Name;
Professor;
Course;
Date;
Poverty, education and immigration problems in U.S.A
Introduction.
Every country in the world be it a first world or second world country have similar problems. The difference is the degree in which the problems are prevalent and how respective countries respond to them. Some countries will try to solve the problems on their own while others will seek help from other countries in be it directly or indirectly by offering advice or financial support. This paper is going to look at some of the problems that the U.S.A faces. These problems are in education, poverty and immigration.
Immigration Problems.
Immigration is the movement of individuals from one country to another in order to work and settle there. This movement can be caused by economic and political reasons, natural disasters, poverty, re-union of families or ones wish to change their surroundings voluntarily. Immigration comes in two forms; legal and illegal. Legal is where the person seeking immigration follows the set guidelines for the process while illegal immigration occurs where one sneaks in the country without knowledge of the authorities and mostly without proper documentation. This section will tackle problems associated with illegal immigration and they include;
Increased insecurity.
Most illegal immigrants turn to theft and other forms of illegal activities in order to survive. This is because a lot of them do not have required credentials to work in America, those who have educational papers find that the papers are not recognized thus the option of crime as a tool for survival. This increases insecurity as evidenced by formation of criminal gangs.
Overstretching of available resources.
Since most immigrants converge in one locality, they overstretch resources provided for the residents of that area. The resources were put to support a small number of individuals but now they serve thrice their intended capacity. This translates to reduction in life time of the resources thus making the process of maintaining and replacing expensive.
Spread of diseases.
Since illegal immigrants evade customs and health officers present in different entry points of the country, they introduce foreign diseases in the country. This can go undetected for a long time as no one knows of its existence. Such diseases not only pose a health threat to other illegal immigrants but also to residents of the country.
Terrorism.
Illegal immigrants enter the country without security scrutiny and screening. This gives a gate pass to anyone who wishes to get in America provided they use undetected methods. This poses a high security threat as terrorists may be the ones in the country acting as illegal immigrants.
Loss of revenue.
The non-payment of taxes by illegal immigrants leads to a great loss of revenue which would otherwise be used to improve already established facilities and provide better services to its citizens. The revenues are lost because no one knows whether such people are in employment or business as they are untraceable therefore authorities cannot tax them.
Environmental degradation.
The environment is mostly destroyed by careless dumping of wastes. Garbage is also littered all over the neighborhood due to their lack of responsible practices. Since most immigrants live under the same roof to avoid detection, amenities like the sewer system become full at a faster rate dissipating odor that makes the air not fit for breathing. This is translates to air pollution.
The problems can be controlled by the government increasing security along boarders and entry points in order to ensure everyone in the country is accounted for. Employers should seek legal documents and work permits to ascertain they are hiring their true nationals as well as those qualified legal immigrants thus better service delivery. Strict rules and regulations ought to be implemented to ensure compliance of set guidelines translating to better illegal immigration management.
Educational Problems.
Education is the process of learning where an individual acquires knowledge from someone who is more knowledgeable in that particular field. This process takes a lot of time to finish as it needs to be handled with care because it shapes direction of human lives. America has educational problems that have raised concerns all over the country. If these concerns are not addressed, the American education system will be deemed as failed. Some of the problems encountered include;
Large margins in teacher-student ratio.
The American population is increasing by the day; this means that the number of students in schools also increases. This increase in population is not merged with increase in the number of schools especially public schools where most parents can afford to take their children to. There emerges increase in disparities between teacher student ratios. Teachers are expected to handle many students at a go and for them to achieve this; quality in education has to decrease. Teachers just go to teach without focusing on individual needs of students but use the masses approach where he or she covers a topic with the assumption that all have same understanding levels. Some students will grasp the topic being taught while others will not have a clue at all. This is seen by the large numbers of students in public schools as opposed to private schools where small numbers facilitate personalized teaching.
Low motivation among students.
Most American students are of the view that education is a bother. This is brought about by comparison of education to other activities that these students engage in. They compare it to things like video games where technology is borrowed heavily from thus making the games appealing and a thing to look forward to. Education has stuck to same old techniques of teaching and if changes are being put in place it is at a low rate and slow pace. Diversification in modes of teaching can lead to the morale of students being increased thus looking forward to the next class.
Education is becoming expensive.
For somebody to get education that is quality education, one has to part ways with a great deal of fortune. This kind of education is only found in private schools where student comes first. However, not many American parents can afford this kind of education thus opt for the basic education offered in public schools where a student just attends school as a mere formality.
Inaccessibility to education.
It is very expensive for students residing in marginalized areas of America to access good education. This is because of the long distances they have to cover to schools and also the availability of fewer schools in the region compared to other areas of the country. Educational resources are not easily available making students in these areas to lag behind.
High numbers of school drop outs.
Most children in America who start school do not end up completing their course. This can be attributed to the environments they live in, expenses associated with education that are not affordable and lack of mentors. Dropping out of school robs the nation potential leaders and great minds thus the need for the government to impose measures that will ensure students complete their education in order to have an enlightened society.
Poor system of education.
The education system is not geared to making individuals self reliant. It is focused on employment perspective instead of innovation. This leads to a high number of people being unemployed due to the lack of enough jobs to absorb them all.
For education to take a turn for the better, the government should encourage use of technology in teaching. This will make schooling to be more fun and also accessible to a larger student population. It will be possible due to increased online teaching. Funding should also be increased in public schools to improve amenities thus public schools will start to compete with private schools on an equal platform. Due to the rising numbers of students, new schools have to be established and more teachers to be trained annually. This will reduce the teacher-student ratio thereby bringing the effect of personalized teaching. The curriculum should be replaced with one that equips students with skills and knowledge that can facilitate innovation thus making people to be more self reliant.
Poverty Problems.
Poverty is a state where individuals cannot afford basic needs which comprise of food, shelter and clothing. It is divided into two; relative poverty where ones’ poverty level is compared to the living standards of people around you. For example a person earning $50,000 is considered poor when living in an area where people earn salaries of up to $200,000. Another class of poverty is absolute poverty. This is class of poverty is where people cannot afford the necessaries for survival and this includes food, shelter and clothing. This section will deal with effects of absolute poverty and they include;
Increased crime and insecurity.
The absolute poor turn to crime for survival. This is achieved by the formation of gangs that work as units in the quest of robbing off people their wealth. The gangs lead to increase in insecurity in areas they operate on. Due to this there are increased deaths coming from confrontation between gangs and gangs and gangs and police thus the loss of people who would have otherwise been productive.
Spread of infections and diseases.
Poverty has led to the emergence of diseases and infections. This is due to the bad living conditions and the kind of diets these people have. Diseases associated with poverty are mostly sexually transmitted due to decayed morals in the slums and also sexual abuse. The infections and diseases pose a threat of spreading to other parts of the country if not managed by individuals moving from one locality to another.
High infant and maternal rates.
Poverty has led to the increased rates of maternal and infant deaths. This is brought by the fact that health care is expensive to these people who are already battling with survival. Maternal deaths are experienced by mothers who do not seek health care during their pregnancy periods. Such women also opt to deliver children in their shelters. Infant deaths are on the rise because of poor surroundings posing health issues on children who are known to have low immunities.
Increased corruption and side favors.
Corruption has been on the increase due to increased poverty. Those seeking to move out of poverty look for money to pay certain individuals to get jobs or promotions in work places. Those who cannot afford the money especially ladies offer sex as an incentive to get financial help.
Increased dependency ratios.
Poverty stricken areas have high dependency ratios. Those with employment are relied on to provide for the whole family. This leads individuals to engage in more than one job to satisfy the needs that await back home. Due to high dependency ratio, no development can take place as all the funds are used for consumption.
Selfishness.
Poverty leads to selfishness among individuals because no one wants to share the little they have with others. This translates to slow development as people cannot share information and resources to fight against poverty.
For poverty to be reduced, the government should roll out plans to wipe out slums and provide proper housing to the inhabitants of these slums. This not only improves living standards of people but also facilitates the ease in which services like fire fighting and rapid response can be carried out. Employers should be asked to employ a given number of employees who are unskilled to work as hand men thus reducing unemployment rates and facilitating self reliance.
References.
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2006/03/the-real-problem-with-immigration-and-the-real-solutionhttps://www.debate.org/debates/Illegal-immigration-is-endangering-and-destroying-American-safety-finances-education-and-culture./1/http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681576/5-disruptive-education-trends-that-address-american-inequalityhttp://prospect.org/article/state-poverty-americahttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/sunday/why-cant-we-end-poverty-in-america.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
