STUDENTS WITH SINGLE OR NO

PARENTS IN THE HOUSEHOLD

EDU 674 Final Presentation
Gunner Brown

INTERESTING STATISTICS
28 % of children are raised by a single parent

(20.8 million kids)

4 % are raised by single fathers
Another 3.3 million live with neither parent
Source : census.gov A Childs Day Released December 2014

SINGLE FATHERS ARE INCREASING

BUT WHAT ABOUT BY RACE?

Black

Hispanic

55.1 % have single parent

31.1 % have single parent

4.6 % single father, at

national average for all

races
6 % live with neither
parent

3.2 % single father,

below national average

for all races
4 % live with neither
parent
Source : childstats.gov table

SO WHY DOES IT MATTER?

41 % of children raised by single parents live below

poverty (8.5 million)

Only 14% in dual parent households
In comparison to two parent households, children
who come from single parent homes are:
Read too less often
Participate in fewer extracurricular activities
Twice as likely to be suspended from school
Source : census.gov A Childs Day Released December 2014

MINORITY, SINGLE PARENTS, AND

POVERTY

LETS MEET TAVARES (CASE STUDY 1)

Behavior he shows at school
Excitable
Hot-tempered occasionally
Likes to get class off-topic through

interruptions
Smart and witty

Has idea for a class mock trial

over food in the classroom

Plays a lawyer in the trial, and

singlehandedly wins for his side

Source : Holler if You Hear Me, Pgs. 2-20

BUT WHAT ABOUT OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL?

(RISK FACTORS)
Knew his father, but was not involved with his life
My father wasnt there. He wasnt never really present in my life. Hes cool though. I

dont know anybody on this planet that dont like my fatherexcept for my mother.
But he wasnt there.

Mom did not finish high school (dropped out as a sophomore)

Tavares had to stay home often while mom worked
Minority Race
Was exposed to drugs and money through his older cousin
Short attention span at school
I was more interested in what was going on in the hallway than what was going on

in front of the class

PROTECTIVE FACTORS
Smart
Mom was strict
Passionate about things he feels

are important to him

Wants to do well and succeed
the right way
Believes in himself

I know Im gonna get a good job

someday. Im too smart, too

intelligent to not have the things I
want. Someday, at some point in
my life, good things are gonna
happen for me.

BY NOW, YOU ALL HAVE A MENTAL IMAGE

FOR TAVARES.
Do you think his future is

good or bad?
Will his protective factors
override his risk factors?
Lets take a poll

IN SHORT
He struggled
Dropped out of high school
Sold drugs for money
Got shot when he was trying to

recover money a man owed for

drugs
Has permanent leg damage

because of the incident

Became homeless

And then had some success

Got a job selling magazines

door-to-door
Looked in to putting money

into retirement
Knows he needs more

education
Worried about the future and if

he can stay away from his old

habits

PRE-STRUGGLE INTERVENTIONS
Needed a male role model

(teacher, counselor, etc)

A stronger home environment

without the drug influences

Training about drugs and the

dangers of selling them

Someone to do some safe

outside activities with (friends)

A mentor to help keep him on

track with schoolwork and to

push his expectations

STILL CAN BE HELPED AFTERWARDS

An interested party to check in

on him and make sure he is

staying away from selling drugs
Guidance to get into a trade or

or even vocational school

A tutor to help him get his

GED
Somewhere to live so he isnt

so transient

IN HIS OWN WORDS

You know, its funny. A lot of times when a person does something

wrong, they know its wrong, but they do it anywayBut all people see
is the outer parthis pants hangin off his butt and his hat turned this
way or that waybut they never look within him to see what is making
him do what he does. If a person was to sincerely look within these
guys, they would find a lot of scared young people. Scared of being
broke. Scared of not having. Scared of not being able to not do for their
parents or their kids. And some of em, including myself, come from a
background where there wasnt a lot of love there. Living in a house
with a single parentit doesnt really work out.

CASE STUDY 2 - HECTOR

Smallest kid in the sixth grade
Charming
Bad temper
Already a gang member,

enforcer for the Latin Jesters

Struggles with authority
Cares a lot about his little sister
Loves the water and fishing

Source : Holler if You Hear Me, Pgs. 25-42, 203-205

ALMOST TOO MANY RISK FACTORS TO

COUNT
Already in the gang
Anger problems
Minority race
Has single parent
Fights often with mom

Poor living conditions

In poverty

BUT HE DOES HAVE SOME PROTECTIVE

FACTORS
Charming and able to talk calmly when in the right frame of mind
Cares deeply about his sisters
Loves the water and wants to do something with it
Wants to move away to help him with his problems
Hector decided that what he really wantedand neededwas to get out of the

neighborhood. He had too much history there, he believed, and the only way to
escape his past was to make a clean break.

THERE WERE MANY DIFFERENT

INTERVENTIONS TRIED
Took Hector to one week camp

with other students

Applied to residential homes,

including Boys Town in Omaha

Rejected because he had too

many psychological problems

Mother had Hector put into a

place called Hopewell Hospital,

for troubled teens
In and out for 6 months

Eventually enrolled in high

school as a 16 year old

freshman
I wanna get my education, Mr.

Michie. The education I need, he

told me

Stopped going after about a

month, but swore he wasnt

going back to the gangs

OTHERS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN TRIED?

Needed a positive male role

model.
Possibly a foster family or a new
place to live that wasnt with his
mother
Someone to hold him
accountable at school
Teachers would tell me, Youre

dumb.Youre gonna get kicked out

of here. This school doesnt need
you. They looked at me and saw a
dumb gangbanger. A kid that
needed to be put away forever.

LATER LIFE AND INTERVENTIONS

Went to addiction recovery

center in Southern Califonria

Worked on a farm with hogs
and cattle
Spent 2 years in prison on
felony drug charge
Came back to Chicago and
spent 15 months in jail for a
break-in
Stayed in contact with teacher
and spoke a few times in his
classes

IN HIS OWN WORDS

My father was never around. If he wouldve been there, things wouldve

been different. I never wouldve been on my own. I wouldnt have gotten

sent to Hopewell three times, I know thatBut he aint here. So I just
gotta move on. I gotta see life different, gotta do something with myself.
Im an adult now. I still look like a kid, but Im an adult, you know?

SO HERES THE PROBLEM

We all understand we dont get to choose the background of our

students
Quite literally playing the hand we are dealt
So how do we help students who come from single-parent families?

1) STOP THE ASSUMPTIONS

Dont assume you know anything about the guardian that is still in the

picture
It isnt about love, it is about a lack of resources of success
Teachers expectations about the family can lead to poor classroom expectations

For example: Think of all the ways a family can turn into a single parent

environment and how each one impacts children differently

Death
Job switch
Jail
Re-marry

Source : Reclaiming Journal of Education

ANOTHER EXAMPLE
Think of all the ways a single family might differ from another in the same

school
1) reason for single parenting
2) time elapsed since becoming a single parent
3) number of children and their respective ages and personalities
4) age and personality of parent
5) relationship with other parent, if alive
6) financial situation
7) occupational demands
8) experiences from family of origin and family of construction
9) self-esteem and attitude
10) support received from family, friends, and institutions.

LETS COMPARE OUR CASE STUDIES

Knew dad
Tavares

1 sister
Stayed with
extended family
Occasionally
homeless
Mother bilingual

Did not know dad

Mother was
single parent
Mother was at
work often

Proud Mexican
American families

4 sisters
No contact with
extended family
Mother speaks
little English

Mother working
toward GED

Hector

IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY
COUNTEREXAMPLE
The Gonzalez Family
Students Andrea and Marco
Mom spoke very limited English

Father had passed away when both were too

young to remember
Moved to Nebraska in the middle of the year
Both qualified for ESL

THEN WHY WERE THEY DIFFERENT?

Marco

Andrea

14 year old in Algebra 1

15 year old in Geometry

Straight A student in all class

Failed most of her classes

Respectful and kind

Problems with authority

Plays the piano

Mean to other students and

Started on the soccer team

Pretty much the kid everyone

wants

disrespectful to the teacher

No outside of school activities
Involved in drugs and alcohol

THEY HAD GONE TO DIFFERENT

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Both were public schools, but they got rezoned and went to separate

schools
Marco had teachers who engaged him and knew about his individual

needs
Andreas teachers basically told her she couldnt do it because of her

language difficulties
They grew up with the same opportunities and encouragement to

succeed, even in the same family, and the difference of teachers for only
a few years altered their lives for the foreseeable future

2) TEACH ABOUT DIFFERENCE EARLY

Encourage a classroom environment where single parent families are

not unusual
Read books or use examples where only one parent is in the home
Encourage students to discuss the difference in their families
Find adult or older peer examples of students who might be similar to your students

Remind students that uniqueness is a good thing

Be careful not to over emphasize the difference, however

Students can actually start to recognize a bigger difference if the point is belabored
This causes them to feel ostracized and alone

3) FACILITATE PARENT-SCHOOL
CONNECTION
If you have a student who is

struggling, call the parent and

ask for more information
Often, there are underlying

conditions teachers would not

know otherwise
Ex: Anniversary of death
Bad news about parent
Parent missed visitation

These calls are best used early

in the year so that parents feel

comfortable while student is in
your class

4) SHARE GOOD NEWS WITH PARENTS

Tell parents whenever student

has success and feels

comfortable discussing their
home environment
Telling parents allows parents to

relax about the state of their

child
Often the anxiety of the parent

increases the pressure and

emotion a child feels