Our Kids Analysis

Improved Essays
The overall theme of the book, Our Kids, by Robert Putnam was how the access to upward mobility has changed for low income and many students in this generation. Putnam does this by using several examples starting with his childhood. I think he has a very valid point, although many have made it out of poverty into successful careers, there are many that have not and have no idea how to make a change. The world was very different back in the 1950 when Putnam grew up and we have since lost that overall sense of community that was so important very present in those days. Although there were major problems present for that generation, the student of the newer generations are dealing with a different world. Long gone are the times when the rich …show more content…
With these students experiencing very different worlds and opportunities, it helps to make the statement of the chapter Whom You go to School with Matters, a very valid argument, because as we saw from the environments of the different families, some have access to help and some don 't. If there is a mix of "the have and the have nots," then the have nots get a chance to see what the world could be for them and the have gets to see the humble side of living and hard work without handouts. Even if there is some way to give all students equal opportunity to succeed then Putnams statement “The American public educational system was created to give all kids, regardless of their family origins, a chance to improve their lot in life,” (Putnam, 2015) will reign true. Although the educational system was created for the purpose he mentioned, it is failing a large population of students. The main reason most students attend school is for social interactions, which happens a lot in extra curricular activities. According to the book, students who are not low income sometimes have access to the millions of dollars donated to the schools by affluent parents for extra curricular activities. However, for low income schools this is an area highly

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    The author Rana Foroohar wrote the article “What Ever Happened to Upward Mobility?” which was published in the New York Times on November 14, 2011. This article can be divided into seven sections. In the introduction, the author states how hard it is for Americans to climb the ladder of success. In the second section, the author explains that America is no longer the leading country of opportunity.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first example the article presents was how some schools would often “push-out” some of the troubled students (3). The author tells one such example of Sarah Miller, while in high school Sarah would often skipped classes to go out with her friends, but when the time came to buckle down and work on improving her grades, the school was reluctant to help her and instead offered her to quit school. The article then illustrates the effect low income families can have on a child’s education. The second example that Thornburgh presents, how some students often feel isolated or misplaced in the high school environment, often causing them to drop out. He called these cases “The restless ones” (4).…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Being successful in the United States today appears to be one of the most—if not the most—daunting tasks for American youth. High school students today face an immense amount of pressure from parents, faculty, and themselves to be involved in and excel in everything, including sports, academics, and clubs. David Brooks, however, believes that some children can achieve this daunting task more easily. Brooks, in his Op-Ed “How We Are Ruining America”, uses logos, personal anecdotes, and hyperbole to add depth to his argument and successfully prove his point that the children of affluent parents are systematically and unfairly advantaged when compared to the children of low-income families, and that this advantage is maintained through structural and cultural class barriers.…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gary J. Matus Analysis

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis: For my Digital Video Story, I had the opportunity to interview Gary J. Matus. Throughout, our interview and conversation we spoke about certain issues that are heavily present in the lives of many youths. Specifically, those individuals that come from a low social economic background and the problems that can sprout from living in a low social economical life. Kids that grow within poverty or who have financial complications are often held back due to the problems that can rise as a result of being financially unstable.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    American Dream In Crisis

    • 1902 Words
    • 8 Pages

    AP Government Book Assignment By Tristan P. Myers “Our Kids, The American Dream In Crisis” By Robert D. Putnam “Our Kids, The American Dream in Crisis,” is an interesting piece of text that compares past and present day life stories of multiple teenage children along with their families’ outlooks of the American Dream. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, author Robert D. Putnam provides an analysis that we could all relate to. Robert D. Putnam immediately informs the reader the prime reason for writing this book. Putnam writes, “...in modern America one barrier would loom much larger than it did back then: class origins.…

    • 1902 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For the past several weeks we have been reading memoirs on multiple sources, ranging from the hills of the Appalachian Mountains, to the streets of Chicago. Both of these places come off not only as different in geography but in lifestyle as well. They also share similarities in some instances. In Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, and Our America by LeAlan Jones, and Lloyd Newman, both stories share similarities in the fact that the people in these stories are restricted by the environment in which they are raised in, but also stricken by poverty which is responsible for the frustrations and hardships in life they face, and the path which was paved for their life. Our America focuses on two boys living on the southside of Chicago,…

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The second chapter of Our Kids: The American Dream In Crisis, written by Robert D. Putnam, talks about how families affect people’s future lives. Although family affects the outcomes of people’s lives, class is also greatly influences the family factor. Regarding the influence of family experiences on people’s future lives, it seemed that the enhanced close-knit families allow for a grander success in life. Andrew was raised in a very caring environment where his family ate dinner together at night, and they talked to each other in order to keep up to date on what goes on in each other’s lives. Andrew’s parents’, Earl and Patty, live their world revolving around their kids in hopes of giving their children the right amount of attention…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his final chapter of Our Kids, Robert Putnam poses the following question: “But why should the opportunity gap matter for those of us on its lucky side?” It turns out, the lack of success of the poor, young Americans has vast implications on the countries overall health, especially in regards to our economy and democracy, as well as our morals. In underinvesting in the poorer kids, we are wasting a large fraction of our “opportunity costs.” Due to globalization and the innovations in technology, less educated individuals are in less of a demand, so we have masses of unemployed, illiterate citizens, who tend to increase crime rates and health expenditures. In result, these people not only fail to contribute to the national economy, but become…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After reading, “It’s Hard to Make it in America: How the United States Stopped Being the Land of Opportunity” by Lane Kenworthy, I realized that people from lower income families don’t have the same chances that people from higher income families have. I think that this is worth the read because it shows things from the lower income families point of view. That side is not usually seen because it isn’t good to publicize the poor and the weak in a country, so instead they only show how successful the higher income people are , and try to forget about the lower income families who are trying to survive too. Overall my impression of the article was that it was very well written and compelling. I think that it will really make some of the people with better opportunity maybe doublethink and be more understanding towards…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Your opinion doesn’t matter, you’re just a kid. Everyone, I don 't care who you are, or what point in history you 're from, everyone has heard this at least once. I know I have, and so has Jason, a boy out of the mind of Pamela Joern in the short story, Don’t Call Me Kid. Jason has been dreading to see his father, if fact hes been thinking of how hes going to tell him off when he arrives Friday afternoon but for some reason, Jason doesn 't. They start there journey to Nebraska, miles of nothing to go on a buffalo hunt in the middle of nowhere. Along the way they bicker like two brothers that dont get along and it reminds me of the relationship i had with my dad at a point in our lives.…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is obvious not all schools have the same students, but not everyone has the same economic status…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Our society implements from a young age the importance of receiving an education. It is almost impossible today to get a job with (at a very minimum) without a high school education. To get a good paying job, one must have a college degree, and because there is such tough competition, even that is not a guarantee. In addition, parent’s responsibilities have been extended not only up until their children are not only minors, but up until college, and are expected to provide financially for their education. As in early America, people are respected by not by where they come from, but by what they have achieved with hard work and determination.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    People think of education as a way in which people can move up and down the social class hierarchy. A School in a Garden, by Mitchell L. Stevens, talks about the advantages that are still present to the more well off families. Parents with more money do everything they can to make their kids the best applicant possible. With there resources parents will try to make their child as diverse as possible. Stevens talks about how the parents will make their kids try sports, let them perform in the arts, take field trips for humanitarian services, all to help mold their kid into the best applicant possible.…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Equal Opportunity Synthesis Essay Everyone strives for success. From the big achievements, like being a millionaire or making something of themselves, to the small achievements, like getting out of bed in the morning or working out. Regardless of the size of the achievement, everyone strives for something and they should have that opportunity to do so. However, the chances to get these opportunities aren’t equal for everyone.…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    There is a clear connection between family’s socioeconomic status and students’ academic goals. Aside from the outside contributors to students’ academic performance how can educators in the classrooms meet the needs of students?…

    • 2302 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays