They usually aren't looking past whether they will be going to bed hungry that night or not. Seriously man, you come off like a scene from arrested development, like you just have never seen a poor kid in your life, or more importantly, haven't even tried to volunteer at an organization that attempts to help these kids.
> preserving your safety in some way
Even a comment as small as this is assuming a lot in poor areas. The only safety I had was in my own head or in my STEM classes because I could immerse myself in them enough to forget about life outside them.
Look up the problems associated with complex-ptsd, childhood neglect and parentification.
It was all about racing as hard as possible away from where I was, not about looking forward in any way. For most of my twenties my timeframe in planning was weeks or months if I felt confident.
I just got lucky I got hooked on computers and had a couple teachers that praised me for that and math.
In fact, I nearly dropped out in 9th grade to work at a Burger King so I had access to some kind of money. Instead I called CPS and moved in with my narcissistic mother who was at least financially stable. But it was a coin toss at the time.
My first job was in a factory and then in the Army, I didn’t have a plan or wants other than stable living situation and enough money for basic bills.
I'm guessing you're a teacher? If so, I'd be curious to hear more about your experience and thoughts on what strategies work best for teenagers in economically/socially/geographically disadvantaged situations. Do you follow the post-school life trajectories of any former students? Do any manage to achieve upward mobility (this could look like the "homeless to Harvard" human interest story you hear every year, but it could also look like someone who goes from a childhood of abuse or abject poverty to a relatively stable blue-collar job and is safer and happier as an adult than as a child)? What advice would you give to a fourteen-year-old student?
This isn't to say that there aren't massive obstacles in their way (especially for the ones who have to devote all their time to securing basic needs like food/shelter/sleep), or that their circumstances are their fault, or that systemic change wouldn't be a more powerful lever. What I'm wondering is, assuming you're a kid in this situation and you don't have a hand on the lever of institutional power, is there anything you can do beyond the standard "stay in school" advice to improve your circumstances, even if the improvement is just from "very bad" to "kind of bad"?
> People who don't come from privileged backgrounds also cannot see themselves doing a lot of the careers related to this guide.
What careers do the students you know typically aspire to? Or are they usually resigned to the prospect of an unfulfilling job?