York Region parents, educators talk about poverty in schools

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 16, 2018
Kim Zarzour

What’s it like to grow up poor in York Region?

Gregory Carbis knows, and he wants other people to know too.

As you drive past the expensive homes in this affluent region, you may not realize that behind those walls and in those basements may live multiple low-income families — and children struggling with shame, ridicule and exclusion.

Carbis has lived this life and described what it was like in a video presentation to parents, educators and activists this week.

It was part of a new initiative by the York Region public school board to engage the community in conversations about poverty and classism.

Carbis said he started to notice his family was different in Grade 3, when he couldn’t join in on field trips and bake sales.

 “When you’re young, it can be really confusing. You think everyone has things and you don’t, and no one else understands what you’re going through. When they tease you for your clothes or not being able to go on a school trip, it really gives me a knot in my stomach.

“My mom and I are good people. We work as hard as anyone else who has a lot of money, harder in many cases, and we think it’s unfair that people make assumptions and judge us because we’re not as wealthy or, in their eyes, as successful as they are.”

Carbis’ mother Kristine is an activist and chairperson of a subcommittee that organized this week’s workshop at Maple Leaf Public School in Newmarket.

The session was one of several that will explore issues and solutions to classism, anti-black racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

About 30 people attended the Monday night session to talk, confidentially, about how poverty impacts kids and what changes need to be made.

Most agreed that, unlike other marginalized people such as LGBTQ or racial groups, those who are discriminated against because of classism go to great lengths to hide their identity, and schools may exacerbate the problems they face:

-Funding for special programs or activities may be available to low-income kids, but putting the onus on the child or family to ask for help can cause shame or embarrassment.

-Low-income parents who are newcomers may not be able to let the school know their children can’t afford activities because they aren’t confident in their English language skills or because their culture teaches deference to authority, or because they are housing a person who is undocumented and are afraid they will be sent back.

-Pizza lunches and other fundraisers may be considered a necessary evil, yet students who may have benefited most from the funds raised are also most likely to be embarrassed when they can’t afford the pizza etc.

-School cash online tools, designed to make financial transactions easier by allowing families to purchase lunches, field trips, agendas etc. online, are difficult to access by families who don’t have internet access or credit cards.

Participants spoke of students competing for time on library computers because they don’t have the technology at home, and high school teachers telling students to watch a video as part of their homework — not possible when the home does not have WiFi or high speed internet.

Specialized schools or extracurricular programs can inadvertently exclude low-income students, the workshop heard. School electives often funnel poor kids into less expensive activities , a cooking class instead of skiing or tubing, for example.

Some suggested schools should rethink traditional, but expensive, activities like the Grade 8 trips that require low-income students to “self-identify” in order to get funding help to participate.

Others suggested more low-cost activities like outdoor movie nights or weekend outings to a pumpkin patch to create schools as community hubs.

One Markham father said parents should be encouraged to engage in these community conversations about poverty because many people don’t know it exists in York Region.

“I’m in my car, in my bubble, driving past big houses and I don’t see it. I need to be aware of these issues.”

He said his eight-year-old has started noticing differences and asking uncomfortable questions about why some classmates can’t afford things.

“I’m not sure how to answer some of those questions …. I believe as parents we also have a role in this. I’m setting the tone at home.”

“We can’t solve poverty, but we can work with resources in the community and go deeper to look at why this problem exists,” said Cecil Roach, the board’s co-ordinating superintendent of equity and community services.

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The York Region District School Board is seeking passionate youth, families and community members to provide feedback through a series of “community conversations” from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Child-minding is provided. For information, email freyja.phillips@yrdsb.ca

Jan. 22: Sutton District High School, 20798 Dalton Rd., Georgina.

Jan. 29: Bayview Secondary School, 10077 Bayview Ave., Richmond Hill.

Feb. 5: Maple High School 50 Springside Rd., Maple.

Feb. 12: Milliken Mills High School, 752 Kennedy Rd., Markham.

GOOD TO KNOW

-While the total number of children in York Region increased by 16 per cent between 2001-2006, the number of children in low-income households increased by 62 per cent. Human Service Planning Board of York Region, 2011

-York Region experienced a 20 per cent increase in food bank use from 2008 - 2010. Children make up 41 per cent of those who are hungry. Hunger in the Midst of Prosperity; The Need for Food Banks in York Region: 2011

-Between 2006 and 2012, the percentage of working poor increased from 37 to 41.4 per cent, with Markham, Vaughan and Richmond Hill in the top five in the GTA