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Stresses of poverty may impair learning ability in young children

From the no duh department of research. Seriously however, it is important to note that there is a growing number of politicians and middle Americans that think that everyone in the US has an equal chance at all the good that this company has to offer, when in fact, research like this show that not everyone is even close to being given equal opportunity. You think mitt Rodney’s boys or Obama’s girls have the same starting point as kids in the barrios or colonias of El Paso county Texas? No way. Yet, we still talk about cutting funds to education as if that will help students somehow…who gets hurt the most when funds are cut? The teachers? No. The administrators? No. The kids who’ve parents that can financially fill in the slack? No. It is the kids of poverty. —tbh

From the article :
The stresses of poverty — such as crowded conditions, financial worry, and lack of adequate child care — lead to impaired learning ability in children from impoverished backgrounds, according to a theory by a researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health. The theory is based on several years of studies matching stress hormone levels to behavioral and school readiness test results in young children from impoverished backgrounds.

Further, the theory holds, finding ways to reduce stress in the home and school environment could improve children’s well being and allow them to be more successful academically.

High levels of stress hormones influence the developing circuitry of children’s brains, inhibiting such higher cognitive functions such as planning, impulse and emotional control, and attention. Known collectively as executive functions, these mental abilities are important for academic success.

Clancy Blair, Ph.D., of New York University, New York City concludes that this altered stress response and its effect on executive function helps to explain one way in which poverty affects children’s development of school readiness skills and later classroom performance.

Although poverty is considered a major source of stress, the findings also suggest that other sources of stress may affect children in all income groups — for example, from divorce, harsh parenting, or struggles with a learning disability.