Chapter 4: What Social Problems Affect Today’s Students? Notes

Chapter 4 delves into the types of social problems teachers might face in their students. Whether they show it or not, the chapter claims that each student comes with their own personal scars. Chapter 3 talked about the educational diversity that some students face. This chapter talks more about the social diversity: student’s backgrounds, home life, and relationships.  Teachers must be trained in recognizing the risk factors that each of their students are exposed to. Problems that students may face can be poverty, homelessness, child abuse, alcohol use, drug us, teenage parenting, STDs, suicide, violence, cheating, and dropping out of school. Students who face these types of problems are called at-risk students. They are called at-risk students because they may have a difficult time in getting a sufficient education to succeed. However, not all students that face such problems fail as some of them overcome adversity and succeed. Society has faced numerous changes, so many changes that there is no longer the idea of a typical family. Single parents and blended families rather than neutral families are more common. Families go through divorce, and in some cases, this can impact a child's ability to do well in school as they are more concerned about their home life than school life. Single parent families tend to have a lower income and may not have the means to support their family the way they would like to. These types of problems also affect students. The changes in the typical family structure may also impact a teacher's ability to keep both parents informed on their child's progress. The chapter also claims that children with neutral, two parent families can also have problems. Because of the problems that children face with the fact that they have single, divorced, or married parents, teachers are finding it difficult to come in contact with them. Parents are becoming less involved with their child's education. Another major issue that students face is poverty and homelessness. Because of the changing job market many parents are finding it difficult to hold steady year round jobs to support their children. Because of this, they are faced with the threat of homelessness.  A statistic that the chapter presents is that approximately 1.3 million children in the United States are homeless at some point each year. This causes the child to be faced with many obstacles including transportation. The job market is not the only thing that forces families or especially children to become homeless. Children who have been abused may run away leaving them with no means of support. The chapter advises that should an educator encounter a homeless student in their class, they should provide understanding and support. This may provide the student with hope at such a crucial point in their life. Students are also faced with the rising problem of teenage parenting. 80% of teenage mothers are unmarried, which leaves them more vulnerable to poverty, the chapter states. These teenage mothers have to juggle their home and school lives, which leads to a decline in the interest in school. Teachers are advised to be open minded about teenage pregnancies and not judge as they are also advised to take precautions to ensure they get a quality education. To try and inform students about the implications of teenage pregnancy, many schools are trying to implement sexual education classes. However, these are faced with extreme controversy as some believe that sex education is a parent's job rather than a teacher's. The sex education that students receive is aimed to inform them about the risks of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Another type of at-risk student are abused and neglected children. Neglect and abuse can take an emotional and physical toll on a student's development. As a result, teachers are responsible for reporting suspected cases of child abuse. An abused student is more likely to be withdrawn and lose sight of his or her goals and interest in school. Whether its homelessness, poverty, teenage pregnancy, or abuse, some students turn to alcohol and drugs to try to ease the stress they go through. They are trying to find a way to cope. Alcohol is the most commonly used substance. Students as young as 12 are beginning to experiment with alcohol. Should a teacher encounter one of their students experimenting with these substances, they are advised to direct the student to the school counselor as they are trained to deal with those types of issues. Another social issue that students and teachers alike may face is teenage suicide. It is the third leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States. Another statistic that the chapter presents is that one in twelve high school student’s attempts suicide. Family violence, mental illness, unemployment, substance abuse and stress are all factors that contribute to teenage suicide. Students may also face problems with gangs, and more importantly bullying. With technology on the rise, a new form of bullying, cyber bullying, is a growing concern among education professionals. Cyber bullying allows a student to threaten or emotionally impact another student through social media, texting and email. It is becoming a growing problem and schools are taking actions to raise awareness. These patterns of in person and cyber bullying can lead to violence among students. As a result, schools are also taking steps to reduce school violence by implementing zero tolerance policies and creating alternative schools for students with a history of violence. Other precautions are the requirement that students wear uniforms and having law enforcement on campus. There is also the problem of cheating that many teachers see in their students. Text messaging answers and internet plagiarism are among the growing opportunities that students use for teaching. The chapter outlines ways that teachers can prevent cheating. They include: Not giving the same test over and over, separating students during tests, stressing that cheating is unacceptable, establishing an honor system, sighing a pledge that they have not received unauthorized help on assignments, forbidding electronic devices in the classroom, and instituting character education programs. All of the social problems listed above lead to significant drop out rates in high school students. A dislike of school and alienation from peers also leads to students dropping out. Teachers are advised to discourage students from dropping out by showing an interest and encouraging them to succeed. Knowing how students feel and think can improve their attitudes about school and their work habits.