The Book Fair Beef

I was lucky enough for my parents to give me some money when the book fair came to my school. Having a crisp twenty dollar when you walk in the library meant you're a king. Did I ever use it to buy books? Hell no. My strategy was to buy lots of small things like rubber pencils, cool erasers, funny bookmarks and many more things that wouldn't hurt the wallet too much. Walking out of the book fair with your hands full was a dopamine rush. I'm not gonna lie here and tell you that I wasn't boasting— I was. I loved the fact that other students were not able to get anything. Most of the time they were people I didn't like. Students that weren't too fond of me. Students that didn't like me. It felt like a win. I felt better than them.

Growing up as a middle-class male, I had life pretty easy when it came to middle school and high school. Since my parents didn't drive much I was able to use their car most of the time. I had a job thanks to my dad at a call centre. My friends were lower to higher middle class, so we were able to hang out virtually anywhere we wanted in the city. I often look back to my time being an adolescent, and recognize all the freedom I had. But it is freedom with one specific privilege: money. After high school, I realized that with my privileges, I also had luck on my side. Most people lose relationships with their friends that they made in middle school and high school, but not for me. My friend group to this day are made up from people I met from Grade 4 to Grade 12. A truly unique thing that happened to us. Again, we all grew up in similar social classes. We were able to throw parties, hang out at restaurants, watch movies at the theatre, and even throw debuts (a big party for a girl's 18th birthday in Filipino culture). This is not normal for people of working class and those who are experiencing poverty. Students that are in those social classes did not have the financial freedom or time to have leisure.

Students that are around the poverty line do not get these freedoms because of many variables in their tough lives. Instead of dedicating leisure after school, they often would have responsibilities in their family life like taking care of younger siblings because their parents would have multiple jobs. They are the main caretakers of their family. They need to cook, clean, and take care of other household chores. Most of the time, their job is not an option, it is a necessity. My part time job at the call centre was to fund my leisure. I was able to buy a camera, clothes, and fast food. Non essential items. But for most students who are experiencing poverty, this is for their hobbies but rather to provide for their families. Those who are having troubles with parental providings often have to rely on their own salary to take care of their own selves. On top of that, they have to pass school. I bet you catch yourself telling these people to keep working harder, and be resilient because hard work pays off. This is not true. I can work as hard as I can at McDonald's and I'll never be a manager. Capitalism has made it very hard to advance in massive corporate businesses therefore many of those who are experiencing poverty are stuck in a vicious cycle of the workforce. Students who dedicate their after school time for work will do worse in schoolwork because of the amount of homework teachers give.¹ I'm in school to be a teacher, and I can tell you even before learning this about poverty, I was never going to give homework. I want kids to be kids. Why give children more school work after being in school for 8 hours? I find that this is also helpful for people who are struggling, since they don't have to worry about their grades going down due to having no time for homework. Life is already hard, why make it harder?

Since I grew up as a middle class man, I do not have the personal experience of these situations. However, I worked for a non-profit for awhile and I have seen poverty destroying lives first hand. Students in these situations are more susceptible to be bullied and experience depression and suicidal thoughts. They didn't choose to be poor, but they suffer the consequences of being poor due to our horrid social norms. Kids that can't afford to change clothes, or those who don't have lunches are more often to be outcasts in their classes. This causes other students to pick on them and treat them like second class citizens. Even teachers are not immune to this. Teachers are also culprits of these actions.² It is my duty as an educator to catch myself doing this, and teaching the students that this is not acceptable. I have to do it in a way that doesn't demean the kids who are experiencing poverty. To be honest, I don't have an answer for this problem yet. I'll find the answer one day, and I hope my classroom becomes a safe space for students of all types.

So can you imagine when these children step foot in the book fair? Things that they can never buy but only dream of are dangled in front of them knowing that it is impossible to obtain. It is a parade of luxury and wealthy students. It is meant to make children learn about the vapid and predatory ways of consumerism. It separates children in ways of financial freedom. It becomes quite clear which family is struggling and those who are experiencing prosperity. The items are colourful, enticing, and vibrant. They are meant to catch the gaze of a child's mind. Those children that can't afford it have no choice but to look at them and be sad about it. They can even start thinking about stealing these items. But is it really their fault? It is our fault that we start up these book fairs knowing that not everyone can afford it. We partner up with capitalism knowing that it fails to be equal to all social classes. But yet here we are still doing it every year in our schools. There was never equality in these events, and it always shows the inequity of this system.³ Instead of book fairs, we should have funding for all the students to get something. Of course, we can't just pull out funding out of thin air, so I recommend our policy makers to find a way to change the system to one that doesn't exclude those who are experiencing poverty. This is not a solution to all poverty problems in schools, but it could be a great first step. We are far from having a flawless educational system, but I believe the new generations of the youth and educators can find a way to provide better education and equity to all students.

Written by Freedom Lapuz