Living in a town like Grosse Pointe, where many people grew up and live well above the poverty line, it can be difficult to grasp the concept of the wealth gaps around the world. How would you be expected to understand an idea of something that seems so foreign to you?
The worth of a dollar and the expenses of the real world are important to understand when becoming an adult. For teenagers to understand this, they must be informed both at home and in school. Economics teacher Christopher Booth notes that South’s Adopt a Family is a great way for students to see the difference in wealth and how to make a positive impact.
“We’re reading a book right now called Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” Booth said. “Trying to teach kids about being literate financially, what that looks like and what that means. I don’t think they really get an education on that.”
With the pressures of high school, the addition of judgment based on appearance because of a lack of expensive clothes is unnecessarily weighted. Along with appearance, Madeline Watson ’27 mentions how not having specific items, such as cars, can make some feel as though they are missing out.
“I feel like it’s really kind of hard because there’s an expectation that you need to have a certain amount of money and have certain things,” Watson said. “Everyone’s getting a car really early, they’re getting gifted it and everyone has a certain wardrobe, [of] really expensive clothes. And if you can’t really afford that, or if you just don’t want it, it makes you feel kind of out of place.”
Along with this, Grosse Pointe is full of extravagances that others may not have the privilege of, such as vacations, new technology, large homes, etc. As a parent in the community and a counselor here at South, Troy Glasser emphasizes the importance of understanding these privileges.
“I always tell my own children that you’re kind of privileged that you live in Grosse Pointe,” Glasser said. “Even if you think you don’t have as much as the person next to you.”
When Watson was in elementary school, she was followed home by PTA moms, who believed that she lived in Detroit and not Grosse Pointe. They went as far as submitting a request for a residency confirmation.
“They had thought that I lived in Detroit and was going to Grosse Pointe and that I didn’t live within the district,” Watson said. “My dad had to reconfirm our residency two different times that year. [It] happened more than once because they just didn’t think I looked like I lived there.”
In Grosse Pointe, we have many privileges, including our proximity to the lake, a strong community and an overall high average income. These are especially pronounced when we drive down Mack and can see the differences between Grosse Pointe and Detroit.
“Kids know that poverty exists,” Booth said. “It’s just hard to know what that looks like if you don’t experience it. I think when kids become adults and they realize how expensive things are, that’s when you get your education.”
