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A new Cornell study claims that: “Chronic stress from growing up in poverty can physiologically impact children’s brains, impairing their working memory and diminishing their ability to develop language, reading and problem-solving skills.”
As if the Tiny Tims of the world didn’t have enough to worry about.
I’m sure we all know people who grew up poor and are smart as whips. I’m also sure that we know people who grew up poor and are dumb as rocks. The important thing to remember is that neither whips nor rocks have brains.
But people do and poverty affects them.
A study like this runs the risk of becoming highly politicised. People who think they’re helping the poor will claim that we shouldn’t reach these conclusions, that poor people can be just as smart as rich people. And indeed they can.
But, in seeking not to hurt anyone’s feelings, we should never forget what a grinding horror poverty is, how stressful and terrible a condition it is and how it can make people into animals. That too is the reality.
We should add this study to the reasons to do something about it.
Then we can worry about everyone’s feelings.
