>> People don't realize what
they have until it's gone. >> NARRATOR:
Tonight on "Frontline"... >> We lost our whole house
and everything. >> NARRATOR: Growing up poor. >> And we're going to start with
numbers one through 20. >> I think there's a lot of
people in America that need help with food. >> NARRATOR: Through the eyes
of children. >> Sometimes when I watch people
who, like, walk into their house when we're driving,
I wish that sometimes, like, I had a house like those people. >> NARRATOR: We first met them
five years ago. >> If I could change anything,
it would be being poor. I'm Kaylie, and I'm 15. >> NARRATOR: Now we catch up
with them as teenagers, and see the America they're
growing up in today. ♪ ♪ >> My name is Brittany Smith,
and I'm nine years old. It's tough because my mom and
dad are poor. My dad just lost his job. Come here, boy! Monday I tried getting in the
shower, and it was cold. I put the hot on all the way and
no cold, and it was freezing. It felt like shoving your face
in a bunch of snow. It was freezing! The hot water shut off because
we didn't pay the bill in time. It was overdue. >> So what's the next bill due? >> Electricity. It's going to be $318. We just need to put Roger's ass
to work. >> Yeah. >> When you see the flat-screen
TV and the computers and our PS3 and stuff, that's just things we've
acquired over the years, stuff that we've had before all
this happened, like when we were not this poor. >> Sink's broke. (laughs) I don't know how or why,
but it broke. And the cheapest plumber is,
like, $65 an hour. I can't even afford $20. >> We lived in a farmhouse. My dad lost his job
from Picture Perfect. He got laid off, and we got
kicked out of there. We moved here. It's not very big. We didn't have enough room, so
we had to put stuff in storage, and we lost it all because we
couldn't pay it. >> How storage works is, like,
you put all your stuff in there when you move, but you have to
pay the bill or else it gets thrown out in the street,
because they have a spare key. I don't think it's right, because people shouldn't throw
other people's stuff in the street, because
that's just plain up rude. I got a big make-up thing,
and I lost it in storage. I got a Bratz doll,
I lost it in storage. I lost my favorite teddy bear. I lost my DS. It was great, it was awesome. I'm bummed out because, like,
that was my favorite thing in the world besides my family. (laughs) >> Yeah, caliper's shot. Got to get new pistons,
at least, on it. >> My dad's brakes on the truck
isn't working. One time we almost got
in a wreck. It sounded like nails on a
chalkboard. I hate that sound. When is the cable
being shut off? >> Soon. We owe them almost $200. The cable, the internet,
all that, we don't have the money
to pay it. >> What are you doing? >> Applying for a job. >> Have you applied
to many places? >> This'll be the third Menard's
store I've applied at. Walmart, the anchor place,
quite a few. >> I hope that my dad will
somehow miracle-y get his truck working
and get a good job and so we'll be able to get
money to keep this house, hopefully,
and not get kicked out. ♪ ♪ >> My name is Kaylie Hegwood,
and I live in Stockton, Iowa. Oh, yay! That one was good,
that one was good! And I am ten years old,
and I live with my mother and my brother, Tyler,
and he is 12 years old. I don't think we're a rich
family, but I think, like, we're kind of a poor family. I'm hungry. >> (laughing): I knew you were
going to say that as soon as you... You're going to have to wait,
sis. >> I'm just starving. We don't get the three meals
a day, like breakfast, lunch, and then dinner. When I feel just, like, hungry,
I just, like, feel like I'm so, like,
sad and all droopy, and then I'll begin to feel,
like, weak, and then some in the mornings
I'll be, like, so starving, but then I'll be, like,
"I need some food!" But then, like, I'll get,
like... but then I don't think of food and then I'll just think of
something else and then I'll not be hungry
anymore. >> There's good days and bad
days. Sometimes when we have cereal,
we don't have milk. We have to eat it dry. Sometimes we don't have cereal
and we have milk. It's often, like,
switch and swap. Sometimes, like, when I switch
the channel and there's a cooking show on,
I get a little more hungry, and I want to vanish
into the screen and start eating the food. >> You can't pull at Mom when
I'm doing this. >> Stop pulling.
>> I'm sorry. >> How do you think you have
customers? >> (laughing): Customers. >> I don't want you to freakin'
cut me. >> I'm not gonna cut you.
>> You better not. >> I've been in school long
enough, I won't cut you. >> Or you're dead.
I mean it. My mom, she has very little in
her bank. And, like, she can't pay all of
her bills at the same time. >> My income is $480...
or $1,480, and the total of my bills
is $1,326, and that does not leave me
money for food or gas. I've never seen it this bad. >> My best friend is Jordan, and
we grew up together. We like to go canning to make
money. Cans! With canning, I just walk
around, look for cans, and I walk, like,
around the whole town. The non-squished ones
are five cents. >> And the squished
are two cents. >> Yeah. Some people come over here for
gas, and it's not here anymore. The dance hall, that's broken. Train station, that's still up,
but it's all rotted and stuff. I'll do it nice
and slow for you. Oh, another crushed can! >> In 2004 is when this shut
down. >> And now look at it.
It's crappy. It used to be so... special. Didn't that use to be a movie
theater? >> What? >> That.
>> No. >> What did it use to be?
>> It was the old bank. >> Huh. I bet there's old money in
there. >> I'm not going in there. The floor fell in. >> Well, that would be awesome
if there was, like, thousands and thousands
of dollars. >> Tyler! Those are ours! Drop 'em! Kaylie! >> Drop 'em! >> Kaylie! >> When we can't afford to pay
our bills, like our house bills and stuff,
I'm afraid, like, we'll get homeless. Me and my brother will starve. You never know what'll happen
in your life. So, yeah. ♪ ♪ (train rumbling) (kids chattering) >> My name is Jasmine, and I am
nine years old, and I live with my brothers
Joshua, Jaylen, and Jonny. >> My name is Jonny Davis. I'm 13 years old, going to be
14 in three months. We are in the Salvation Army
homeless shelter. My dad had got a business, and he was making about a good
$5,000 a month. We had good and fancy
things then. We had, like, a three-bedroom
house. Our living room had a 32-inch
flat-screen TV in there. My mom's and dad's room had a
42-inch flat-screen TV in their room. And that's what TV we watched
the Super Bowl on. >> (screaming playfully) >> Those are eggs. Are you serious? >> Yeah. >> Why would you bring that out
here? >> Because. >> Whoa! >> When it was good,
it was good. I can remember having five or
six jobs a month that were lined up back to back,
and I mean decent paying jobs-- $4,000, $5,000, $7,000,
whatever it was. And all of a sudden, just right
about the time when everybody was saying,
you know, "The recession is coming about,
the recession is coming about," people just plain old stopped
fixing on their houses, stopped making repairs. >> The payment on the house was
due in two weeks, and I guess my parents just didn't have the
money at the time, because he was explaining to us
business was slow. And we lost our whole house
and everything. So we're just back
to ground zero. Then we moved to a homeless
shelter. Anything that can fit in a book
bag or a suitcase, you can take it. Whatever you... like this TV, the yellow one in the living
room, that only made it because it
could fit in my bag. If it couldn't fit in my bag, that would've been left behind,
too. >> We have to go. Hurry up, and let's go. >> Hurry, hurry, hurry. My dad works at a factory, and
we drive him there every day. >> In, in, in, in, in. >> Assigned seats, assigned
seats, let's go. >> The journey takes about two
hours there and back. We have to go with our mom
because the rules say that we couldn't be left in the
shelter by ourself because we weren't old enough. >> I thank God that he still has
a chance and an ability to still go out and get
different jobs. >> It's not a career, something
that I want to spend the rest of my working years
doing, but it's something that will provide for us
to have some food. >> ♪ ...road again... ♪ Always driving, always. >> I know this is tough, driving
out here every day, there and back, there and back,
there and back, there and back. It'd be so much easier if you
could go ahead and just grab us a place out
here so you don't have to make the trip back and forth. I look at that little house
every time I ride past. That's a nice one there. >> Sometimes when I watch people
who, like, walk into their house when we're driving,
I wish that sometimes, like, I had a house like those people. >> Is it me or does it seem like
it gets further away every day? ♪ ♪ (traffic passing) (train horn blaring) ♪ ♪ >> Kaylie, what are you
looking at? >> It's loud. ♪ ♪ >> I would just like to go
explore the world. But I'm never going to be able
to do this, because these days everything
is expensive. I watched one show where it said
they're raising the gas prices, and my mom can't even
afford gas. We have to be careful how we use
our gas, how we use everything. >> A lot of times I have to give
my money up to buy groceries and buy gas for the car
and lawnmower. (lawnmower stops) >> (giggles) >> For mowing other people's
lawns and... I got ten dollars, and I put in
six of it for the gas and gave the rest to my mom
for some food and... It's kind of what I do with my
money. I don't think I'm going to do
mowing for a living. (barking) >> The bills here at the house
is just too much for me to handle. And I seen a doctor last week
for depression, and she put me on some
antidepressants and Xanax for my panic attacks. Right now there doesn't seem to
be a way out. So my only options are to give
up my house and move my stuff into storage
and move into the motel room. >> Whoo! >> I mean, I don't even know if
I can find a job when I get out of school. Or if it'll ever get any better. >> Grace, come here! >> (sniffling) (dog barking) I'll have to find day care
for Kaylie. I mean, she's ten, but still... Her and Tyler, they're brother
and sister. They fight. I'll come home and one will be
hanging from the ceiling fan and the other one will be God
knows where. I'm scared. >> I don't want to move. I like living here, because my
friends are nice to me. Like, I just want to stay put
here. We won't get to keep our dog,
Nala. It's extra money, and we're
going to get rid of her. Like, I want to spend as much
time as with her. But then again, I want to spend
time with my friends. (chattering in background) ♪ ♪ (indistinct conversation) >> And there might be a question about whether you get food
stamps or not. We're going to ask you for your
name and your phone number. >> I think there's a lot of
people in America that need help with food. Because they're poor or they're
either homeless, or they're both. We need food for our family. I'm hitting my growth spurt,
and I'm really hungry. My favorite food
is Chinese food. I'm craving that right now. Know what makes me mad? We can't afford it. (laughs) ♪ ♪ >> I think we're probably pretty
good for fourth grade. >> Wolves aren't ballerinas. I've seen a lot of things
in my life... >> (over intercom): Mr. Jaquin?
>> Yes? >> If this is a good time
for you, would you like to send your
students down for the nutrition club? >> I'll have them down there
shortly. >> Nutrition club is a bag of
food that you get every Friday and you have to make last
the whole weekend. They announce in class that you
have to go down for nutrition club
if you're in it. You have to go to the office and
you have to sign your name in for it. And then, um, you go put it in
your locker and then you go back to class. >> Hey, good morning, Brittany.
>> Hey, Brittany. >> I'm surprised by how things
can change so fast. You can go from doing okay, not
having to go hungry, to this-- going hungry and having to pay
all your bills and not being able to... on the verge of being
homeless again. ♪ ♪ >> That'll fit you,
and it's cute. >> Nah. We just found out my mom
is pregnant. She's like a whale. My dad's been working. He's been working for a week
and he has $64 total. >> Definitely not a good time to
have a baby, but I don't believe
in abortion and... >> Mm-mmm. Or adoption. Financially, we're going to be
in a lot more trouble. >> Financially, we'll be
strapped. >> (laughs): Dogs. >> (growls) >> Good Lord. >> Are you okay, Mom? >> Don't throw up. >> Is the baby hurting you? >> Are you going to be alive in
ten seconds? >> Oh, my God, I'm having
a hot flash. >> That's just fanning you,
Logan. I think it would be difficult
for the baby to grow up here because we don't have a lot of
money. >> I think the thing I miss the
most from having all this happen
is the internet. I mean, people don't realize
what they have until it's gone. And, whew, serious World of
Warcraft withdrawals, man. 'Cause, say, in World of
Warcraft, I'm awesome. I'm a level 85 paladin. Tank and healer. And in real life, I'm a
14-year-old boy with nothing going for him. (chuckles) (train horn blaring) ♪ ♪ >> Grr! Nala, she was, like, my dog. Like, she was, like,
my favorite dog. And now we have to take her
to the pound. We have to get rid of Nala,
but not Tanner. Nala's so adorable. Like if you had her,
she would sleep on your bed and she would sleep on you. She's like your
little guard dog. We're getting rid of my perfect
little lovey dog. Yes, Nala, I hear you
stressing out. I love you, Nala. ♪ ♪ >> Does she have any favorite
toys or games? >> She needs lots and lots of
bones. She'll chew one in, like, an
hour, so... (whispering): She hates baths.
>> Oh, yeah. >> Doesn't like baths?
>> No. This is my animal lover.
>> Yeah. She'll have to go into our
isolation room, since she hasn't gotten
any vaccinations yet. So she'll be in an isolated area
right now. All right, sweetie. Do you want the leash and collar
back at all? >> Just the leash.
>> Okay. >> And the collar!
>> Why the collar? She can have it.
>> Collar, Mom... Fine. Meanie. (whimpers) (crying) (barks) ♪ ♪ (wind rustling) >> I got him! >> I thought we were getting
a double bed. >> And there's no mini fridge. Dang it. And there's no microwave. Okay, we have to ask them
about that. >> God. I thought we were getting
a double bed. Damn. >> Well, we're going to have to
ask them about the mini fridge. >> This is small. >> It's going to be small. Plain and simple,
it's going to be small. >> This is as big as my room. >> Yeah? ♪ ♪ (kids shouting playfully) >> Here's one of Tom's old
business cards. >> Oh, yeah, I remember T&C! >> T&C, Tom and Classy. >> Yeah. >> You don't want a lot of
people to find out that you live here. People will make fun of it and, and it can really haunt
you after a while. It starts... you start to have
no friends, people will tease you about it
and stuff like that. >> You getting too big. You always want something extra. >> I don't want nothing extra. >> Yes, you do. You want a phone, you want
shoes... >> I got a phone. I ain't wearing no earth walkers
outside. No, sir. Jordans and Nikes. >> Jonny, Nikes and Jordans are
expensive. >> I know. >> Just for a name,
that makes no sense. You need a job. >> Nike's not expensive. >> Look, I've been buying Josh
shoes after shoes after shoes. I can't afford it. Now what-- Walmart? He gotta take Walmart. What else can I do? At least his feet not dragging
the ground. >> There were some Jordan
flip-flops in there for 30 bucks. Now, that's a great deal. You cannot find no Jordan
flip-flops, the brand-new kind,
for no 30 bucks. They're probably not real,
but guess what? >> Is that a great deal when I
can go to Walmart and buy my... the shoes I'm wearing I got from
Walmart for five dollars. >> I'm talking about name-brand
stuff. That's a good deal, Mama. >> My sandals are nice, right? >> If you listen to it,
it's a good deal. >> You want some of those,
right? See, that's why I like y'all
when y'all small. They accept stuff. You getting too big. Your feet growing. You in grown people's shoes now. (groans) Please stop growing! (chuckles) >> I'm embarrassed because
I'm poor and because I live in a shelter. It makes me feel like I just...
wish I never lived here. >> There's a kid at the school
who looks... dress worser than me. But he has his own house,
though. He got a house to call home. He don't have to go sit down with thousands of people
to eat dinner. He can run to his refrigerator
and open it up. And I can't do that. I have to wait until a certain
time and I have to eat, because if I don't eat, I will
starve all night, until the next morning. >> Make sure you stay in line
so you can get your plate, okay? >> Yes, yes, sir. >> Stand right here, and as soon
as she goes, Jonny, you go after Jasmine. >> As a mother, you always got
different thoughts going through your head
and mind and wishing that you could change things and
wishing things was different. But what are you to do? You can't keep beating yourself
up about it, but at the same time... It's just hard. Having a family is hard. Maintaining a family is hard. Keeping us indoors is hard. (door closes) >> Hey, Mom and Daddy. Guess what I got on my grades? >> What? Oh, oh! >> That's good. >> One for the Willis team. >> That saved you from 70
lashes, didn't it? (laughing) So did you do good? >> I got two A's, two B's,
and two C's. >> Ooh, wow. >> That's what's up, Johnny. >> I have to get you a
skateboard. >> Grades is my only way
out of here. If my grades are not good, I
know I can't go to universities like my dream is to go. I know if my grades are not
good, I can't play football
like I want to. If I don't succeed doing what I
have to do in school and making good grades,
I will fail-- I'm going to live this life,
a life of shelters, going through hard times,
can't feed my kids, trying to figure out where I'm
going to lay my head every night. ♪ ♪ >> Look... Ewww... It's all crunched up
and there's not much space. See? (groans) He takes up the hallway to go
to the bathroom. We had much more space
in the house. Be right back. The cold stuff that needs to be
freezed is in the sink. We don't have a fridge. Just this sink is our fridge. Brush. We have to get ice mostly
every day because it melts during night. When I struggle for money,
there's nothing to eat. All there is is cans of
vegetables. So I've been eating vegetables. There's really not enough food. If I could change anything,
it would be being poor. I really don't want to be poor
because then you can't get... Because then how can you pay
rent, how can you get food, how can you get a roof over your
head if you're gonna be poor? ♪ ♪ >> All I want is to play
football, but football is expensive. I can name a few items I need
and want for my sports, but I just got to wait on it
till next time Mama can afford it. >> Ooh, good one, good one. >> I'm 14. My life is almost over,
until I'm a grown man. And if I don't have the
opportunity to show somebody to play football, football won't
exist in four years from now. If I don't get to play on a team
this year, that dream is going to slowly
start fading away. That's what happens to some of
the dreams of kids. They pertain to something and
they can't afford it. (baby crying) >> It's a boy. The baby's a boy. >> He wants a bottle. >> I was really hoping for a
little sister, but, you know, you get what you get. Went back to work for the
company that I used to work for, and they're not doing the
greatest, either. I'd say I got maybe a week's
worth of work, and then they're going to be
closing up shop from this local office and only
keeping one of the three branches open,
you know. So it's just temporary,
but it's something. Temporary fix to
a long-term problem. >> No more babies. I got my tubes tied
after I had him. I love him and I wouldn't mind
having more, but we can't afford it. >> The babies' futures are going
to be weird and messed up. Life is going to be hard because
there's hardly gonna be any jobs left in the future,
or any money. Then rich people will be poor,
and like this. Like you. You might get poor in the last
few months. You never know. ♪ ♪ >> My mom can't sign us up
for school. My mom says that we're going
to go, we're going to get in school
when we move into the trailer
that we are getting. >> The trailer is very livable,
it has floors. We're going to be redoing it. >> Am I going to have to crawl
in with the snakes to get the pipes unfrozen? >> No, no.
It's all... >> The best thing to do is put
hay bales around it. >> I know, we're going to get
some of those and do that. But we're going to be moving the
trailer probably in a couple of summers, but
that'll be two years away, because we have to have
a two-year lease. >> What? >> If I keep missing school,
>>then I see my future poor, on the streets, in a box,
not even. And... asking for money
everywhere, everybody, and then stealing stuff from
stores and, you know... I don't want to steal stuff. I don't want to do
any of that stuff. I want to get an education
and a good job. I believe that I'm going to get
a perfect job that I like
and that I want to do. People can't stop you from
believing in your own dreams. ♪ ♪ >> Barack Obama has been
reelected. The 44th president. >> ...warning Chicago to expect
dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills... >> The soaring price of
gasoline, now $3.67 a gallon... >> Detroit is now the largest
U.S. city to file for bankruptcy... >> ...shelters to stay open 24
hours a day instead of... >> ...leaving millions
struggling to find opportunity in the land that always
promised it. >> My fellow Americans,
it has been the honor of my life to serve you. ♪ ♪ >> Donald Trump is the next
president of the United States. >> I'm Kaylie and I'm now 15,
turning 16 in a month or so. I've moved to a trailer,
then I moved to a duplex, and then I moved here. And we've been here for almost a
year and a half, two years. Ow, that actually hurt. >> I'm Tyler, I'm 18 years old
now. I would still say we're, we're
kind of stuck in a hole, but it's... it's better than
what it was before. Mom, she was working at night,
she was in third shifts, and they worked her 40 hours, 50
hours a week at third shift, so she was sleeping
in the morning. If I didn't wake up
in time for school, I was late
and she couldn't call me in. I racked up a couple hundred
detentions, and I dropped out and stopped
going to school, and they didn't call my mom,
they didn't care. So I felt like they just kind of
dropped me off like a piece of trash, almost. (water running) >> Bella, oh, my God,
I'm so happy I got her. She cuddles with me,
actually cuddles. She'll sit there and lay on my
chest all night. Bella, can I get underneath your
chin? Are you gonna let me? It's important for me
to have a dog because it's kind of like
therapy. Come on, lift up-- lift up. Bella helps me feel safe. Everyone surrounding me is
getting cancer. My grandma was diagnosed with
mucosal melanoma cancer. My grandma, she gives a lot. Without her, we wouldn't have
this house, my mom wouldn't have her car,
like, I wouldn't have a phone. We wouldn't have anything
without her. >> You could be put
on your feet, but there's always something
putting you back to the ground, and pulling you back. Well, there's gravity, but
there's other things, too. >> My mom, she was then
diagnosed with cancer. She was diagnosed
with ovarian cancer. >> I was supposed to go to the
specialist this week and schedule the surgery. But they won't see me because
they don't accept Iowa Medicaid. >> It kind of makes me afraid,
like, when I get older, what'll happen to me. Because my grandma and my mom
got it, I'm bound to get it, maybe. Maybe if luck's on my side,
I won't, but... How long are you gonna be
out of work? >> Well, it was supposed to be
two months, a month to two months. Now it's probably going to be
closer to three, maybe four. >> Sometimes I'm not sad about
things that happen. Sometimes I am. I think I've just gotten so used
to bad things happening, I just don't care anymore. (train horn blaring) ♪ ♪ >> I'm Brittany and I'm now 15
years old. My hair isn't blonde anymore
because I dye it, which is one of my hobbies,
I guess. I like to do different stuff
with my hair. And I like it. And I'm probably not going to
stop until all of my hair is gone. (chuckles) >> Give me one of these ones. I'm Roger and I'm now 19. Graduated high school
a year and a half early. I got a job, I've gotten a few
different jobs. I've just been working,
been working and sleeping. (chuckles) >> Zakkary, one... >> Mommy. I'm playing. >> It's not a toy, you see that? That's germs, that's gross. Put your chair back. >> My little brother Zakk turned
five. Zakk is autistic. To help him,
we'll count with him and we'll help him try to read
and stuff like that. >> B is for... >> Ball and... bee. >> Yeah. >> I love that little guy,
he's so awesome. He's helped pull the family
together and definitely takes a lot of
stress out of the day. (Zakk coughs) There's your dragon. I think my monster could kick
your monster's butt, dude. (crashes) (laughs) Well, dang! >> Middle school was filled with
drama. And I hated it so much. People would bully me
because I was poor. It distracted me from focusing
on my grades 'cause they would, like, pass notes and everything
saying that I look ugly and that I needed money. My lowest point was getting
expelled and getting held back. And my highest point was, you
know, finally, like, graduating middle school. And I felt, like,
super-proud of myself. I like art and creativity because you get away
from the real world. It just helps me a lot. >> It's definitely gone up and
down over the past five years. (truck starts) Work's unsteady. It'll be going good for, you
know, a week or two, a month, and then out of nowhere, all the
bills pile up and just we can't seem to find
any money any way. >> I know that my parents try to
make it less stressful for us, but Dad will come home with a
really bad paycheck and then I'll just, like,
start doubting everything. We won't be able to pay bills,
is what I keep thinking. And I'm thinking that we're not
gonna be able to pay rent. We're gonna be sitting on the
streets or something like that, and just every time that
happens, it pops up in my head. You know, being stressed out and
everything is part of life. >> What can I get for you? >> I just need to pick up these,
two shower doors and a storm door. >> You betcha. >> My dad, he just recently
got his job back at Lowe's, and that's when I started
with him, too. I think I've gotten myself into
the business to where it's always gonna be
there, you know? People are always gonna need
sidings, and I always figured if this
didn't work out, build toilets. Everybody's always gonna need
to take a crap. (laughs) I never really thought that
I'd still be at home, but I don't make enough money
to make it on my own. I just think at this point
in my life, I don't need to be happy
right now-- I need to make everything I need
to and get the ball rolling. >> Most kids around here,
they do graduate high school, but hardly any of them
ever go to college. Because, you know,
college is expensive. I want to go to college, because I feel like I could do
better. But then other times, I get
doubts of how, like, you know, what if I get a bad job and end
up like this with my kids? (sighs) ♪ ♪ (chattering) I'm Jasmine and I'm 14,
turning 15 in December. Right now we're in a hotel
because we're waiting for my mom and dad to find us
somewhere to live. (laughing) Jonny is in Chicago
with my grandma. I haven't really heard from him
since the last time that we saw him. I miss Jonny because,
um, he-he listened, and he was somebody
that I could talk to. >> What you doing?
>> Homework. >> Homework? >> The hardest parts for me were
jumping from school to school. I'm not blaming it on this
situation, but my grades aren't bad,
but they're not as good as they should be. >> So have they offered you
tutoring there? >> It's not in the classes that
I need. >> Really? >> They don't help me with math. >> Well, if you really need it,
and you really need to stay after school, then you
can get the tutoring, Jasmine. I just got to come get you. Okay? >> Mm-hmm. I don't think it's my parents'
fault because they're moving so we
could have somewhere to stay and so we can be stable. For you to get a house, that
takes time and work and money. >> It's like a game,
the hurry up and wait. You waiting on answers to see
when you can move or when you can get in or... >> You can have one year where
everything is fine, but that next coming year,
you catch a bad cold and it's all over with.
>> Yep. >> And sometimes it means
picking up and leaving, going somewhere to try to start
over to try to get a better fit for your family. >> I feel like, with the parents
that I have, it's going to come eventually. Right now, he-he cleans windows. >> But the thing is is that you
make up in your mind, like I said, whether you gonna
survive or not. So I choose to go ahead and try
to make an honest dollar. >> People don't know half of the
stuff that he does to make sure that we're stable
and we're okay. And... He tries harder
than people think. (crying) ♪ ♪ >> I'm Jonny. I'm 19 now. I live with my grandmother
in Chicago. With my parents, they couldn't
stay stable and moving around a lot
of places, and I knew it was going to be
a problem for me academically as far as my life situation. I guess I started hanging out
with the wrong people. I ended up going to jail. When I went to jail that day,
it was, like, "You've really fallen off. "You let yourself fall off. "You went from all this good
stuff happening to you, "you gonna be, you know what I'm
saying, a good football player." Scouts was coming to see me at
practices and asking about me, and wanting me to play on their
team, to "Now you smoking weed and you
got locked up and all that." It was just like a reality check
to myself. Like, "You've really fallen off. You need to get back on track." And this was my wake-up call,
I guess. I came up here to start over. If you fall, you gotta get up,
dust it off, and keep on going. That's the only thing you can
do. Till you get to the top. I work for HMR Designs. It's a party and wedding
designing company. Just working to this point till
I enroll in school this spring. When spring come around,
I could still end up going to the school I want to go to, which is Louisiana State
University. Going there and pursuing this
football dream. There we go, come on, get open. Oh, yeah. Oh, gotta go for it. Let's go! You can come check on me five
years from now, I'll be somewhere, playing for
somebody's team in the NFL. Everybody knows the American
Dream-- oh, go to college,
and go live your life. That's all I want to do. Living my dream and take care of
my family. That's it. ♪ ♪ (laughing) >> I would not do that. ♪ ♪ >> I was sitting at home till I
was just, like, "Why am I sitting here doing
nothing when I could be finishing high school?" I see how hard it is for my mom,
'cause she didn't finish school. I think I started two days late
but I was, like, "I need to get in there and do
it now." A lot of teachers have been
telling me that, uh, it's better late than never. But I'm right there at the edge
of being too late! (laughs) >> I'm gonna laugh if he falls. Ready? >> Oh! >> Told you! ♪ ♪ >> I wouldn't choose this life, but it's kind of showing me
what can happen. I would take this experience and use it to make myself
a better person by learning from it and knowing
what not to do. My hopes for the future would be
to have a house and my own room and my own space, but you can't
really have everything you want. ♪ ♪ >> If I have kids, I would not
want them to be growing up like this. No matter what I go through,
I'll still, like, you know, want to try and try and try to
be better. >> There've probably been many
children who've grown up in a poor household,
became rich in the future, which I believe I can. Um, but it's a 50-50 chance. But the most thing I'm afraid of
is becoming like my mom. No offense, she tried her best, but I'm scared to death
of becoming like her. Her financial situation and
things that's happened to her that affects how she acts. If I become like her,
I don't know. I'll cross that bridge
when I get there. You know. ♪ ♪ I know it's gonna be really
hard. But maybe someday in my future, I'll graduate from college
and push through life. ♪ ♪ >> For more on this and other
"Frontline" programs, visit our website at
pbs.org/frontline. Frontline's "Poor Kids"
is available on DVD. To order, visit shopPBS.org
or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS. "Frontline" is also available
for download on iTunes. ♪ ♪
Why the timestamp?
Anybody have a mirror? Video is unavailable for me.
Anyone got a mirror for someone in Canada?
The girl at the end who thinks it's a 50/50 chance that she'll grow up to be rich makes me sad, this is a failure in our education system and one reason media can damage people's perception, less than 10% of the United States make more than $100,000 a year and they are almost always people born into benefits we no longer enjoy.
Millennials make up more than 35% of the workforce for 5 years and have less than 5% of the nation's wealth, these kids are most likely going to have even less, unless we start fixing the last generations mistakes.
Edit: I should not have mentioned that it was a problem with our "education system" as she still has several years left and plenty of opportunity to be taught what to expect after school, however, in my PERSONAL experience, I was woefully underprepared for the real world and for that I can say that public education failed me.
Sources:
Millennials make up 35% of the labor force
Millennials own less than 5% of the nations wealth
Boomers had 21% of the nations wealth at the same age
My source was apparently outdated, it is now the top 20% make more than 100,000 dollars according to the IRS While my number was off the point still remains, it isn't even close to a 50/50 chance. It isn't even an 80/20 chance, because she has to work significantly harder to overcome obstacles that come with being born into a poor family.
Pretty depressing. Content like this should be mandatory viewing for anyone working for the government where it seems like there is a huge lack of empathy. The Pentagon and their cronies wasting billions on bombs while people go hungry can rot in hell.
bu but... all they have to do is work really hard and believe in themselves right?
1 in 5 kids living in poverty but we allow Bezos to amass 200 billion in assets. Sad
Well that was a horrible thing to watch on the last day of a horrible year. It truly shows the break and helplessness of the US. It was a great piece but soul crushing and horrible at the same time.
Wow that hit close to home. Most of this takes place in my hometown, where there was such a disparity between wealth and poverty. I remember spending nights in that same shelter.