The Fourth Grade Project: Life Through the Eyes of 7 Kids From Around the World

Written by Amber Doty for Babble.com

It is both a blessing and a curse that children are brutally honest. They dream without boundaries. They are sensitive and perceptive and, if we aren't careful, they will absorb the worries of those around them. It is these traits in children that are captured perfectly by a photo series created by Judy Gelles called "The Fourth Grade Project."

Gelles is an artist who has spent time volunteering at schools around the globe. As part of her project she asked fourth grade students three questions: With whom do you live? What do you wish for? What do you worry about? Gelles created word portraits from the answers of children from a private Quaker school in the U.S., a primarily Hispanic public school in the U.S., an English-speaking school in India, an inner-city school in the U.S., and a school for the children of migrant workers in China.

"In fourth grade," Gelles says, "they are not afraid to tell you the way it is."

Their responses will both warm your heart and punch you in the gut.

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• I worry about ... being on time

  I live with my mom, dad, sister, brother, and two poodles. My grandparents pick us up from school every day. I love history. I think it's important for people to know about the past. I wish for a fully functional robot. It would do my homework, make my bed, serve me breakfast, and tell me the football scores. My favorite team is the New York Giants. I worry about being on time. <em>--From a Jewish day school in the U.S.</em>

• I worry about ... medical treatment

  I live with my mother and father. My older sister lives with my aunt in my hometown. I miss her. I wish my whole family could be together. I worry about doing something wrong and upsetting my parents. I worry about hurting someone and my parents will have to pay for medical treatment. <em>--From a school for children of migrant workers in China</em>

• I worry about ... being alone

  My whole family was born in Mexico. I came to the United States when I was three. I live with my mom, my dad, my three brothers, my god-sister, and my niece. I worry that my parents might get deported to Mexico. Then I would be all alone. <em>--From an inner-city school in the U.S.</em>

• I don't worry

  I live with my mom and dad and four brothers. My dad is a pediatrician. My mom used to be a lawyer. Now she is a housewife. At 4:30 we do our homework. At 5:30 the children eat dinner. My mom and dad eat dinner after we are in bed. My favorite subject is writing. I have a very creative mind. I write random stories about me. I use my iPod Touch for research. I wish for more money. I would give some to charity, and I would buy myself an iPad. I don't worry. <em>--From a Jewish day school in the U.S.</em>

• I worry about ... guns

  I worry about people in my family getting shot. My cousin got shot and died. I don't think anybody should carry a gun... even the cops. Then nobody would get shot. <em>--From an inner-city school in the U.S.</em>

• I worry about ... the rules

  I live with my mother and father. My older sister lives with my grandparents in my hometown. My parents work in a supermarket. I like my teachers. We all follow the rules at school. I would never break the rules. I want to grow up fast so I can be a fourth grade teacher. <em>--From a school for children of migrant workers in China</em>

• I worry about ... the rent

  I live with my mom and dad and two sisters. My mom speaks only Spanish. I have two older sisters who live in Mexico. I miss them a lot. We don't visit because it costs too much money. I am a good student but I talk too much. I love to talk. I want to be a doctor. I want to help children. My wish is for bad people to stop killing good people. I worry about my family, that they could get robbed by the bad people and lose all of their money and then we wouldn't be able to buy food and pay the rent. <em>--From a primarily Hispanic public school in the U.S.</em>

• <em><strong><a href="http://blogs.babble.com/kid-scoop/2012/08/24/the-4th-grade-project-life-through-the-eyes-of-15-children-from-around-the-world" target="_hplink">For 8 more photos from 4th graders around the world, visit Babble!</a></strong></em> More on Babble <a href="http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2011/10/06/what-were-they-thinking-20-mind-blowing-vintage-ads-involving-children/" target="_hplink">20 totally inappropriate vintage ads featuring children</a> <a href="http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2011/11/21/be-thankful-you-have-first-world-problems/#its-just-sad " target="_hplink">14 reasons to be grateful you have first-world problems</a> <a href="http://blogs.babble.com/kid-scoop/2011/11/03/15-memories-from-childhood-our-children-wont-have/" target="_hplink">15 memories from childhood our kids won't have</a>

All photographs are copyright of Judy Gelles and are shared with her permission. Check out more of The Fourth Grade Project on Gelles' site.

 

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Comments

[jlsntx]

10:04 AM on 09/20/2012

Interesting they didn't pick an average 4th grader from Iowa. Articles like this are written to be inflammatory and definitely slanted to make a point which has far more facets than can be used for enlightenment from the limited number and scope of participants this article used.

[Thenji]

03:52 AM on 09/20/2012

How can 7 kids be from "around the world," when there are so many continents and so many countries within them? In Africa alone, there are 54 countries. It shouldn't take much to name the 7 countries the kids came from.

[PadiusArn]

12:37 AM on 09/20/2012

What does a fourth grader know? When I was in fourth grade, the possibility of a nuclear strike was always just around the corner. Oh wait! That's still a possibility.

[anitafeeney]

05:50 AM on 09/20/2012

and you think i wasnt worried about my parents finances as a kid heck there was a time we lived on pb and j sandwiches for a month straight ( to this day i hate peanut butter and LOATHE grape jelly) and dont think for an instant i did not worry about where our next meal was comming from or where my parents were going to get the money to buy it and yes at the time i was in the fourth grade so dont tell me what a fourth grader knows or does not know there are kids who think of such things because that is their reality that reality is where is my next meal comming from am i or my siblings going to get shot today are my parents going to afford to pay the rent for another month

[laceystern]

11:14 PM on 09/19/2012

Who knows what kids really think about. I know that my parents struggled just to buy food and everything was scarce when I was a kid and I would have probably still have said my biggest problem was that I wasn't allowed to wear nail polish.

[anitafeeney]

05:52 AM on 09/20/2012

well not all kids think about bieng in a snit because their mom wont let them wear nail polish in the fourth grade i was worried about where was my next meal comming from whos couch could i sleep on that night count yourself lucky that the worst you had to worry about was that your mom wouldnt let you wear nail polish

[laceystern]

03:45 PM on 09/20/2012

My parents did indeed worry about the next meal. but I knew they would take care of it, I didn't have to. that was my point

[biggaveli]

11:00 PM on 09/19/2012

WOW WHAT A COMPELLING ARTICLE BRAVO

[sallyslide]

10:55 PM on 09/19/2012

What I think this project points out is that children are sensitive to what goes on around them and interpret in their own way what they don't understand completely. The child that worries about being on time has likely been reminded often that his grandparents can't be kept waiting after school. He takes that seriously while another child may not. The boy who worries about medical care has obviously overheard a conversation that may have been quite harmless but it frightened him, the Mexican child has no chance of not hearing about illegal's in this country. It's understandable that he scared he might loose his parents. I was terrified of loosing my mother after my father died. The little girl who doesn't worry is a free spirit. The one who wants money, what kid doesn't want money for a new toy? I see nothing about these kids that is abnormal. Most of them live with two parents and siblings or extended family members. We all should ask the children we love more often if they worry about anything.

[weaverking]

06:55 PM on 09/19/2012

sounds like someone is using kids to send a message .

[fltmech1]

08:46 PM on 09/19/2012

Yep, a political democratic message.

[jlsntx]

10:01 AM on 09/20/2012

Yep

[Mil-ford]

06:12 PM on 09/19/2012

Where are al the Welfare Checks going?

[littlelucy]

09:59 PM on 09/19/2012

To buy tattoos, fake nails, and weaves of course.

[laceystern]

11:06 PM on 09/19/2012

You forgot $200 tennis shoes and Marc Jacobs handbags... :-(

[vonKat]

11:09 PM on 09/19/2012

My family is on welfare. The money is helping me attend college. Between my mother and I, neither of us have ever had a tattoo, fake nails, or a weave. Your perceptions and stereotypes are very hurtful and completely irrelevant to this article.

[Donna Castlegrant]

05:27 PM on 09/19/2012

I am white, I grew up very very poor, some nights there was no food on the table. I would go and work for a butcher, clean his kitchen sweep up the wood chips every night and he would give me a pound of chuck, I would stop at the milk machine and rob it, take all the change too. That way I knew we were going to eat that night. I'm a girl, but I had a shoe shine box and I shined shoes until someone stole my box. I made 12 bucks a day, and would use it to buy food to feed my brothers and sisters, there were 7 of us. If things were really bad, I didn't go to school, I hustled, and I took babysitting jobs, and did what I could. I am not a privledged person just because I am white. I went out and did what I could. I worked. I set a good example for my brothers and sisters. None of them are on government assistance and their kids don't have to worry about them paying the rent. It has nothing to do with race. Although minorities do believe they are entitled to anything they can get.

[ClamDiggr]

08:43 PM on 09/19/2012

It's bout getting out to make it happen, not hanging out to watch it happen. And no matter what your economic disposition in life, you are successful in my eyes. Congrats on doing life right, except for the stealing of course. Faved...

[laceystern]

11:12 PM on 09/19/2012

My childhood was similar to yours. My parents were European immigrants that worked 7 days a week. I worked since I was 13 and worked my way through college. I was a waitress, a bartender, worked at dry cleaners, auto parts store. etc. I worked anywhere I could get a job. In the summer I mowed lawns and helped clean garages and in the winter I shoveled snow! I never asked for help from anyone. I raised successful and responsible adults that learned to earn their own way in the world. Thanks for your uplifting post. There are a lot of us out there that are tired of the handouts. Getting something for nothing has never made a person stronger.

[LSN833]

05:00 PM on 09/19/2012

4th graders should be completely unaware of rent, or medical cost issues. Also guns, except in this case the child lost a relative to gun violence.
Parents need to stop telling their kids EVERYTHING! These are not peers, or tiny adults, these are children and parents shouldn't unburden themselves by burdening their children.
I lost my husband when my children were 8 and 10. I didn't put the weight of money worries on them. I didn't talk to them about how we were going to pay the rent.

[socalaesthetics]

05:57 PM on 09/19/2012

How do you know their parents are telling them everything? Parent's could just be discussing the issue and not realize their kid may be eavesdropping....

[Mil-ford]

06:14 PM on 09/19/2012

Yes, these folks discuss the issues. Where's the best price for wine"?

[littlelucy]

09:52 PM on 09/19/2012

Don't be dense, kids are smart and perceptive. Parents aren't 'telling' their kids about their struggles but there is no way to hide the truth. If there isn't enough money to get by EVERYone in the family knows it.

[hayleebugsmith]

04:30 PM on 09/19/2012

What an enlightening article. Not something I would have thought of. Think I will ask my 8 year old grandson--"what do you worry about" and then take it from there.
Just reading some of those letters really does put your life in perspective. Well it did for me anyways.

[mentallag]

03:50 PM on 09/19/2012

was anyone else really annoyed at having to skip gigantic spaces to read the text?

[pampjmimi1]

06:54 PM on 09/19/2012

You have such problems--and totally missed the point.

[mentallag]

10:43 AM on 09/21/2012

how do you know i missed the point?
also, a simple "yes" would've sufficed. rude.

[anitafeeney]

06:06 AM on 09/20/2012

i would say if that is the worst of your issues today you are doing ok

[GERA86]

02:46 PM on 09/19/2012

It is sad that we as adults are so self-centered that we ignore how fast we're making our children grow up, yet when they bring it to our attention with bad behavior or attitued problems we blame it on society itself.... as parents we must keep them away from our worries and troubles, we don't need to burst their bubble with the reality we are in..
When my 8 yr. old asks an adult-topic question, I tell her the basic information she needs as an answer & assure her that when she has the appropiate age to understand more complex issues we will talk.. for now she knows what she needs to know,, I try to help her worry aabout what an 8 yr. old should worry about: school, good grades, doing homework.... and keep her room clean

[rebekahbea]

02:21 PM on 09/19/2012

All children...no matter who are where they are in life....deserve a chance in life to be what they want to be. The children making these video comments seem pretty stable, but there are way to many who have NO parental support. I blame everything on sorry, no good parents, who drink and dope the food and shelter from under their own children..who BTW have no control, and are the ones to suffer. There should be orphanages in our country to care for such kids. Orphanages that are run and kept by good ppl.... not ppl just looking for a job, but ppl who care for the children, even if its only 1 hug a day.. and off to school they can go knowing they're cared for. STOP paying these women who spurt out one child after another just to add $500 more dollars to the drug and alcohol fund. Many times the children have no idea who their daddy is, and also, many times the mothers don't even know themselves. Such parents should be in a prison, doing work, making products for the government, in order to pay for the orpanages to operate. Then and only then can a child have a future that doesn't include chaos. They are our future and deserve better than what they are handed in life. They need somone to love them enough to feed, clothe, shelter and teach them how to get to their place in the world.

[scotch43]

06:31 PM on 09/19/2012

I was going to go on and on ...point by point disagreeing with you ....with facts...but have a feeling it would fall on deaf ears...it amazes me that you believe that the majority of (I'm assuming your talking about children in poverty)...are all products of drug addiction and careless parents...you seriously need to do research on your own...because you can't be more wrong...politicians telling you this know they are not telling the truth...and current ones are facing political backlash because of these types of statements...as for Orphanages...you have some dream world thought up...government run homes would never have enough money to run orphanages the way you have dreamed up...(you do know there are state run homes for children...would be a good idea for you to visit and ask these kids how they feel)...and private owned child institutions...yeah that would be equal to ..stealing someones child and selling them to the highest bidder....we threw that out decades ago....and we women will especially see to it ...it never happens again...

[rebekahbea]

09:02 PM on 09/19/2012

My comments were regarding children of parents who could care less what happens to their children, or whether they have foods shelter clothes etc, due to their drug.alcohol, and sometimes prostitution fund. You speak of orphanages of long ago. I'm talking about starting new homes for children that need a HOME, run by good ppl, who would caredfor their welfare. Of course they would have to be locally sponsered with state funds to subsidize them as well . I truly believe that most cities and communities would contribute to their upkeep. NOT a government run program. It wold be alot better than what we have now..FOSTER HOMES/parenting. If you disagree with my POV, then you don't have a compassionate bone in your body. Its for the children who would love to have a place to lay their heads at night, and know they will have food on the table, and decent proper clothing . There are such children ya know...or maybe you don't know... and are only looking at the politics of what I'm referring to. Its the patents who are at fault for their childrens failure to compete in this world..and they don't give a damn. Read my post again and if you feel the same..then do not respond back because I have nothing further to add to my comments.

[ClamDiggr]

08:53 PM on 09/19/2012

I used to counsel patients back in the day, and I saw so many parents on welfare that were robbing their children of opportunity to benefit from the assistance they were recieving from the state that it would make your head spin. All the while I knew it was taxpayer money out the window and I was witnessing the by-product of a broken system translated in the form of human collateral.
That system remains in place today and the people with the same message are still running the game. Based on the witness of my hippie parents and their parents, when there was less assistance there was more human resilience...something to think about.

[rebekahbea]

10:31 PM on 09/19/2012

Well stated, and my point made clearer Really sad isn't it?

[PumpkinGirl]

01:59 PM on 09/19/2012

Heartbreaking, stone-cold truth.