Tzedakah (Charity) in Israel

30th
JUL

Simulating Poverty - A great school program

Posted by admin under Child Poverty, Children, Crime, Disposable Income, Divorce, Social Justice, Solutions to Poverty, Tzedakah, Unemployment, What can "I" do, World Poverty

Awareness is a big part of the solution. This US high school ran a poverty simulation program with great results. Here’s the article:

Carson Sullivan never worried about putting food on the table for his family.

The Vermillion High School student learned all about the process, however, when he took part in the South Dakota Youth Congress poverty simulation at the USD School of Law Wednesday afternoon. The simulation kicked off the annual, two-day South Dakota Youth Congress conference for high school juniors and seniors nominated based on their interest in public policy and leadership qualities.

During the simulation, students from across the state role-played the lives of low-income families. Some were homeless, while others were disabled. Some of the participants role-played senior citizens living off Social Security benefits.

Still, their job was to provide the basic necessities and shelter for their families during the course of four 15-minute “weeks.”

Within minutes of the simulation starting, Sullivan was at the Department of Social Services, asking how to obtain food stamps. The experience made him feel “very flustered” while filling out paperwork.

“I really don’t know how I’m going to pay for this,” Sullivan said.

Read the rest here.