A Reflection on Kozol

I decided to do a reflection on Kozol. The living situations that he pointed out really made me stop and think about my own life. All through the reading I found myself saying thinkgs like "I could never live like that" or "I don't know how these people deal with living like this". The way that some people have to live is really just terrible, and it makes me wish there was something I could do to stop it.

The first thing that really stuck out to me was when Kozol described how families had to sleep every night. In the winter time, all parents can do is give their children the warmest clothes they can find and "hope they wake up in the morning", as one father said to Kozol. Imagine going to sleep every night, wondering if you or your family will wake up in the morning. It must be a horrific feeling. I found myself realizing that this is something we all take for granted: a warm bed at night, never worrying if we'll wake up in the morning. The sad part is, too many families in New York still suffer through this every night when they go to sleep.

The next thing that really struck me was when the little boy, Cliffie, took Kozol on a walk around the neighborhood. Cliffie explained things to Kozol like he was perfectly okay with his situation; like it was completely normal for every kid to grow up this way. Kozol says that Cliffie explained how he saw another boy shot in the head, in a voice that wasn't "particularly sad".   

The last situation that really stood out to me was that of the woman who had lost her welfare benefits. She lost her benefits for an alledged "computer mistake". Now, she was having trouble qualifying for those benefits again. Kozol tells how the woman's son speculates that perhaps his mother isn't eating, because if she starves herself enough, she might get sick enough to qualify for welfare again. That is one of the saddest things from the whole reading: that someone would actually have to abuse their body in order to obtain the necessary benefits to survive.