Tattered Clothes of Poverty Prove Costly in Classroom
SPECIAL REPORT * Thousands of children go to school in rags. The price
can be ridicule by classmates, behavioral problems and academic distress.
Some
children come to school in their pajamas, others show callused toes poking
through tattered sneakers. Two brothers alternated days in class because they
had only one pair of good pants between them.
Throughout
Los Angeles public schools, thousands of children struggle daily with a
humbling consequence of poverty: inadequate clothing.
At
a time when youths strive to keep up with social norms that say what you wear
is a statement about who you are, attending school in ragged clothes is often
embarrassing and can hinder learning, educators and children's advocates say.
The
worn-out, torn clothes on their backs is one visible sign of the poverty that
afflicts nearly three-quarters of Los Angeles Unified School District students,
who commonly come to school hungry and sick.
About
72% of the district's 711,000 students come from families living in poverty.
Although there are no records kept on how many children lack proper clothing,
officials estimate that at least half the students at the poorest schools wear
little more than rags or unwashed clothes because mom ran out of quarters at
the laundry.
The
magnitude of the problem is seen at places like Operation School Bell, a
Hollywood charitable group that outfits thousands of poor children a year with
new sets of clothes. It is seen every year when 5,000 to 7,000 children show up
for a "Back to School" shoe giveaway at the Fred Jordan Mission on
Skid Row. It is seen at schools like Morningside Elementary in San Fernando,
where teachers keep a stash of sweaters for students wearing tank tops during
recesses on cold mornings.
Although
millions of poor children nationwide lack adequate clothing, advocates say the
issue is overshadowed by the more urgent needs of hunger and health care, said
Julian Palmer, a spokesman for the National Center for Children in Poverty,
based in New York City.
"But,"
Palmer said, "millions of children are affected in painfully silent ways,
such as inadequate clothing, that diminish their quality of life and
opportunities."
Inadequate
clothing can be one part of a sad equation that leads children to skip school
and have behavioral and academic problems, experts say. It can hint at problems
at home, including neglect, loss of income by parents and a lack of food.
"Usually,
kids not having enough clothing is just the tip of the iceberg," said
Hector Madrigal, LAUSD's director of pupil services and attendance. "A
lack of clothing is like a student that is crying for help."
Because
13-year-old Alvaro Perez's parents cannot afford to buy him a new sweater or
shoes, he shivers in class on cold days. When it rains, he sometimes misses
school because his shoes have holes.
The
shy, thin boy who lives in a tough Canoga Park neighborhood said he hates
missing school and wants to be a lawyer when he grows up.
"I
want to do something good with myself," said Alvaro, who attends Parkman
Middle School in Woodland Hills. "I want to help my mother. I don't want
to be in a gang. I try to study, but it's hard because I don't fit in. They
make fun of my clothes."
His
parents struggle with five children, ages 5 to 13. Sometimes they can afford
only tortillas for dinner. Family members take turns sleeping on the bed and
the floor while using old curtains for blankets.
His
mother, Candida Vasquez, wishes she could buy her children new clothes and
shoes--especially shoes. Her children wear them out quickly. Without a car,
they walk to school and the market along unpaved roads and across vacant lots.
Once
she saved $5 and bought a pair of shoes for Alvaro, not realizing they were
girls' shoes. His classmates laughed at him. Alvaro's used clothing and hand-me-downs
call attention to his poverty, too: high-water pants, a tattered blue sweater
left over from elementary school.
At
Van Nuys High School, Sara Carrasco, a school liaison between teachers and
parents, often hears about students who want to stay home because of their
clothes--not because they don't have garments with designer labels but because
they simply lack more than one shirt or one pair of pants.
"A
parent told me [recently] that her son doesn't want to come to school anymore
because he only has one pair of pants and one shirt," Carrasco said.
"He's embarrassed. His classmates were teasing him."
The
boy's mother turned to charity, finding a jacket, three pairs of pants and some
T-shirts from the school's collection of donated clothes or unclaimed items in
a lost-and-found box.
Many
schools in Los Angeles Unified have similar stashes. On cold days at
Morningside Elementary School in San Fernando, Veronica Sosa, a parent
volunteer, regularly scans the playground and summons children who are running
around in thin or torn shirts.
Sosa
gives them sweaters and makes sure that they put the sweaters on. "We see
a lot of bad clothes," she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment