Sunday, March 21, 2010

I am hungry, broke and under 18.

I hear it on the news everyday; people are in debt and this economy is putting people in hard times. However, who is getting put through these hard times? In 2007, according to The University of Michigan’s poverty center, nineteen percent of children were living in poverty. Those were the statistics when the economy was so called good. The statistics for today must be through the roof of children impoverished.

The fact of the matter is, children in this country are going without food, an education, opportunities and safety because the majority of adults in our country can not live within their means. Due to extreme amounts of credit card debt, houses are going under foreclosure and directly affecting the percent of those living under what they need to get by. How did this all happen? The government had a lot to do with it, and selfish people had the second hand in it.

Living in poverty most often puts pressure on kids to provide for themselves, families, or siblings in one way or another. Understandably children get desperate and turn to means of violence, or stealing just to put minimal food on the table. These conditions are nasty, unfair and jeopardize the futures of millions of poor kids.

I suggest instead of heath plans, or bills that will just plummet this country further into deficits, we as a country invest time and love into these communities and lives. The government money spent will have to be paid off by the very generations that are already drowning in desperation themselves. If we could give time, and donate love, energy and inspiration in the areas that need it most I believe the country would grow economically, and morally. Time spent by influential people in the community centers actually influencing the young minds of America would be a pay off on both sides.

I am actually sitting on my couch right now and ABC has a new show called “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution”. Here is a man who believes passionately about the health of the world. He has already transformed Britain’s’ food industry and he has come to help America learn. If we had more citizens in America devoted to positively influencing the poverty rates through direct action, maybe we would not be as deep in this situation as we are. Instead the majority of people in the United States sits and complains instead of doing, myself included. We all blame others for why there are poor children, and adults struggling through the day. We push the responsibility of the issue onto government and the victims themselves.

The government needs to pass a community bill. The government needs to inspire community service. The government needs to lead in direct action. The government needs to believe in the students who are struggling. The government needs to do something. The citizens need to do something. We as a community of America need to do something; put forth energy and love into the well being of those who share our home instead of worrying about foreign third world countries. We need to help our family before we can help our neighbors.

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