Tonight on FRONTLINE: "Poor Kids" "...the economic crisis through the eyes of children..."

[Up2Late]

New tonight, already posted to their website too, if you can't get it now.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poor-kids/

Watching now.

[Iggy]

1. Notice the Total Lack of Response

to this thread..

wow, you mean mainstream media finally started paying attention to the massive increase in child poverty in our nation?

the fact very few "progressives" appear to care is astonishing.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

5. I was to busy watching it!

And recovering. Brought back rough childhood memories for me.

[Up2Late]

6. I think a lot here are still pissed off at FRONTLINE for the show from a few weeks ago...

..."The Decision 2012" for being too kind to Romney, which I thought was a pretty well balanced report.

But yeah, tonight's show brought tears to my eyes several times.

[Iggy]

20. "A Lot Here are Still P***ed off at Frontline for...."

I get it, but you realize how weak this sounds, right? Frontline's treatment of Rmoney a few weeks ago now made irrelevant by our guy winning) has NOTHING to do with the huge increase in child poverty in our nation-- to level where we now have higher rates than most, if not all, other first world nations.

this is unacceptable.

[Up2Late]

27. Dude, I was talking about the lack of response to a post about FRONTLINE.

A lot of people here think FRONTLINE is just more MSM catering to RW opinion. I don't think that, but it's hard to get people to watch these programs who do think of FRONTLINE that way.

I was in no way saying this is not an important topic that we all should be concerned about.

[Iggy]

35. Thanks for the Clarification

but the fact is, we're not all that concerned about child poverty-- it's one more gigantic issue which here in Bloggo world appears to be mostly ignored-- in favor of focusing on getting a few people elected to office.

Now that Obama has a second term, what is his PLAN to deal with our high rate of child poverty?

[snacker]

2. I just watched it...

heartbreaking, just heartbreaking. I have no other words right now...

[NiteOwll]

3. My daughter cried as she watched this.

She went to bed with tears in her eyes tonight. We don't live all that far away from where these families live, so I think it really hit home at how lucky she is just to have a home and food.

Every child should watch this, especially those whose only worries are what gifts they're going to be getting in a few weeks.

[Up2Late]

7. Yup, really puts things into proper perspective, huh.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

4. I posted in the Lounge about it.

Last edited Wed Nov 21, 2012, 02:52 AM - Edit history (1)

I think that Frontline is going to get awards for this one.
As for myself, I can relate with those kids. I am also happy that the young girl that know what was going on with the bills is a good thing. I remember one time when I was younger that I went to get a glass of water and it was shut off. Another time I went to turn on the light to get ready for school and it did not turn on. I think it is better to let the kids in because I lived in fear of what was not being told to me.

[coalition_unwilling]

12. The most heart-breaking moment for me was the young girl who

said she didn't care if she herself was happy, but she wanted her family to be happy.

I just about came unglued at that point.

The black kid whose only dream is football and who says his life is 'over' if he doesn't get on the team this year came in a close second.

[Up2Late]

15. The kid talking about his short window to play football brought it home for me too.

As adults we forget about how short the window was for those high school sports dreams we had.

[coalition_unwilling]

16. I think overall, the feeling I got was a speechless rage and

abject despair at the waste of human potential occurring. For all we know, one of those kids could be the next Einstein or Salk. I posted elsewhere that this country is an absolute abomination and I stand by that assessment.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

17. And how important those dreams are to kids in those situations.

The bad thing is that many in that situation learn they should not dream. It just hurts to much. How I kept dreaming is beyond me!

[NiteOwll]

21. For us, it was the conversation between the mother and daughter

about both being hungry. I have a child who is constantly telling me she's hungry. Unlike the little girl on the show, my daughter the luxury of her choice of snacks in the fridge. That part made a big impact on her. Very sad. A close second was the part where they had to give up their dog.

[coalition_unwilling]

24. Those children were so clear-eyed and direct. The overwhelming feeling I got

was how much awesome human potential might be going to waste if current trends continue. One of those boys or girls might be the next Albert Einstein or Madame Curie. Just absolutely heart-breaking and alternately enraging.

Still misty-eyed this morning.

[upi402]

8. FRONTLINE; The Betrayal of Democracy

That was from the grand days of Frontline - when it was hard investigative journalism. I miss those days.
That particular show has been scrubbed from the net or something. I used to re-watch sometimes it but it's not there anymore.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

9. This one may be in line with that one.

Last edited Wed Nov 21, 2012, 04:33 AM - Edit history (1)

They show the nitty-gritty of growing up poor. It is so on the mark it was giving me flash backs!

[upi402]

29. It's hard hitting too

I read your post previously and it touched me.

We grew food in 5 gal. buckets and mowed lawns with a push reel mower in the last recession. I know what being hard up and going to the food bank is like too. My kid was given so much shit at school from the conservative "christians" that populate this area because we were living poor.

We lived poor preventatively - so we didn't have to have power shut off. We learned to do without so we didn't have to find ourselves at the end of the rope. We were fortunate and I am grateful it never came to homelessness and hunger.

Now it seems like a luxury to buy food that is fresh and shoes that are new.

I fought the corporatism we have now for decades, for what it's worth. I did no good, it seems.

I've donated, marched, written for this & that, was a delegate to this & that.. and now I feel like neither party really fights the corporate powers on our behalf.

Ironically, the commercial interruption to the PBS online stream are from Goldman Sachs. Job creators

[coalition_unwilling]

10. Just finished watching it on PBSSoCal (Ch. 50). I can say with near

certainty that this country is well and truly fucked and an abomination in the eyes of whatever Providence presides over this universe.

I'm not deliberately going to do a grand flame-out on DU (at least not tonight), but watching this documentary makes me deeply ashamed to call myself American.

This country is well and truly fucked and an abomination.

There I've said it.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

14. You are not only preaching to the choir, but to one raised just like that.

Worse part is as I started really seeing what was going on, I saw the way my parents were voting was part of the problem. My mother at leased try to get educated on the candidates, but my father just voted Rep. "They were the moral right!" he said. He was with me when I got my first voting card. They asked me what party would you like to be under if any? He has one of those almost heart attack moments when I said Democrat!

[coalition_unwilling]

11. Kick for more exposure. Thanks for posting - n/t

[RainDog]

13. k&r

and bookmarking to watch.

thank you for posting.

[Up2Late]

18. Here's a Web Only Extra that is hard to watch, but this girl is something else.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/social-issues/poor-kids/seras-story/

Sera’s Story: Growing Up Poor in San Francisco

I wouldn't be surprised if this girl doesn't end up being a Senator or House Rep in 20 years.

[coalition_unwilling]

19. Shit, I wish she were President right now. The world would be a fuck

of a lot better place to live.

[JNelson6563]

22. As a member of the working poor

I can relate. I'm just glad my kids are grown up and things were a bit better when they were younger.

To be poor in America is quite an experience. To hear people flippantly talk about going to movies, out to eat, buying stuff they don't need at stores that treat workers like crap, well it's always astounding to me.

I always do the math...for the cost of a movie I could by this much gas or some food...for those $100 jeans I could've paid this bill and bought this much in groceries...stuff like that.

While it's great to post on-line about this stuff where it really matters is out in the world.

Any great progressives do anything for the less fortunate today?

Bad off as I am I still manage to do little things to help those who have even less. That is a message we need to get out there.

Julie

[coalition_unwilling]

26. Julie, I hope at some point in your busy life you get a chance to take a college-level

course in economics. I'm thinking Micro Economics especially. I think it will help you realize how incredibly smart you are to compare $100 jeans to $100 in groceries. Economists refer to this concept as 'utils' and we all walk around with a 'util meter' on our wasteband whether we realize it or not.

I'm unemployed and burning through my retirement funds now. Even so, I plan to contact Inglewood School District -- thanks to DUer DonRedwood's suggestion -- to see whether the nursing staff there knows of any families in serious need of help and will kick them a few bucks and canned goods.

Hope you have a good and restful holiday.

[JNelson6563]

28. Thank you friend!

I appreciate your encouragement as well as your generosity toward those in need around you.



Julie--thankful for people like you

[ParkieDem]

23. What I find so disturbing ...

... is that society today puts such a stigma on being poor. Here in Texas, I see that a lot -- both from conservatives and liberals who live in my well-heeled neighborhood.

Many of the conservatives I know, they view poor people as those who "just couldn't cut it," or as people lesser than themselves. Even the liberals, who might be somewhat empathetic, seem to view poor people with pity and a patronizing condescendence, as if they are a subset of society that will never amount to anything or be able to help themselves. Many of them talk a good game, but avoid any hint of interaction with those of a lower social strata.

Looking back, both my parents and especially my grandparents grew up poor. Maybe not completely destitute, but poor nonetheless. For some reason, back then, they didn't tie their self-worth to their relative poverty. They were still, for the most part, happy. They were able to enjoy the simpler things in life. They worked hard, but knew that slaving to the almighty dollar wasn't the end-all, be-all of their existence. They weren't stigmatized for their poverty, or if they were, they were thick-skinned enough to not let it bother them too much.

Why the difference between now and then? I don't know. Government policies and the "welfare queen" attitude that has become so pervasive is definitely part of it. I also think mass media is a big driver. In the immediate postwar era, people weren't inundated with TV and social media throwing other people's prosperity in their face, and conspicuous consumption wasn't all the rage. A poor kid here in Dallas, meanwhile, can just walk a few blocks to see a Maserati parked on the street, and just has to turn on the TV for a few minutes to get a healthy dose of consumerism via commercials, HGTV, MTV, and all sorts of other sources.

As a liberal, I believe government programs can go a long way into rectifying the problem of poverty. But they can only do so much. As Jesus said, the poor will always be with us. Until we try to walk a mile in the shoes of those who are poor, we won't be very effective in addressing the problem head-on.

[coalition_unwilling]

25. I grew up poor (on a farm) and the only way to describe it is that it sucks. There's

no way to find a silver lining in it. It just sucks.

Maybe back during the Great Depression it didn't suck so much because so many were so destitute that some shared sense of community helped mitigate some of the damage.

But I know for a fact that growing up poor has colored my actions as an adult in some very negative ways. (I'm an inveterate hoarder, for example, almost compulsively. And my wife has noted my compulsion not to let a single scrap of food go to waste.)

The psychological damage being inflicted upon these children far outweighs, imo, even the nutritional deficiencies.

This country should be ashamed and mortified before Almighty Providence.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

33. It was that stigma that made me fight to go to school, get ahead.

Then when I thought I left it behind, a natural disaster hit. Do people see what I achieved, not any more. That is why I do worry about the kids growing up poor and are fighting to get a better life. If something happens, even just a little set back, people will say what I have heard. "Well he/she/they should have known better."

This stigma will follow a poor kid all through their life if they don't make it super big. This stigma needs to go away!!!!!

[mzmolly]

30. I DVR'd it and watched with my family tonight.

I grew up in poverty, and thankfully my child has never known it (aside from the documentary.) *Knocks on wood.*

I am glad I asked her to watch, she took great interest, and has a new appreciation for what we have.

Lastly, I'm disgusted that many who live in grandeur, complain about paying their !#$ taxes, when so many children in this country go to bed hungry at night.

There were many surprising, disturbing statistics.

....

Hey Palin, how's that "churchy/charity thingy" workin' out for us?

[w8liftinglady]

31. Thank you... Posted it on Dallas Morning News

where we are having a discussion on which party supports children.
republican brings up zygotes,of course.
I have shown him how repubs want to repeal child labor...I'm adding this..

[Lady Freedom Returns]

32. You know it really ticks me off that the "Moral Right" cares so much for the unborn, then

seems happy to let them suffer and starve when they are here.

[Up2Late]

34. Exactly.

They are "pro-life" before they are born, but then most are Pro-death penalty and/or slave labor conditions, which is why I never call them Pro-Life, they are Anti-Choice. I invented that term here at DU about 5 years ago and love it every time I hear someone use that description now.