topic--Chan

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In what ways does the economical state of one's family effect a teen's performance in their school life, social life, and home life? ----Does low income in a teen's family leave that person more prone to experimentation in drugs, alcohol, sexual activity? Does low income effect their educational performance, even resulting in drop outs? Do parents who work a lot and have high incomes effect the teen's interrelationships negatively due to them not being around? Are they prone to experimentation with sex, drugs, and alcohol more because their parents aren't around to regulate and monitor? How are expectations in the teen varied within the different families who have opposite economic statuses?  
I selected this topic because a parent rather good or bad, plays an enormous role in a teen's life. The parent holds the responsibility of being the adult in housing and financial issues and if the financial aspect is not great it weighs on the shoulders of the parent(s) who takes that stress out on the kids. They may also turn all their energy to financial situations overlooking their child who needs parental guidance. With no parental guidance a teen has that "liberating" and "independent" freedom to make their own decision which isn't always good as evident in the novels we have read.   
I plan to use articles and research through JSTOR and the books that relate to the socioeconomics of life is Diary of a Part Time Indian, Crank, House on Mango, Speak, All the Bright Places to name some. The characters deal with social issues that connect back to what is happening at home. 
An issue that might arise is the regional differences throughout America and how one region is completely different from the next and also the educational schooling of an urban area compared to a more prestige rural school. The money aspect of how schools deal with privileged compared to non-privileged teens.  

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 27, 2017 at 8:16 AM

    This is an interesting topic. When graduating I would love to continue to work in Title 1 schools. A lot of those students are considered to be living in "poverty" but a vase majority of them are some of the brightest kids I know! I would love for them to grow up and know that they do have opportunities if they want available for them to continue their education beyond their high school career.

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  2. UnknownNovember 27, 2017 at 8:18 AM

    I think this topic is a really interesting one that doesn't get talked about a lot. In every single TV show teens live in really unrealistically big, overly organized houses. Even when a character on a show isn't meant to be "rich" they're house is automatically middle class. Sometimes these teens live in really high cost of living areas too which means a "middle class house" might be a half a million dollar house! One example of this is the show The Fosters. I've watched The Fosters since the beginning and I love what the show brings to the table in terms of feminism, LGBTQ representation, and adoption. The family is meant to live in a realistically sized house for a family with 5 kids. Two pairs of kids share bedrooms and they all share 1 bathroom. However, this family lives in California and a house that size would be millions! Meanwhile the parents are a cop and a VP of a charter school. I also think that books and shows, when they do represent poverty, they do it in a stereotypical way in which the whole book/show centers on the topic.

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