The effect of poverty on teens

Life threatening poverty is a condition that should never be allowed to exist in the richest countries of the world. But poverty exists in many forms. The effects of poverty on children who are developing through their teenage years depends on the type, length and conditions of the poverty.



The overall concerns are the negative effects that poverty introduces when children are developing into adults. They should be beginning to realize that a much larger world exists and is worth their interest, that they are responsible for the consequences of their actions, and that there is less shelter from the truth when major events occur. Poverty can warp, twist, or arrest the ways in which teenagers undergo their physical, emotional, and intellectual development into adulthood.a teenager who comes into poverty later in life can adjust to become a successful, highly motivated adult.



When poverty is a lifelong proposition, it does not mean that a teenager will develop into a lesser form of human being. In fact, honor, values, beliefs and community structure can produce well formed individual under conditions that most of us would consider horrific. But lack of food, medical care, and other horrific social conditions may cause lifelong physical, emotional and intellectual impairments. Without a solid community and family structure, the overall lack of basic subsistence will cause preventable and inexcusable deaths that can give a child a warped view of the value of life.



When poverty is temporary or occurs later in life, teenagers are tossed into a perfect storm of "You can't have this anymore" or "You can't do this anymore". This might be a helpful thing for teens in healthy families who need to learn how  to give up one thing in order to have another that is more important or necessary in life.