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Our Kids: The American Crisis

Chapter one of the book is titled the American dream: myths and realities. It explains the

social and economic history of the United States and its relationship to the socioeconomic

barriers in America. It utilizes real-life examples of such barriers, and the author illustrates the

phenomena from the perspective of his hometown of Port Clinton. The section contends that

most historians accept that the 1950s had opportunities for children born in lower echelons had

abundant opportunities to climb the socioeconomic ladder due to education expansion and

increased civic engagement. The period also experienced a decrease in income inequality, class

segregation in the neighborhood and, therefore, to some degree, mirrored the American dream.

The author gives an example of how two children Jesse and Chery who had scholarships,

obtained graduate degrees, entered the field of public education, and had successful careers. He

asserts that the class difference in his hometown was not significant as children of manual

workers and professionals mixed unselfconsciously in schools and neighborhoods. However,

certain factors negatively affected the achievement of personal goals. For instance, he explains

how gender played a prominent role in affecting who completed college. Most women dropped

of college to get married. The author asserts that equality of income and wealth is determined by

the equality of opportunity and social mobility.

Chapter two of the book talks about how families have impacted American Kids.

Principally, the book explains how the American families traditionally consisted a breadwinner
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dad, and a homemaker man. In the period before the 1970s, divorce was uncommon, and most of

the birth by children was in marriage due to a strong norm against wedlock children. The family

had several other characteristics, including patriarchal division of labor. However, the situation

began to change in the 1970s where there was an increase in the number of divorces with the

family structure. Several factors have been cited as the cause of diminishing family structure and

values, including the detachment between sex and marriage due to an increase in birth control.

Additionally, other factors, including the feminist revolution, changed the outlook of gender and

marital norm. The changes in the family tradition affected the black community the hardest and

reduced the economic security of young working-class men. Principally college-educated women

have a male breadwinner in the household and, therefore, increase the disparity in the number of

available financial resources for child rearing. Disparities between families relate to other factors

such as race, residential segregation, community strength, and economic hardship.

The third chapter of the book speaks of the relationship between parenting and kids

growth and development. The chapter uses Atalanta city, where the difference between the rich

and poor manifests in parenting. For instance, the author explains how in Atalanta, the difference

between the rich and the poor goes beyond race, and there is a disparity between the black upper

class and middle class and the poor. Parenting has a significant role in the cognitive and socio-

emotional development of children and the absence of parents has disadvantaged poor kids. For

children to have a healthy development, children need the consistent care of an adult. Adults help

in ensuring cognitive stimulations and optimal learning of the children. Children who listen and

talk to the parents are more likely to develop advanced language skills as the brain develops as a

social organ. Children who experience severe or chronic stress during their development are

more likely to find it challenging to develop their language skills and have impaired executive
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functioning. The result is that they have difficulty solving problems and coping with adversity.

Therefore, poverty may contribute to the children's growth physiology since it may affect

emotional regulation and stress level.

The education system is geared towards ensuring that every child has a chance to

improve his or her regardless of family origins. Chapter four of the book explains how the

education system has been expanded to ensure the fulfillment of the core objective over the

years. Such reforms and movements include the Common School Movement of the 1849s,

whose result was near-universal free public elementary education. In the 1910s, another

movement, the Comprehensive High School movement, led to near Universal Secondary

Education. Other movements such as the Land-Grant College movement and the G.I. Bill of the

1940s were geared towards ensuring mass higher education in America. The author explains that

the goals of such movements were beyond ensuring equal opportunities for the children and

improving the economy through the provision of skilled human resources. There is the presence

of gangs in urban high schools that lead to suspensions and arrest of some students. Statistics

also show that the Class gap also plays a role in Influencing who completes college, as kids from

affluent neighborhoods are more likely to receive the support to complete college and pulling

ahead of other children.

Chapter five of the book discusses how the community influences the growth of an

American Kid. Principally communities are essential in determining the social networks and the

institutions that a child is exposed to. Although as compared to later years, resources have

become less collective, and parents are increasingly needed to rely on private provisions. As a

result, the ability of the parents to accumulate finance and social capital to ensure the support of

the children. Before the 1950s, caring for kids was seen as a collective responsibility, but with
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the decrease in ethics, the exercise has become more personal and requires the parents to do

much in caring for their children. However, social connectedness such as informal ties to family,

friends, neighbors, and acquaintances in civic association and religious institutions plays a vital

role in the growth of a child. Religion also plays an essential role in developing kids, as

churchgoing kids are more likely to have relations with their parents and other adults.

Relationship with adults plays a significant role in the development of a child.

Chapter 6 of the book seeks to explore what can be done to improve the situation, as the

different inequalities are not a result of the child's fault. The continuous economic growth of the

country requires the sustainable development of talents. The author recommends the continuous

closing of the opportunity gap by enacting policies geared towards ensuring social equity in the

redistribution of income through the tax system and enhancing economic productivity. The

development of childcare workplace flexibility, such as parental leave, is vital in reducing the

gap between affluent and poor children. Other factors such as residential segregation impact

financial equity, and government should enact policies that reduce neighborhood inequality.

I concur with the author that to overcome the challenges that kids in the current

community face, it is crucial to restore equal opportunities by investing in children. When young

people of different backgrounds are given opportunities based equal merit and energy, it reduces

inequality in opportunities. In recent years, however, there has been a growth in income

inequality between the ultra-rich and other people, represented by the difference in wellbeing,

happiness, and life expectancy. Education has become increasingly important for good jobs and

higher incomes; therefore, education has become an indicator of social class. Children from

educated and upper-income households are more likely to be exposed to rich verbal interaction

as their parents have a large vocabulary. The author cites a National study that found that 72
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percent of middle-class children know the alphabet by the time they begin school, compared to

only 19 percent of poor children who are aware of their alphabets. Class and education also

influence the aim and goals parents set for their children. Well-educated parents seek to ensure

their children are autonomous and independent have high self-esteem. In contrast, less-educated

parents seek to ensure that their children are disciplined, obedient and conform to pre-established

rules. Upper-class parents are also more likely to punish their children using egalitarian means,

and poor parents are likely to use physical punishment.

Youth from better-educated communities have an advantage regarding access to

opportunities as they have greater access to social networks that create opportunities. On the

other side children from less-educated communities, have sparser social networks due to

insufficient connection. The social connection influence not only access to top schools but also

top job opportunities. Children from more educated homes are also more likely to acquire digital

literacy skills at an early age. It is also more difficult for children from poor neighborhoods to

find role models in the community; Role models are essential in influencing positive outcomes

for children in both academic and non-academic areas. The author explains that the Schooling

standards gap has been growing within the different class groups, while the gaps between racial

groups have been narrowing since the civil movement era. The author asserts that measuring

academic achievement through test scores has led to higher class disparities in later outcomes

such as incarnation and college graduation since as early as age six. People begin to predict who

is going to college and who is not. Additionally, schooling has a tremendous effect on urban

areas kids as gangs in urban areas lead to school crime and fear.

The class difference also plays a significant role in the way children participate and are

aware of political and civic outcomes. Due to the increasing presence of Money in American
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politics, the elected officials are becoming less interested in catering to the needs of the poor.

Therefore, there needs to reduce the influence of money in politics. The social network bound to

the community contributes to the health, happiness, educational success, economic success, and

public safety of a child. The difference between financial and social capital in the communities

increases the uneven distribution of opportunities in the youth. The author asserts that schools in

poor neighborhoods have four times higher academic, attention, and behavioral problems than

schools in other neighborhoods. The government should also enact policies that seek to reduce

inequality to ensure the development of kids in America.