Curtis Smith
Deborah Lee, Robin Latham
English 111, Section 7
12 November 2017 Cause and Effect Analysis of:
The Other Wes Moore
The smallest choices individuals make every day ultimately lead them to larger choices that can affect their lives in a systemic chain-like reaction. When appropriate choices are made, such as obeying laws and getting college degrees, a positive future is the product. In the novel, The Other Wes Moore, Wes is placed in a bad environment where he has to make inadequate decisions in order to procure money for himself. When an individual is placed in a poor environment and given limited options to obtain finances, crime is often used as a means to earn money. The individual will often choose crime because there are …show more content…
In the novel, The Other Wes Moore, Wes is asking a local boy who is wearing a music playing headset how to obtain such an item. The boy explains to Wes that he may have a headset free of charge if he only would speak into it when the police drive by. Wes knew this was part of an illegal drug game but he procured a listening device anyway. Wes soon learned that he could make money in this business by transporting drugs in his backpack like the older children so often did. This marks a severely important crossroad for young Wes. Wes could have made the choice not to engage in minor criminal activities to procure a headset, however, because he chose to do so he was placed on the path of increasing acts of crime and even poorer choices. This is where Wes learned he could make money transporting drugs and money is what fueled Wes to continue down this …show more content…
If he were placed in a different neighborhood that provided opportunities and the social norms of being successful in school he would not have been set upon his path of self-destruction. In the research article entitled Elevated Risk of Incarceration Among Street-Involved Youth Who Initiate Drug Dealing, it states that street-involved youth are known to be economically vulnerable (Hoy). Wes was from a poor home in a poor neighborhood. His mother did not have much money and the only extra spending money available to him was her spare change in which he stole from her without her knowledge. According to the At-Risk Youth Study, performed from 2005 to 2014, 1172 street-involved children of low socioeconomic status were evaluated (Hoy). Twenty-nine percent of those students admitted to subsequently initiating dealing illegal drugs (Hoy). Drug dealing leads an individual in to incarceration and this is what happened to Wes. Because these adolescents live in areas that do not provide opportunities or adequate income they initiate drug dealing to procure
Deborah Lee, Robin Latham
English 111, Section 7
12 November 2017 Cause and Effect Analysis of:
The Other Wes Moore
The smallest choices individuals make every day ultimately lead them to larger choices that can affect their lives in a systemic chain-like reaction. When appropriate choices are made, such as obeying laws and getting college degrees, a positive future is the product. In the novel, The Other Wes Moore, Wes is placed in a bad environment where he has to make inadequate decisions in order to procure money for himself. When an individual is placed in a poor environment and given limited options to obtain finances, crime is often used as a means to earn money. The individual will often choose crime because there are …show more content…
In the novel, The Other Wes Moore, Wes is asking a local boy who is wearing a music playing headset how to obtain such an item. The boy explains to Wes that he may have a headset free of charge if he only would speak into it when the police drive by. Wes knew this was part of an illegal drug game but he procured a listening device anyway. Wes soon learned that he could make money in this business by transporting drugs in his backpack like the older children so often did. This marks a severely important crossroad for young Wes. Wes could have made the choice not to engage in minor criminal activities to procure a headset, however, because he chose to do so he was placed on the path of increasing acts of crime and even poorer choices. This is where Wes learned he could make money transporting drugs and money is what fueled Wes to continue down this …show more content…
If he were placed in a different neighborhood that provided opportunities and the social norms of being successful in school he would not have been set upon his path of self-destruction. In the research article entitled Elevated Risk of Incarceration Among Street-Involved Youth Who Initiate Drug Dealing, it states that street-involved youth are known to be economically vulnerable (Hoy). Wes was from a poor home in a poor neighborhood. His mother did not have much money and the only extra spending money available to him was her spare change in which he stole from her without her knowledge. According to the At-Risk Youth Study, performed from 2005 to 2014, 1172 street-involved children of low socioeconomic status were evaluated (Hoy). Twenty-nine percent of those students admitted to subsequently initiating dealing illegal drugs (Hoy). Drug dealing leads an individual in to incarceration and this is what happened to Wes. Because these adolescents live in areas that do not provide opportunities or adequate income they initiate drug dealing to procure