Single parent families at Hawkins

Photo courtesy of Blog Talk Radio

Do you ever think about how many students live in single parent households in our community? You should because according to a survey I conducted at our school, Augustus F. Hawkins High School has 39.5 percent of students living with a single parent and 8.7 percent decided not to answer.

What does this mean? Quite possibly, our community is affected positively and negatively by single parent households, most of the problematic issues, however are financial.

The issue of money problems for single parents might be because they may not have a job or are not being paid enough for him or her to take care of the family.  This causes stress in the house.  Students may need help with homework, but that parent may work at night or at hours that conflict with the chance to offer help.

Single parents may also have a more difficult time getting to parent teacher conferences, if the hours are not flexible. Some single parents may be working, but can’t afford the high cost of rent and are living in temporary living spaces like a friend’s house, with grand parents, or God forbid in their cars.

Single parent households are not all bleak, but they are a big part of our community because 39.5 percent of students that attend Hawkins live in a single parent household. Those 39.5 percent of students aren’t always getting the financial, academic and emotional support they need because of a lack of support their parents are not getting.

If those issues aren’t fixed, single parents will not be able to succeed, and neither will their children. Good thing the government is there to help children to succeed in their academics. If single parents don’t speak up and vocalize their needs no one will ever know their struggles and the problem will take longer to resolve.

by Janee Simpson