers; this may result in lack of motivation to study, an earlier drop-out from education, a worse job or even taking the path of crime.
However, a counter point can be made as to whether “disadvantaged” children should really be treated absolutely equally. A nurturing environment is almost certainly required for the upbringing of a healthy child which would grow up to be a well-rounded member of the society. The children considered as “disadvantaged” are often deprived of the happy home and/or the caring parents required in the formula. Therefore a fully equal educational environment would still not be completely fair and supporting for these children. One of the many roles of the nurturing family is to teach the child to believe and respect himself, to find their strengths and interests and pursue them. The state is responsible for all the citizens living within its borders and should therefore make sure that all children receive “education” in self-respect. In the cases of disadvantaged youth concerning orphaned children and children coming from troubled families the state needs to fill in the “educational” gap and make sure that every child discovers his talents and interests and has the opportunities to make the most of them. On this issue the state and non-profit organizations can unite efforts towards creating programs for teacher training and school counseling.
Currently functioning non-profit organizations in the United States and abroad like Orphaned Starfish Foundation (OSF), Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW), J. Luce Foundation, Afghan Child Education and Care Organization, and CharityHelp International (CHI) all agree that “education is the way out [of poverty]” (Andrew Stein, American Democratic politician). However, disadvantaged children are often deprived of capital assets, such as computers, textbooks and books, which may be another factor to stop them from fulfilling their potential. Investments in public computer labs and libraries should be a priority so as to give every child equal opportunities to learn and grow. In many countries orphaned children have little, if any, opportunity to obtain an education or training that would enable them to become independent, contributing members of their society, so providing even basic schools and work-oriented courses is a very important step towards integrating these children and giving them the opportunities every citizen of the world should have.
Disadvantaged youth also refers to students who have dropped out of high school and/or those who have not continued their education in a college or university. This is a huge problem in society, as the number of people who haven’t finished their secondary studies is increasing. This may turn out to be an economic disaster, as it will lead to lowering the quality of services and significantly slowing down technological and scientific growth. The share of jobs in the U.S. economy needing a college degree will increase to 63 percent in the next decade. This will require 22 million new employees with college degrees. At the current pace, the nation will fall at least 3 million college degrees short (A. Carnevale, N. Smith, and J. Strohl, Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Economic Requirements Through 2018 (Washington, DC: Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 2010). Globally, organizations like UNESCO are working to provide quality basic education. In their program Education for All they aim to achieve six set goals, one of which is Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes. On a personal level, a lack of education means lowered job opportunities, and even if the student manages to find a job, it will usually be less well paid in comparison to the job a university graduate is almost certain to have. For example, in the United States of America nearly 44 percent of dropouts under age 24 are jobless, and the unemployment rate of high school dropouts older than 25 is more than three times that of college graduates (United States Department of Labor, 2012). Furthermore, this creates more than just economic issues. The health of a typical high school dropout, by age 18, is similar to that of a more educated person in his 40s (College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, 2010). Moreover, disadvantaged youth in this case creates the risk of triggering a chain reaction, as if a drop-out doesn’t manage to find a good job and/or turns to crime, his children would most probably live in poverty and/or become orphaned or homeless, thus becoming disadvantaged as well and entering a vicious circle. Realizing the importance of increasing the continuity and quality of education Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senators Al Franken (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representative Dale Kildee have passed the Reengaging Americans In Serious Education by Uniting Programs (RAISE UP)Act which would provide pathways for disadvantaged youth to graduate from secondary school, attain a postsecondary credential, and secure family-supporting career by integrating essential, and often disparate, education, workforce, social services and supports.
However, in order to deal with the problem, one must understand its origins. The number of educational drop-outs is increasing possibly because there is no guarantee that once one finishes high-school or college one will get the job one has been studying for. This results in a lack of motivation. When the question is posed so that one has to choose between instant (low) income and possible (high but not guaranteed) income later, many choose the former option not realizing the long-term consequences of this short-term decision.
There are several approaches towards solving this problem. One way is for non-profit organizations working with big employers to create programs which could guarantee college graduates a well-paid job after graduation. For high-school drop-outs career-oriented training could be offered, so that everybody gets an equal opportunity of finding a wage-sustaining job. With combined efforts, the state and non-profit organizations through advertising campaigns can work towards making early drop-outs from education a taboo among youngsters. The state can also contribute to the solution, as it can increase the minimum age for quitting education or impose a percentage supplement to the wage of every student with a high-school diploma up until a certain age. Most important, however, are investments in teacher-training, as very often the teacher is the one creating attitudes towards education; a good teacher will be able to trigger the student’s interest and curiosity thus making a sudent continue his studies for his love of knowledge.
So what should be the role of the state and the non-government organizations in the process of teaching self-respect and love for knowledge? In many cases concerning disadvantaged youth the state is responsible for taking care of the children considered in this category, which means securing that they would receive from the government the things other children receive from their families. This means that the state must support their personal growth and development in all ways possible, as the “disadvantaged youth” should not be viewed as a burden to society but as future independent members of society and the key to future prosperity. Increasing the funding of state schools in order to improve the quality of education, the material base of the schools, the training of the teachers and the availability of counseling services for each student is one way the state can help disadvantaged children find out their interests and realize their potentials so as not to feel underestimated in any way by society. Advertising campaigns towards raising awareness and educating more people in understanding the potential of every child, disadvantaged or not, should help teachers in their efforts to achieve equality in the classroom and stop disadvantaged children from feeling inferior to their peers because of their background. Equality of opportunities needs to be achieved, so as to limit the importance of the family background in determining the future of the child. However, the state may not have all the funding to finance such an educational revolution. Non-profit organizations should work to provide the disadvantaged youth with what the state does not have the funding to provide. In some cases this could be better school material base (libraries and computers), in others it could be teacher-training, or career-oriented courses, or work placement for high-school or college graduates. In any case, the role of the state and the non-profit organizations cannot be limited to simply one definition – it has to evolve and change according to the needs of the society. But one thing should be kept in mind: as Richard Morgan, UNICEF’s senior adviser on the post-2015 development agenda, said “Children and young people are the makers of a future sustainable world and measures of their progress will also be the markers of that world.” This suggests viewing every child as a precious opportunity to make our world a better place to live.
According to the social approach of psychology people build up their character and behavior based on their interactions with other people. Growing up to be healthy, ambitious and prosperous members of society sometimes proves to be difficult even for children who have been raised in loving and caring families; it is hard to imagine how much more difficult this process could be for somebody who is used to everyone looking down on him and categorizing him as “disadvantaged”. Perhaps one of the first steps towards creating more positive attitudes within the young people from any background is not labeling them and putting them into groups – an act which, in itself, diminishes their personal confidence. We live in a world which preaches equality; however, to paraphrase George Orwell, some seem to be more equal than others. Organizations that take up the responsibility of educating young people should make sure to treat everyone equally. This means that "disadvantaged" children should not be looked down on for coming from a more troubled background as compared to their peers, but they should also not be given excuses for not doing the work required. All children need to be educated to understand that the responsibility for their future is entirely theirs. Fortunately the world has changed dramatically in the past century and in most developing countries it is less and less important what family one comes from – success comes at one’s own merit, and therefore people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to lead a successful life. It seems though that not everybody knows this. Education should by all means be an advocate of this tendency and should make it known to everybody.
Discouragement is extremely dangerous among students of all ages and backgrounds. In his speech for Zeitgeist Americas 2013 Malcolm Gladwell summarizes the effects of competition within the classroom and the effects of not being at the top of the class. Using statistics Gladwell shows that students who go to elite educational institutions (like Harvard for example) but are not at the top of their class are doing worse than almost anyone else who doesn’t go to such elite institutions but is at the top of their class. This would illustrate that competition has a huge impact on a student’s motivation to study hard and do his work well. Going back to the point about equality, educators need to make sure that a child is not put at a disadvantage (is not considered to be at the bottom or anywhere under the top of his class) just for coming from a troubled background. The effects of this would be limiting this child’s potential and increasing the feeling of inferiority in comparison to his peers; this may result in lack of motivation to study, an earlier drop-out from education, a worse job or even taking the path of crime.
However, a counter point can be made as to whether “disadvantaged” children should really be treated absolutely equally. A nurturing environment is almost certainly required for the upbringing of a healthy child which would grow up to be a well-rounded member of the society. The children considered as “disadvantaged” are often deprived of the happy home and/or the caring parents required in the formula. Therefore a fully equal educational environment would still not be completely fair and supporting for these children. One of the many roles of the nurturing family is to teach the child to believe and respect himself, to find their strengths and interests and pursue them. The state is responsible for all the citizens living within its borders and should therefore make sure that all children receive “education” in self-respect. In the cases of disadvantaged youth concerning orphaned children and children coming from troubled families the state needs to fill in the “educational” gap and make sure that every child discovers his talents and interests and has the opportunities to make the most of them. On this issue the state and non-profit organizations can unite efforts towards creating programs for teacher training and school counseling.
Currently functioning non-profit organizations in the United States and abroad like Orphaned Starfish Foundation (OSF), Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW), J. Luce Foundation, Afghan Child Education and Care Organization, and CharityHelp International (CHI) all agree that “education is the way out [of poverty]” (Andrew Stein, American Democratic politician). However, disadvantaged children are often deprived of capital assets, such as computers, textbooks and books, which may be another factor to stop them from fulfilling their potential. Investments in public computer labs and libraries should be a priority so as to give every child equal opportunities to learn and grow. In many countries orphaned children have little, if any, opportunity to obtain an education or training that would enable them to become independent, contributing members of their society, so providing even basic schools and work-oriented courses is a very important step towards integrating these children and giving them the opportunities every citizen of the world should have.
Disadvantaged youth also refers to students who have dropped out of high school and/or those who have not continued their education in a college or university. This is a huge problem in society, as the number of people who haven’t finished their secondary studies is increasing. This may turn out to be an economic disaster, as it will lead to lowering the quality of services and significantly slowing down technological and scientific growth. The share of jobs in the U.S. economy needing a college degree will increase to 63 percent in the next decade. This will require 22 million new employees with college degrees. At the current pace, the nation will fall at least 3 million college degrees short (A. Carnevale, N. Smith, and J. Strohl, Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Economic Requirements Through 2018 (Washington, DC: Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 2010). Globally, organizations like UNESCO are working to provide quality basic education. In their program Education for All they aim to achieve six set goals, one of which is Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes. On a personal level, a lack of education means lowered job opportunities, and even if the student manages to find a job, it will usually be less well paid in comparison to the job a university graduate is almost certain to have. For example, in the United States of America nearly 44 percent of dropouts under age 24 are jobless, and the unemployment rate of high school dropouts older than 25 is more than three times that of college graduates (United States Department of Labor, 2012). Furthermore, this creates more than just economic issues. The health of a typical high school dropout, by age 18, is similar to that of a more educated person in his 40s (College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, 2010). Moreover, disadvantaged youth in this case creates the risk of triggering a chain reaction, as if a drop-out doesn’t manage to find a good job and/or turns to crime, his children would most probably live in poverty and/or become orphaned or homeless, thus becoming disadvantaged as well and entering a vicious circle. Realizing the importance of increasing the continuity and quality of education Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senators Al Franken (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representative Dale Kildee have passed the Reengaging Americans In Serious Education by Uniting Programs (RAISE UP)Act which would provide pathways for disadvantaged youth to graduate from secondary school, attain a postsecondary credential, and secure family-supporting career by integrating essential, and often disparate, education, workforce, social services and supports.
However, in order to deal with the problem, one must understand its origins. The number of educational drop-outs is increasing possibly because there is no guarantee that once one finishes high-school or college one will get the job one has been studying for. This results in a lack of motivation. When the question is posed so that one has to choose between instant (low) income and possible (high but not guaranteed) income later, many choose the former option not realizing the long-term consequences of this short-term decision.
There are several approaches towards solving this problem. One way is for non-profit organizations working with big employers to create programs which could guarantee college graduates a well-paid job after graduation. For high-school drop-outs career-oriented training could be offered, so that everybody gets an equal opportunity of finding a wage-sustaining job. With combined efforts, the state and non-profit organizations through advertising campaigns can work towards making early drop-outs from education a taboo among youngsters. The state can also contribute to the solution, as it can increase the minimum age for quitting education or impose a percentage supplement to the wage of every student with a high-school diploma up until a certain age. Most important, however, are investments in teacher-training, as very often the teacher is the one creating attitudes towards education; a good teacher will be able to trigger the student’s interest and curiosity thus making a sudent continue his studies for his love of knowledge.
So what should be the role of the state and the non-government organizations in the process of teaching self-respect and love for knowledge? In many cases concerning disadvantaged youth the state is responsible for taking care of the children considered in this category, which means securing that they would receive from the government the things other children receive from their families. This means that the state must support their personal growth and development in all ways possible, as the “disadvantaged youth” should not be viewed as a burden to society but as future independent members of society and the key to future prosperity. Increasing the funding of state schools in order to improve the quality of education, the material base of the schools, the training of the teachers and the availability of counseling services for each student is one way the state can help disadvantaged children find out their interests and realize their potentials so as not to feel underestimated in any way by society. Advertising campaigns towards raising awareness and educating more people in understanding the potential of every child, disadvantaged or not, should help teachers in their efforts to achieve equality in the classroom and stop disadvantaged children from feeling inferior to their peers because of their background. Equality of opportunities needs to be achieved, so as to limit the importance of the family background in determining the future of the child. However, the state may not have all the funding to finance such an educational revolution. Non-profit organizations should work to provide the disadvantaged youth with what the state does not have the funding to provide. In some cases this could be better school material base (libraries and computers), in others it could be teacher-training, or career-oriented courses, or work placement for high-school or college graduates. In any case, the role of the state and the non-profit organizations cannot be limited to simply one definition – it has to evolve and change according to the needs of the society. But one thing should be kept in mind: as Richard Morgan, UNICEF’s senior adviser on the post-2015 development agenda, said “Children and young people are the makers of a future sustainable world and measures of their progress will also be the markers of that world.” This suggests viewing every child as a precious opportunity to make our world a better place to live.
This essay was awarded by the Gulen Intitute Youth Programme (http://www.gulenyouthplatform.org/) as one of the top 30 essay for 2014.