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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Poster from the huge family in the Deep South again. 
Was thinking about the points raised about the varying degrees of poverty and education as a way out. 
One of my college roommates was the product of an affair (her mom had sex with a man in the neighborhood who promised to help take care of her other kids). Her mom was an illiterate, single mom who grew up sharecropping as a child.
She worked as a maid to make ends meet. The family had no power or running water. My friend remembers stealing water from the neighbors when they left for work. The kids would snag the garden hose and fill up the sink. They often went to bed hungry and cold. The man down the street never fulfilled his promise to help feed the kids and didn't acknowledge her as his daughter until he was on her deathbed. By then, my friend, who later taught her mother to read, put herself through undergrad, law school, and was working in the state AG's office let him know exactly where he was heading when he died.
For all of us, my friend, me, my DH (whose mother slept outside of the city's sole public school for gifted kids to make sure his name was first on the list for slots), education was critical. So was having parents who cared and fought for education and well being. We also had members of the community who took an interest and cared. That's not to say that always works or it's a magic solution. A childhood friend who also grew up poor had a brother who was smart and good hearted. He was shot to death at 16 when he tried to stop another neighbor from beating his wife and kids. 
We were all the lucky ones who people looked out for and who made it out.[/quote]

I was the first person in my family to graduate high school in the '90s. I went to college on full scholarship and then graduate school. I worked jobs and lived on $5 a week for food during my undergraduate days. I feel like it is getting tougher for education to be the ticket out for people. I find it heartbreaking that opportunity is getting harder and harder to grasp onto for poor kids. [/quote]

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