Two of the biggest challenges I faced while doing my service work was dealing with some of the children’s attitudes and their resistance to doing homework. I am sure children are all the same and majority of them do not have enough energy that they desire to put into focusing on homework, but it was extremely difficult to get some of the children to really do their homework. Additionally, given that their personalities are developing in the culturally diverse borough of the Bronx, some of the kids also had very unnecessary attitudes. Interestingly enough, however, the child that made the biggest impression on me was one who gave me the most attitude. One Thursday, almost all of the children had finished their homework as it was definitely after
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While working at the Concourse House, as stated previously, I noticed how sub-par their education was; it is not that the children themselves are incapable of understanding the material, but they are not learning what they should be for children their age. In a class discussion with one of my peers, I said how I tried to compare our education here at Manhattan College to the education that these unfortunate children are receiving; granted we are at a higher level, but it saddened me to think that they will probably never have the chance to come here. It is not that I am being pessimistic, but instead realistic. As we have read numerous articles about, the cycle of living in the South Bronx or in impoverished ghettos is never-ending; boys and girls alike struggle in school, wind up on the streets selling drugs, and wind up in jail. The largest obstacle that all impoverished people face is the environment they live in; it is a trap. Every single day they see their neighbors, all in the same living situation, and they do not become motivated by this; they do not have anything pushing them, except possibly themselves, to want to do better for not only themselves but also their families. Living in conditions such as these does not benefit any human being; it is the individual who needs to experience better living and make it a dream that they want to come
While working at the Concourse House, as stated previously, I noticed how sub-par their education was; it is not that the children themselves are incapable of understanding the material, but they are not learning what they should be for children their age. In a class discussion with one of my peers, I said how I tried to compare our education here at Manhattan College to the education that these unfortunate children are receiving; granted we are at a higher level, but it saddened me to think that they will probably never have the chance to come here. It is not that I am being pessimistic, but instead realistic. As we have read numerous articles about, the cycle of living in the South Bronx or in impoverished ghettos is never-ending; boys and girls alike struggle in school, wind up on the streets selling drugs, and wind up in jail. The largest obstacle that all impoverished people face is the environment they live in; it is a trap. Every single day they see their neighbors, all in the same living situation, and they do not become motivated by this; they do not have anything pushing them, except possibly themselves, to want to do better for not only themselves but also their families. Living in conditions such as these does not benefit any human being; it is the individual who needs to experience better living and make it a dream that they want to come