>>The destruction of family structure is a wider issue, and this part of it is one of the tips of that iceberg. And of course their kids are performing badly - they don't have the adults to learn basic civilization from, the mother being forced to work two jobs just to survive. Mother absent, nobody else available most of the time, where will these kids learn even simple skills others may take for granted (just to mention getting around in a grocery, knowing what products to avoid, handling various automata... all the way to finding their way around an airport, large hotel etc). They never even see those things.
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>My mom was a first grade teacher for many years. Her first school was in a quite poor section of Philadelphia. One of the things she thought was essential was taking her kids on trips that got them out of the neighborhood, so they could simply see other ways of life. They visited museums, the zoo, and other places. At the end of each school year, she'd bring the whole class to her house for a picnic. Again, an opportunity to see that there were other ways of life.
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>Tamar

From pre-school on I remember taking a number of these types of day trips. The thing I found strange is each year when our class went to a cattle ranch. Particularly, ours. What's so "other" about how I grew up? ;)