Underprivileged seems too much of a fancy word for its meaning.
According to Merriam-Webster, it means “deprived through social or economic condition of some of the fundamental rights of all members of a civilised society”
Even the definition sounds fancy but it is anything but fancy depending on who is asked.
To me, it always seems like an umbrella word that sounds nice and fancy enough for “rich” people to throw around when they are helping. It always seems like posturing to me, but there is a handout; they are providing help, so who am I to say “maybe don’t tag these kids as underprivileged.”
It is a tag that has always made me very uncomfortable saying it. It makes people look at the individuals tagged that way different, lower maybe.
When you tag people underprivileged, all that is imagined are people with their hands out for a handout. The tagged kids, individuals as well, all they see themselves as, are people who can or should sit and wait for the “privileged” to give. The synonyms to this word are needy, impoverished, poor, depressed, destitute etc.. that says a lot.
There is no umbrella term that should be used to describe kids, individual at a disadvantage when it comes to learning. Their “situation” should be spelled out because people are who you tag them to be. They sometimes morph into a description of them and stay there, they are comfortable in that and that adds more to their already perceived disadvantage.
This tag can adversely affect self esteem of students we are trying to help, trying to integrate into a robust and working educational system. It can be alienating to be thought of as the underprivileged kid, and therefore affect their reasons to learn, their motivation to learn, to engage with their peer.
Based on the role that self-esteem plays in education, lets, maybe not tag kids, individuals, people as underprivileged, especially when we are assuming a savior role.
What are your thoughts?
Am I overthinking the use of the term?
Should we maybe be more focused on the fact that people are helping instead of the tags?
Are there adverse effects of these tags on the self-esteem of the kids/individuals?
Do you agree with the writer?
What are your own thoughts on the use of the tag “Underprivileged”
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This is an Opinion Based Post written by Yewande Awolana.
