shooting an elephant
The stereotypes are well-known: people on welfare are described as lazy people who try to get a "free ride" from the government for as long as they can while irresponsibly having as many kids as possible and sitting around watching television. The truth, however, is much different. Most people on welfare do not want to be there, but instead find themselves stuck in a cycle with little chance of escape. Ultimately, there are three important reasons why people should not feel ashamed to be on welfare: lack of education, unavailability of sufficient child care, and scarcity of good jobs for people of modest backgrounds. For many people on public assistance, lack of education is a serious problem. In most low-income areas, there is not enough money available to secure the necessary resources necessary to meet the needs of the neighborhood students. Teachers do not get the same
Hence, they get very frustrateed, frequently taking out their frustrations on their children, leading to higher incidence of child abuse among lower class people. Couldn't spell, couldn't read, couldn't do arithmetic. In the grand scheme of things, having to be on welfare is not the worst thing in the world. Teachers were never interested in finding out that you couldn't concentrate because you were so hungry, because you hadn't had any breakfast. As a result, the students don't get the education they deserve. The only jobs they can get are the ones where the employers don't expect their employees to speak to well or be able to have an intelligent conversation. If education, child care, and a good job are the most important things to consider, it is clear why there are so many people who have no real choice but to stay on public assistance. As Gregory explains, "I'd been out hustling all day, shining shoes, selling newspapers, and I had googobs of money. Also, students in these schools must try to learn from old, outdated materials becuase the school district can't afford to buy the new ones that would make the education process more successful. The final example of the bad situation involved in being on welfare, is finding the good jobs that will allow him to get off the welfare rolls. They have to stay home and take care of their children instead of bringing in a paycheck. If people can't find child care for their children, they can't go out to their jobs. " Another problem that causes difficult situations for people on welfare is the lack of available child care. Even when they do find good child care, it is frequently so expensive that it costs more money then they would be able to make at the job that they would be able to get if they could find the child care in the first place.
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Dick Gregory,
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child care,
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public assistance,
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Acceptance Essays
