Down here at the pawn shop

[DanaC]

Literacy coaching in a mandated programme for the terminally unemployed had its moments.

[Griff]

I spent a college summer doing GED training with adults, I might be wearing my rosey shades but it seems much more rewarding than large group classroom work.

[DanaC]

Were your students forced to attend under threat of having their welfare stopped?

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Were your students forced to attend under threat of having their welfare stopped?

Groan...

[DanaC]

It all came under the banner of 'Basic Skills' and then later, 'Skills for Life'.

Literacy, numeracy, jobsearch skills, living well skills (how to follow cooking instructions, how to prepare vegetables, how to manage money).

The skills that weren't mentioned on the course description included how to wash clothes, how to button up a shirt properly, how to tie a tie, how to access housing support, how to get in touch with the emergency shelters in cases of domestic abuse, how to 'manage our anger' for people with behavioural issues, and how to use notes and coins without getting ripped off.

Terrifying how many adults are out there with barely functional literacy and numeracy.

Not all our students were unwilling. Many took the opportunity to try and resolve something which had been blighting their lives since childhood. And we had a range of abilities from total illiteracy, as in unable to point out own name on a register, to gcse level (High school completion) who'd somehow been directed our way, all together. Some with a few issues around basic literacy, some with dyslexia, and some with more complex learning disabilities.

[xoxoxoBruce]

There was an American on the news last night. He invaded Normandy on D-Day, won 13 medals, was married with children for 62 years. Now his wife is dead and he's in trouble, because he can't read a lick... not a damn word.

[DanaC]

What always used to upset me, were people struggling along on scant benefits just having to trust the shopkeeper and the bus driver and the windowcleaner to give the right change and not to take too much when they proffer a handful of coins. It's their vulnerability that gets to me.

Or the ones who just got put off by early schooling and then labelled 'stupid'. 50 year olds still caught up in this image of themselves that was set when they were tiny children. And for all their coping mechanisms, the one thing they can't get around is the moment when their child asks them to help with homework.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Were your students forced to attend under threat of having their welfare stopped?

I don't think so but that was back in the 20th century.

[Sundae]

Nanny and Grandad were functionally illiterate.

Dads is dyslexic - he can read a book (slowly) but forms and paperwork baffle him. If Mum died I'd be his reading eyes.

He left school at 14 - legal then - but he missed quite a bit of school because he had to be put in quarantine; Uncle Charlie had TB. Didn't help him, he caught TB himself at 21. Still - he quit smoking and proposed to his nurse... No, not my Mum! Dad was engaged THREE times. Cheeky beggar, just wanted to get his end away.

[tw]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Terrifying how many adults are out there with barely functional literacy and numeracy.

From The Economist of 16 Feb 2013:

Here is a test. Suppose you had $100 in a saving account that paid an interest rate of 2% a year. If you leave the money in the account, how much would you have accumulated after five years: more than $102, exactly $102, or less than $102? ... But a survey found that only [slightly more than] half of American aged over 50 gave the correct answer. ... it is hardly surprising that they struggle to deal with the small print of mortgage and insurance contracts.

The solution seems obvious: provide more financial education. ... A survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland reported that "Unfortunately, we do not find conclusive evidence that, in general, financial education programmes do lead to greater financial knowledge, and ultimately to better financial behaviour."

(The authour was clearly British.)

A problem is traceable to something even seen here. Eyes glaze over when numbers are provided. Many foolishly believe car loans are acceptable. Having an outstanding balance on that credit card is acceptable behavior. But the problem is even worse. Essential is to retrain so many into what is necessary to know anything. Always want and demand numbers. Ignoring ‘perspective’ is akin to illiteracy.

Again The Economist:

The survey found that one in every five American households is "underbanked" meaning they have a bank account but also rely on alternative solutions - typically high-cost products such as pay-day loans, cheque-cashing services, non-bank money orders, or pawn shops.
Not all the unbanked are poor, nor do all poor people lack bank accounts. But the rate of the unbanked among low-income households (defined in the FDIC survey as those below $15,000) is more than three times the overall rate. The proportion of poor Americans without an account compares particularly badly with other rich places.

UT describes Norristown as the ghetto. Norristown is the county seat for one of (if not the) Pennsylvania's richest county. Norristown is far from a ghetto. It is typical of what happened to so many American towns after 2000. Eliminate the super rich from numbers. Left is vast numbers of Americans who are impoverished. A great income disparity.

46 million Americans now live below the poverty line. Numbers that have not been seen since Johnson's war on poverty. And numbers that are actually only now reporting what was happening four and ten years ago. A legacy of trickle down economics. And a trend that can only change when income disparities start decreasing. (A higher minimum wage is one part of a solution.)

Poverty is defined by a family of four living on $20,000 (12,800 pounds or 14,800 Euros) annually. A larger percentage of those poverty numbers include young kids. Perspective provided by numbers explains why Norristown - the ghetto - represents what was happening to large parts of America after 2000 when America stopped growing (except with the super rich).

[tw]

Many are encouraged to use a 'trust me' attitude. Everything in life must involve perspective. Too many do not automatically demand hard numbers, in part, because so many are encouraged to think in terms of black and white. “We will tell you what to think.” Extremist can enrich and empower themselves by mocking those who provide facts with numbers.

Banks think their purpose is profits; screw the customer. Making banks little different from the mafia. Banks routinely ignore innovation that would reduce costs. To make possible services to the poorest Americans. Their ‘profits’ attitude from business schools leave so many consumers dependent on money orders, pawn shops, pay-day loans, and no savings.

Those who least afford the most expensive financial services are stuck using them. Payday loans are money borrowed at 300% interest. Who created these payday services? Investigations discovered that when banks were banned from offering them, then banks simply created shell companies to provide payday loans at 300% interest. Because many banks are little different from the mafia – that also does loan sharking; screw the customer.

Norristown is not a ghetto. But it reflects today what was created after Clinton left office. A legacy of ARMs, tax cuts, wars, blame the workers, and trickle down economic myths. Made worse by institutions and politicians that encourage everyone to know by ignoring numbers. Who even approve of shorting pension funds to make profits look better.

How many appreciate the foolishness (perspective) of a credit card with an outstanding balance? Anyone doing that is only enriching the rich at their own personal expense. Why, by percentage, do Americans more than any other nation not even have a bank account? Many no longer learn in daily activities that everything has perspective defined by numbers. No wonder some argue over $2 for a money order when bill payments via a bank account should be and could be free.

Only one reason why Norristown, county seat of a richest county, acts much like a ghetto.

[Lamplighter]

Here is a test. Suppose you had $100 in a saving account
that paid an interest rate of 2% a year. If you leave the money in the account,
how much would you have accumulated after five years: more than $102, exactly $102, or less than $102? ...
But a survey found that only [slightly more than] half of American
aged over 50 gave the correct answer. ... it is hardly surprising that
they struggle to deal with the small print of mortgage and insurance contracts.

<snip>

TW, that's not a fair question... you didn't specify which bank held the account.

If half the people had their account with Bank of America (or it's ilk),
there would be less, not more, and certainly not the same amount left,
after all the monthly service fees and cashier charges were deducted.
.

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by tw

UT describes Norristown as the ghetto. Norristown is the county seat for one of (if not the) Pennsylvania's richest county.

Serious reading comprehension error.

I describe the Logan/Olney section of Philadelphia as the ghetto.

I do not work in Norristown. I would love to work in Norristown. I have never mentioned Norristown in this thread.

[Sundae]

OMG. Olney is the ghetto?
I'm buggered then.

[Undertoad]

Olney is indeed the name of the neighborhood and sorry to say you wouldn't want to visit.

Olney is named after the estate of Alexander Wilson (not the ornithologist), who resided on Rising Sun Avenue, near Tacony Creek. Wilson chose the name for his residence because of his love for the poet William Cowper, of Olney, England.

The residents of north Philadelphia prefer to pronounce it with three syllables, "Awl-uh-knee"