Why Poverty Puts All Texans At Risk 

The editorial, Why poverty puts all Texans at risk, argues against the poverty effects to neighborhoods in Houston’s Fourth Ward. The journalist, as a part of The Dallas Morning News, claims that poverty is “the grim reality” affecting all of us –Texans. The poverty line low-income families have to face, in the writer’s point of view, has not been just about a “moral” issue, but a healthcare and educational cost matter. Not much support is given to the argument. Basically, the writer just states the footnotes of Dr. Seema Yasmin, another staff journalist of The Dallas Morning News. This makes the journalist lose some credibility since no effort was placed in researching the article titled Poverty could boost tropical diseases’ toll in Texas.

The writer neglects to include more factual statistics of the effects poverty has on the kids and families. Only a few examples are given such as the “38 percentage rate of Dallas children” living in poverty, making Dallas the “highest rate” in the nation. This is just a general statement. A case study closer to home would be a perfect attention grabber. The reader needs more specific ways explaining how the local government would decrease the poverty lines from its streets for the future generations, giving hope to families reading this article. Mentioning how “90 percent of the kids” are on “free or reduced” lunch plays a minor part of the argument for education. Another broadly generalized idea of how too much “processed food” causes “heart disease or diabetes” for these families unable to pay for higher quality food, just seems very blunt and uncalled for.  There were no supporting facts by a health professional or doctor to back up these claims.

Overall, I agree partially with the argument of how low- income families have to face a hard decision when it comes to their well-being. However, the writer was unable to keep the audience’s attention since no deeper research was done for this area of Houston. The editorial finishes with loose ends, by just giving a weak finish to the article: “The city has too much to lose to let these issues languish.”  Nothing to resolve the issue, just as if all the effects of poverty were being pushed aside and no one had a claim to resolve them anytime in the near future.  

Dallas School District Makes Recess Mandatory

On Friday, February 5, the Texas Monthly, published an article titled Dallas ISD Made Recess Mandatory, And Here’s Why That’s Important. It explained an approved policy for the Dallas Independent School District, requiring all students from prekindergarten to fifth grade to obtain mandatory recess. Rhea, the founder of the LiiNK (Let’s Inspire Innovation ‘N Kids) Project, investigated the multiple connections between a set recess time and academic achievement improvements. In her research, Rhea found multiple benefits for the kids that obtained this time off during the day. For example, in one of the studies, adding “four fifteen-minute recesses” during the day allowed the students to be “more focused" and  "have less behavioral problems". This article makes the reader think outside the box regarding small adjustments that can be made in our current school system’s requirements. Regardless if this policy goes into effect for other school districts, always finding ways to improve our current education policies should be a priority, especially since I am a college student. It is necessary to think about changes to improve education methods for the upcoming generations.