Push Blog 1

     There are many problems in American social institutions that Sapphire is trying to bring to the attention of the audience throughout the novel. Every country has a system and every system has a flaw. The American system is extremely flawed and these flaws tend to reflect in the drastically different way people from different socioeconomic levels are served.

One of the first institutions that Sapphire is highlighting the problems of is that of education. The education system in the United States needs to be completely restructured and better meet the needs of all children, especially those that are economically and therefore socially disadvantaged. It has been proven time and time again that students do better and have more success in smaller classroom sizes, but society is slow to make this change. New York City is paving the way by shutting down schools that are not meeting performance standards and opening more focused schools that can give children the time and attention they need to be successful. We also need to make sure that schools are equipped with the necessary materials to have students be successful. When I was in high school, I read a story about a high school that did not have running water in the chemistry labs, had text books that were about twenty years old, did not have a functioning cafeteria and teachers that did not teach. The education system needs more teachers and people like Miss Rain, whom actually care about the students and have expectations for them.

Another institution that Sapphire highlighted in the novel through there multiple failures to protect Precious is the welfare system. Precious should have been immediately taken away from her parents, but no one cared enough to do anything to protect her. Instead, she was physically, mentally, emotionally, and sexually abused for years on end. Her social worker encouraged her to do better, but would recorded that she did not think Precious was capable of more than cleaning toilets, when she should have been trying to find and provide the resources that would have allowed her to be successful. As sad is it to say that the social worker failed her, I honestly do not think it is surprising. Social workers have too many cases on their plate to be as effective as they should be, and that is where both the state and federal government failed Precious. Both levels of government should have provided more resources for the social workers to better serve their clients.

     The medial and judicial institution also both failed Precious. The doctors and nurses should have followed through when they realized what type of home situation Precious was dealing with. Instead, they just passed her off to the police, whom she did not trust. The medical professionals should have stayed with her and encouraged to utilize the police as a resource and a tool. The police should have done more by investigating and finding out what was really going on in Precious’s home life.

     Multiple intuitions failed Precious repeatedly. It is stories like this that motivate me. I want to be a resource and tool for those who are under privileged and guide them to the resources they need to be successful. Public health allows me to do that. I can utilize what I have learned here at SCSU about research, program planning, health promotion, and environmental health to create a better life for people, because they can not create it themselves.