Can the poverty skeptics please stand up?
I need to say something directly into your ears while gripping them firmly, almost painfully, followed by a gentle slap on the face to make sure it got in.
Poverty doesn't have to be dust and flies and empty belies and inadequate clothing.
It can be mould and scabies and empty bellies and inadequate clothing just as easily.
Spend a day with the kids in a low-decile south Auckland school if you want to see some (which, obviously, you don't).
Here's some real live examples from just my last week teaching!
- Val, whose parents didn't bother treating her headlice because with 12 kids living in one two-bedroom house it was too much effort to get rid of nits completely.
- Dwayne, whose parents couldn't afford to drive him to the superclinic for his dozens of huge boils, both because of the cost of petrol and in case they got fined for having no warrant or rego (which, surprise, they couldn't afford to get).
- Jess, whose backbone shows through her jumper, and if teachers didn't provide, whose lunch consists of a bit of fresh air and a drink of water.
- Tila, whose dog was starved to death on a rope then thrown out in the wheely bin because they couldn't afford to feed it. Tila eats a packet of BigUns for lunch once a week. The other four times a week she just looks forward to a packet of BigUns (or receives from teachers).
Another reason to raise teachers' pay: I spent between $15 to $25 per week on food for my students. Just crappy muesli bars, sandwiches etc, but you couldn't not feed the hungry kids as they watched the others eat, or, y'know, your heart would actually break into pieces.
I'm just glad it wasn't real poverty.
