Parents' Downfall Can Destroy Education

Parents' Downfall Can Destroy Education

Past studies have shown that every measure of a child's social behavior is improved if a child has two parents. Two-parent families usually provide the best financial and emotional support for children. Although many single parents work extremely hard to support their children, generally they cannot fulfill as much financial and emotional support as a two parent household may. As John Gatto says in his article, "Why Schools Don't Educate" "In Manhattan seventy percent of all new marriages last less than five years" (180), which puts tremendous strains on the single parent. The lack of financial and emotional help, as well as instability of a single parent household, typically translates into poor academic performance in a child. Because he or she does not undergo the proper attention needed in order to succeed.

Children of divorced parents do not always receive the financial benefits of two parents. For instance, if a single parent is supporting a child, then he or she may not be able to afford a house in a safe and nice neighborhood. The child would then be at a disadvantage, because schools in poor areas do not educate as well. For example, these schools in poor areas do not usually receive proper funding from city, state, and U.S. government. A student in this environment would have a hard time getting accepted into colleges, because students in poor schools tend to get overlooked due to test scores not being very high. In addition, single parents are usually limited by a tight budget and cannot offer their children the proper materials foe their education, such as calculators these days cost up to two hundred dollars. Also, tutors can be very expensive. All these resources used to be optional, but now they are almost made mandatory in order not to fall behind. In today's society, many kids are forced to find jobs to help support their families due to cost of living. This causes students to focus more on work rather than their education. Often the performance of students is affected by exhaustion and lack of time.

Children of divorced parents also do not always receive the emotional benefits of two parents. This can hinder their academic performance due to lack of support. Not having two stable parents can be detrimental in many ways. By having only one parent available the children can only receive only half