The Homeless and Their Children
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 11/12/2012 06:40 AM
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The Homeless and Their Children
“The Homeless and Their Children” by Jonathan Kozal observes the connection between illiteracy and poverty. As stated by Kozal, “more than one third of American adults are least partially illiterate”(Reid 251).
Kozal was offered a meeting with a single mother of four who cannot read. The woman is referred to as Laura. Laura is currently housed at the Martinique Hotel located on Sixth Avenue and thirty-second street in New York City. Along with Laura and her four kids, the Martinique houses four hundred homeless families. Among all those families approximately twelve hundred are children who are housed there. In December of 1985 the welfare laws were much different than they are today. The homeless were placed in the Martinique Hotel by the Human Resources Administration.
Kozal goes on to describe the struggles Laura must face every day. The oldest of her four children is seven year old Mathew. He has been diagnosed with lead poisoning and has been sick for weeks. Due to Laura’s illiteracy she does not know what the letter from Roosevelt Hospital says regarding her son’s sickness. Kozal reads the letter for her as instructed by Laura, she then learns that Mathew’s lead levels are dangerously high. Kozal informs us that even though Laura cannot read she knows the dangers of lead poisoning.
Kozal goes on to explain how the children get the lead poisoning. The children wait for the paint to chip off the walls and since it is so sweet tasting they eat it, unaware that some of the paint contains lead. He also explains to Laura that, “children with lead poisoning may suffer loss of coordination or undergo convulsions. This could be temporary or long lasting and they may appear all at once or not for several years.” Along with her children’s illnesses, Laura must face many more problems. The plumbing is over flowing leaving pools of sewage on the floor, the radiator is broken, spraying scalding steam at the eye level of the...
“The Homeless and Their Children” by Jonathan Kozal observes the connection between illiteracy and poverty. As stated by Kozal, “more than one third of American adults are least partially illiterate”(Reid 251).
Kozal was offered a meeting with a single mother of four who cannot read. The woman is referred to as Laura. Laura is currently housed at the Martinique Hotel located on Sixth Avenue and thirty-second street in New York City. Along with Laura and her four kids, the Martinique houses four hundred homeless families. Among all those families approximately twelve hundred are children who are housed there. In December of 1985 the welfare laws were much different than they are today. The homeless were placed in the Martinique Hotel by the Human Resources Administration.
Kozal goes on to describe the struggles Laura must face every day. The oldest of her four children is seven year old Mathew. He has been diagnosed with lead poisoning and has been sick for weeks. Due to Laura’s illiteracy she does not know what the letter from Roosevelt Hospital says regarding her son’s sickness. Kozal reads the letter for her as instructed by Laura, she then learns that Mathew’s lead levels are dangerously high. Kozal informs us that even though Laura cannot read she knows the dangers of lead poisoning.
Kozal goes on to explain how the children get the lead poisoning. The children wait for the paint to chip off the walls and since it is so sweet tasting they eat it, unaware that some of the paint contains lead. He also explains to Laura that, “children with lead poisoning may suffer loss of coordination or undergo convulsions. This could be temporary or long lasting and they may appear all at once or not for several years.” Along with her children’s illnesses, Laura must face many more problems. The plumbing is over flowing leaving pools of sewage on the floor, the radiator is broken, spraying scalding steam at the eye level of the...