Alice and The Giant Emptiness

Not all children get an equal start in life. Alice is just one of the one in six¹ Australian children living in disadvantage today.

Some families have experienced many generations of disadvantage. For others, a more recent change in health, employment or family relationships has affected them so badly that they are no longer able to meet the daily costs of living. 

With limited financial resources, the day to day life of a family changes significantly. If the parents are working, they are more likely to be working irregular hours or travelling long distances for work. 

This puts pressure on other family members, including children, to keep the household running. Teenagers may have to work to supplement the family income, leaving them little or no time to study – and no one there to help them if they’re struggling with school work.

With so much focus on just ‘getting by’, many of these kids don’t have something as simple as a school bag, a complete uniform or the schoolbooks they need to make the most of their education. School excursions and activities are an impossible luxury. They are often teased or left out by other students because they don’t ‘fit in’.

Disadvantaged students are on average 2-3 years behind in reading and Maths by the time they are 15 years old. Without the learning skills and support they need, they struggle to keep up. As the gap between them and their classmates widens their confidence erodes and their self-esteem crumbles, leaving them feeling overwhelmed, lonely and isolated, filled with a ‘giant emptiness’ just like Alice. 

If we don't intervene in the early years, they can fall so far behind at school they give up trying – shut themselves off from their class mates, stop participating in class, or even give up on going to school altogether. This can set up a pattern of underachievement that can last the rest of their lives. 

Research shows Year 12 completion rates are significantly lower (68%) for students from disadvantaged backgrounds than for students from more advantaged backgrounds (79%). Young people from advantaged backgrounds are three times more likely to attend university than students from vulnerable backgrounds. 

Your support can change the lives of children like Alice, by providing them with the extra out-of-school support they need to catch up and keep up at school.

Your gift today will give a child access a range of out-of-school learning, mentoring programs and financial support that begin in the early years and continue through to high school and tertiary education.

By sponsoring a child like Alice, you can will be giving them life-changing, comprehensive support so they can finally fit in and get the most out of their schooling.

You can empower young Australians to lift themselves out of poverty and onto a better path – breaking the cycle of disadvantage, one child at a time.

Tales of the ‘One In Six’ is an animated web series based on the real stories of Australian children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who struggle daily with the effects of financial hardship.

The stories are drawn from the challenging but inspiring stories of children who have overcome adversity, thanks to the generosity of people like you.

Using a simple animated style, together with elements of traditional fairy tales, these short films will draw you into the inner world of these children to reveal their stories of hardship and transformation.