* A landmark study

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(Originally posted 07/08/15.  Reblogged 10/10/24.)

Stress in low-income families can affect children’s learning

I am very excited about this.

This is, as far as I know, the first study to attempt to measure the degree of chaos in the home.

The researchers in an earlier-mentioned study (Related:  Poor children have smaller brains) speculated that “poor families tend to live more chaotic lives, and that stress could inhibit healthy brain development.”  The current study seems to indicate that it is directly so.

As of this writing, my hypothesis has become as follows:  the chaos of a growing child’s environment causes comparatively more resources to be devoted to the limbic system and less to the cerebral cortex, resulting in a body with reduced capacity to learn.

Related:  A MUST-READ CONCERNING JUSTICE AND POVERTY
Related: Chaos overwhelms the poor

* Quotation from Michael Eric Dyson

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Some time ago, a Facebook friend shared a Baltimore Sun op-ed by Richard Rowe, “A recommendation for Baltimore’s white liberal establishment.”  In it, Rowe quotes the below passage from a New York Times op-ed by Michael Eric Dyson, “Death in black and white.”  Dyson alleges many things here, and his statement deserves examination from various angles.  I anticipate referring to this quotation several times in the near future.

Continue reading * Quotation from Michael Eric Dyson →

* Risk and faith

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12:30 Wednesday 2016-10-05

A learning opportunity that may seem trivial.

I’ve been pondering a lot lately why people, myself included, balk at owning their personal power.  It has seemed to me that a major factor is fear of disappointment:  owning personal power means a duty to take initiatives, to act on arbitrary decisions, and face the risk that what one hoped for may not obtain.

Yesterday morning when I turned my phone on, there were three voice mails, one from my invalid oldest brother and two from prospective employers wanting to set interviews.  Given the way things are for me on Tuesdays, I was unable to return any of the calls.  I wanted to do so today.

Continue reading * Risk and faith →

* Resentment and hope

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Three incidents from Sunday 09/18:

(1) I caught the racial vibe as soon as she came in the room.

(2) In the middle of worship, I looked at my situation.  I needed to touch base sometime during the service with _____, _____ and _____, any of whom might give me cash; for smokes, bus fare and candy.  I also needed to touch base sometime during worship with each of three other people ISO a ride “home.”  My petty, material, selfish neediness so preoccupied me, I couldn’t get into the spirit of worship at all.  This did not feel good.

(3) At the shelter, in the shower, for a washcloth they gave me a strip of fabric that had been torn from a towel, two inches wide and six inches long.  That was to be my washcloth.

I responded as follows.

Continue reading * Resentment and hope →

* Chaos overwhelms the poor

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(Originally posted 08/06/14. Reblogged 08/15/24.)

Some weeks ago, I stood in line awaiting check-in at the shelter. This place charges $3 a night. I was holding my money in my hand, and someone playfully tugged at it. I snapped. I said, “You don’t value your life much, do you?”

Minutes later, I explained this to someone else. I said, “Don’t take a man’s last dollar.” “Why not?” he asked. I said, ” ‘Cause that’s the one he’ll die for. That’s the one he’ll kill for.”

Don’t take my last dollar. That’s the one I’ll kill for.

I’ve been on hard times since 2004. If I lose, or am robbed or cheated, of $20 or $50, that’s a pretty significant amount. But it doesn’t hurt all that much if I have more, and know more is coming. However, if I lose, or someone robs or cheats me of my last $1 — that’s the one that really hurts. That’s the one I’ll kill for.

These memories came to me as I reflected on Maggie Fox’s 08/29/2013 article, “Poor people aren’t stupid; bad decisions are from being overwhelmed, study finds.”
Continue reading * Chaos overwhelms the poor →