The Great Depression Essay

The Great Depression was a period of lost opportunities and economic decline. After the stock market crashed in 1929, stock market values rapidly declined. The families touched by this period experienced many changes during these 10 years of economic and industrial downturn. More specifically, this moment in time helped children develop resourcefulness while having a negative impact on their social and academic lives.

Prior to the Great Depression, many children had educational opportunities, but following this transformation, life was never the same. Some schools were forced to close, and others required students to pay for tuition and supplies due to a lack of government funding “because districts could no longer bear the burden of teacher salaries and administrative costs” (Lynch 1). The deficient number of schools still open left many children without proper education or an education at all due to the small number of schools that were still operating. Many of the children who lived during the Great Depression struggled to catch up, which

The government realized the lack of education for students during this time and in 1933, the National Youth Administration was established to give education to young people out of school between the ages of 16 and 25. According to an article written by Matthew Lynch “Comprehending How the Great Depression Influenced American Education”, there were about 750,000 students enrolled in the NYA program at one period in time. This outstanding number of students seeking academic help made it clear that many young American citizens were falling behind while the whole nation's economy and industry were declining.

Unfortunately, the resources that families had in the past were no longer available to help them which resulted in a social divide, especially for children trying to form friendships. This social divide was primarily between families greatly affected by the