Each day, approximately 1 billion children live in fear and poverty. Most children who are underprivileged are forced to live in difficult environments. Taking the time understand the hardships these children endure, you will be eager to invest yourself in contributing to making them safe and happy. Their families’ existing backgrounds force them into gruesome situations, despite their innocence. The struggles of the children range from not having food to living in potentially dangerous environments. A smile on their faces will mean the world to them. There are many events that occur to make this possible, all of which aim to make underprivileged children feel truly happy. The Holiday Festival at my New Jersey high school is a perfect example of an event that accomplishes this.

The Holiday Festival is a one-day event that hosts multiple activities that revolve on providing joy to the children. The festival also provides safety for the children who might not have complete security at home. The festival consists of students escorting a child selected for them and trying to make their day as special as possible. The main goal is to make them feel like they are the center of the escorts attention at all times. The attention must be on the child at all times because the festival is their special day to feel relieved of the stress at home. Something so little as the escort listening to what the child has to say or watching something that the child wants to show the student can make a huge impact on them. Everything counts to the children because they try to take as much out of their one day as they are able to. They must feel like they are important and that they are worth the while of the escort. The students should be tolerant of the kids while still keeping the child under control. The children receive gifts from the escorts and there are many fun activities that the children do not often get the chance to enjoy. The gifts are specially picked by the escort. The student may purchase anything appropriate they feel would make their child as happy as they can be. An example of something fun the school provides for the children would be a bouncy house. There are also sweets, treats, and drinks for the kids to pick for their liking. When the child first looks at the treats and bouncy houses and all of the things specially provided for them, they can’t do anything but smile. When they open the gifts that the student bought for them, all they can do is smile. When they are walking to the next activity through the hallway, and they have a smile from ear to ear, all you can do is think about how much those smiles mean to them. The kids live through countless days where there is minimal excitement but one day at the Holiday Festival brings immediate joy to the children. But, the kids still might have fun at their house and play games with their friends and siblings, but the odds are high that they are not the safest. The Holiday Festival offers one of the few chances they get to truly be safe and joyful.

One day of true joy and safety is essential to the children because of the hardships they endure. Looking at the kids when they are at the festival, they seem happy and energized. But at home, they may feel no happiness because of the stress they have to constantly live with. According to PBS, in 2011, about 16 million children were living in poverty. In comparison to other age groups, this number is significantly higher. Ages 18-64, the poverty rate was 13.4 percent. The senior group was 8.7 percent poverty rate. Today, most of these children live in houses with a single mother trying to support her family. According to PBS, roughly 47.6 percent of the children with a single mother live in poverty. The kids who spend their childhood in poverty are more likely to be poor later on in their life. About 45 percent of kids who spend their childhood in poverty, end up poor at age 35. In short, these statistics prove how much the children need to have positivity in their lives. Moreover, another way to look at the Holiday Festival is motivation. If the kids got to spend a day with amazing privileges and a kind, welcoming environment, there is a chance of them wanting to turn their lives around and eventually getting a financially stable job. The exposure to the caring escorts will be extremely beneficial to them. The positive attitudes that the festival provides are a good start to a positive life for the children.

Overall, the Holiday Festival and other events that aim to make underprivileged children happy are extremely vital to their lives. Its significance includes allowing them to enjoy life for the day and be relieved of the stresses at home that they are forced to endure. The Holiday Festival is just one of the many events throughout the United States that attempt to aid children living in poverty and difficult circumstances. In addition to encouraging you to participate in the Holiday Festival or other events aiming to provide happiness for the children, we must do more as a society to lower poverty rates to make every day as joyful to the children as their time in high school. The Holiday festival is an amazing event that relieves children from their difficult situations at home by bringing them a day full of support, safety, and happiness.