Poverty's impact on Michael's emotional health and academic progress

Poverty has affected Michael's emotional health and academic progress on a variety of levels. Emotionally, he is often acting out and engaging in delinquent behavior as a result of his basic lack of role models. His father has been an inadequate role model, as his mismatching actions and words have negatively affected Michael's sense of trust. It appears that he feels he can trust only himself, and is therefore unsusceptible to leadership by adults.

The school district and Sue Wilson both want Michael to succeed academically. Sue believes that this can only be achieved by means of building a positive relationship with Michael. She is attempting to help Michael reach the school's requirements by providing him with positive input on a regular basis.

3.

In the short-term, both Sue Wilson and the school district are working to help Michael understand the consequences of his behavior. He is beginning to understand that negative behavior leads to negative consequences, and that the reverse is also true. The short-term should mainly include goals to repair Michael's emotional wounds. Academic goals should be the focus of long-term therapy.

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