Fintan O'Toole is rightly angry about child poverty in Ireland in today's Irish Times.
I agree with most of what he says but he doesn't address what is probably the biggest factor; the parents of those children. There is no financial excuse for a child to be hungry. There is no financial excuse for them not to be clean and, most of all, there is no financial excuse for them not to be in school. The solution to poverty is education and facilities and resources for children in socially deprived areas have improved out of all recognition over the last 20 years (and rightly so). There is still more that could be done but the point is that educational outcomes have not improved by a corresponding amount. That is not the fault of teachers or the government or the state or the "right wingers" as Mr. O'Toole deridingly calls those who disagree with him.
There is no amount of money that will overcome the damaging influence of parents who just don't care about their children's education and therefore their children's future. The section of society who teaches their children to give up before they start, to screw the system, to not respect the Gardaí or their teachers or to obey the law.
They are the malevolent influence, they are the block, they are the root cause of childhood poverty and, most damaging of all, they are the ones who make it harder for other parents from the same areas who want their children to succeed in life.
Success does not mean money or wealth, it means being fulfilled and productive members of society.
I agree with most of what he says but he doesn't address what is probably the biggest factor; the parents of those children. There is no financial excuse for a child to be hungry. There is no financial excuse for them not to be clean and, most of all, there is no financial excuse for them not to be in school. The solution to poverty is education and facilities and resources for children in socially deprived areas have improved out of all recognition over the last 20 years (and rightly so). There is still more that could be done but the point is that educational outcomes have not improved by a corresponding amount. That is not the fault of teachers or the government or the state or the "right wingers" as Mr. O'Toole deridingly calls those who disagree with him.
There is no amount of money that will overcome the damaging influence of parents who just don't care about their children's education and therefore their children's future. The section of society who teaches their children to give up before they start, to screw the system, to not respect the Gardaí or their teachers or to obey the law.
They are the malevolent influence, they are the block, they are the root cause of childhood poverty and, most damaging of all, they are the ones who make it harder for other parents from the same areas who want their children to succeed in life.
Success does not mean money or wealth, it means being fulfilled and productive members of society.