Unofficial Renderings of the Less Fortunate

Poverty is an issue many people across the globe see every day, but few know or realize the threat it poses to humans across our city, state, nation, and world. The majority of the U.S. population lives a healthy life above the poverty line, which most take for granted. For these people that never experience a night without a hot meal, bed, or housing a poverty simulation is an eye-opener to the reality of the poverty stricken population.

Actions/Decisions: In the simulation I was a nine year old boy living with my single father, single sister, and one year old nephew. I was a healthy kid, but I did have asthma. My dad had a full time job, my sister took classes full time at the local college, I went to school full time, my nephew went to day care each day, and we shared one car. During the month long simulation each one of us made different decisions in living our daily lives. As the nine year old child, I came home and sat around after school. My father was always working or running errands. My sister was always attending courses, studying, or taking care of her son. This left me very bored. As I was sitting in the simulation, I started seeing things that interested me like money laying around or items I could steal such as TV’s and jewelry. At one point, I thought about stealing so my family would have more money. If I was truly poverty stricken, I definitely would have stolen the money. This immediately led me to the fact that poverty stricken children have a much higher risk of getting in trouble.

Individual/Family Impact: The impact of parental neglect and external negative influences is detrimental to the individual and the poverty stricken family. Without a mother and no attention from a father figure, how was I supposed to grow up? Who was I to depend on when times were rough? The neglect would lead me to the street and possibly gang membership to feel companionship and camaraderie. Loitering the street would eventually lead to thievery or involvement in other illegal activities such as drugs, gangs, etc. Gang involvement, robbery, and drug trafficking have a negative effect on poverty stricken families because it creates an