Professionals in areas of high poverty often complain of their students lack of motivation, tardiness, absences, difficulty paying attention, and inability to process information as it is being presented. Educators are sometimes quick to “say that parents or guardians do not read to their child, do not encourage their children to read and do not provide enriching mental experiences or teach them proper social and emotional behavior” (Parker & Parker).
Parker and Parker draw our attention to how the educator’s attitude may negatively affect motivation, behavior, self-esteem, and overall academic performance of impoverished students. The authors believe teachers and other professionals working with children must be further educated on the detrimental effects on development brought on by prolonged poverty. Three main areas of the brain are impacted, the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala; negative impacts can be seen in social and emotional behavior, memory, attention, goal-setting and decision-making.
A survey of more than 1,000 teachers and principals around the country was conducted by No Kid Hungry of Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2013. Findings show that 73% of teachers typically instruct hungry kids; teachers who see hunger spend an average of $37 a month on food for their students over the course of the school year. Utilization of free or reduced-price breakfast programs brings improvements, but many students do not participate due to late buses, conflicting priorities, and the stigma attached.
Reference
Klein, R. (2013, August 27). You’ll be shocked by how many kids are too hungry to learn in class. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/27/no-kid-hungry_n_3825071.html.
No Kid Hungry: Share Our Strength. (2013). Hunger in our schools: Teachers report 2013. Retrieved from http://www.nokidhungry.org/pdfs/NKH_TeachersReport_2013.pdf.
Parker, W. S. & Parker, B. A. (2012, May). How poverty and stress affect brain development of children and impact learning and behavior in school. Brain World. Retrieved from http://brainworldmagazine.com/down-and-out-in-childrens-schools/.
Brain Food 
This is interesting to me because when I was in high school I received free lunch. My mom worked at the high school I went to so if I didn’t go get my lunch she would take me up there and embarass me even more by yelling “this girl wants her free lunch please.” I then had to make a choice of which was more “embarassing” to me. Is there anything they could do in the schools to get rid of the stigma?