Child poverty is one of the most detrimental factors for children's development. Growing up, I observed how this can seriously hamper a child if not handled appropriately. In the article "Poverty as a Childhood Disease" by Perri Klass highlights some of the difficulties that children living below the poverty line would face, such as lack of food, clothes to wear or the quantity cognitive stimulation they need. to enable them to be better students. Poverty is like a genetic disease that is passed down from generation to generation until someone or something intervenes, or until someone breaks the cycle. Poverty has poisoned my family's life for many generations. My mother and father both grew up in rural Jamaica, where they made a living from farming. My grandfather owned many acres of land, but that didn't stop him from living in Jamaica. When we were back in Jamaica, my mother not only owned a bar, but she also sold the crops she would grow. My father at the time was in America and could only minimally support us financially because he worked in a grocery store and also threw his money into alcohol. With the little monetary support my mother received, she had to support four children with clothing, food and education. In Jamaica, because school has to be paid for, it can be financially difficult to send three children to high school, but she managed it somehow. Living in a two-bedroom house, one used for his bar and the other for his living quarters, my older siblings overcame the first hurdle. Getting high grades in school and only needing to work when they were older and wanted a taste of freedom. They are proof that poverty doesn't have to cripple your cognitive development if you treat it early. My older brother, because of the foundation laid by my mother, is not a registered nurse from a nice family living in the United States.