Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 21, 1993 TAG: 9301210461
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
POVERTY DOESN'T STIGMATIZE ALL CHILDREN
IN RESPONSE to the article, "Hard times split families" (Jan. 15), I think Clifford Johnson of the Children's Defense Fund should take a closer look at those of whom he speaks and be less careless in the words he chooses to describe them.When he said that a poor family is further impoverished by a marital split, he may have been correct for the majority of families. However, when the statement is made, "For the children, it means inadequate nutrition, poor health, learning disabilities, and eventual unemployment," I am offended!
My parents separated when my brother and I were 1 year old and my sister was 4, and they divorced two years later. My mother worked two jobs for most of our childhood and did the best she could with the income and the almost nonexistent child-support payments she received. She never accepted charity or government aid (although grossing $8,000 a year more than qualified her).
There was always food on the table. Because we were covered under her group-health coverage, we were always taken to the doctor for any necessary immunizations or ailments and to the dentist at least once a year. As for "learning disabilities," there were none. All three of us did great in our academic studies, with my sister graduating from Virginia Tech in 1990 and my brother and I attending our respective four-year colleges. As for "eventual unemployment," my sister is now a medical technologist at Lewis-Gale Hospital and making more money than our mother and her own husband.
Being poor means making sacrifices as a way of living. There's no excuse for not trying to better your position or that of your children, or being lazy, giving up, or for a lack of family values. And we are living proof.
Mom, we salute you! TRACEY DAVIS ROANOKE