Preview

Homelessness and Children

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
476 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Homelessness and Children
Around the world millions of children are found homeless, sleeping in the streets, under bridges, or on deserted properties. Their days are spent hustling by prostitution or petty crimes. They prey on each other as well as people passing by that they manage to steal from. Yet still this is home to these children, where they are deprived of the most basic human needs, housing, food, and clothing. Since they have no family or relatives and no hope for the future, they have been tagged "Nobody's Children" or "Throw away Kids", living each day as if it were the last, causing them to become outlaws, which as a result is a threat to the security of the community we live in.
There are various reasons that children are found homeless, ranging from their own desire to leave home to become independent of their parents rules, to broken marriage where the father is absent from the family which is the most likely cause. However some parents are irresponsible in caring for their children. Some parents beat them, sexually abuse them, or throw them out of the family into the streets to fend for themselves, resulting in the child feeling that he or she is better off by his or her self, even living on the streets.
Statistics show that sixty percent of the homeless children between eight and seventeen years of age use hallucinating substances, forty percent use alcoholic beverages, sixteen percent are drug addicts, and ninety two percent use tobacco products. In an effort to belong and be loved many of these homeless children find themselves becoming family members to gangs promoting further negativity in their lives. Since they don't have any marketable skills, they often survive by begging, stealing, and selling their bodies for money. It is not easy to help homeless children because the majority of them are afraid, and they refuse to submit information to authorities.
Some homeless children have managed to escape from the homeless condition because of help from kind people

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    During the research of children of homelessness I found that being a child is difficult; but, it is even more difficult when your family is poor, and unsecure. Imbalances within the family can be difficult even without outside influences making it even more difficult. We as teachers see more than parents think we do; wemay notice that a child shows up dirty to class, or seems distracted all the time. This is when we as teachers need to find out what exactly is going on with our students and their family. As a teacher we need to discuss how we will deal with children who are struggling, how we as teachers will connect with families and the different strategies that can be used to support students and families within their learning environment. As I researched the why homelessness occurs I also found that these children are a byproduct of the life they were dealt whether by being a single parent, a fatherless home, immigrants or homeless with nowhere else to go. Knowing what we can do as Early Educators to help homeless children and their families has become very important in schools. In these synopses you will find some information that will give you a better understanding of homeless children and what we can do as educators to help them overcome this obstacle in their life…

    • 262 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the past decade there may have been an increase in homelessness due to the struggles of daily life. People have many ideas on ways that the government or communities can help improve these situations. It is not easy to help the homeless but any help can improve their lives and our streets. It may not take them completely off our streets but it can help them to get back on their feet.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book Homeless Families In America, Jonathan Kozol focuses on four important issues of poor children under six: Who they are, where they live, why they are poor, and the risks poor children face. The information presented pertains to children who live in houses and apartments because this is the population founded by household surveys. "According to three national studies homeless children aged 16 and under, somewhere 41,000 and 106,000 children are literally homeless at any given time" (36). Homeless meaning they live in shelters, churches, or public places with no permanent residence. "Between 39,000- 296,000 are precariously housed, meaning they live with either relatives or doubled up with friends" (38). Why are poor families with young children poor? It is believed that children are poor because their parents are poor. Child poverty can only be reduced by attacking the multiple causes of family poverty. "Children under the age of six with single mothers are much more likely to be poor than…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Children are vulnerable and need physical, mental, and emotional protection. When a family is poor or homeless, the family may have trouble meeting his or her needs.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    This research assessed the struggles of homeless children. The study compared the educational struggles of a random sampling of children living in stable environments to children who are considered “homeless.” Homeless refers to any child or youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. The study revealed the number of homeless children is steadily increasing. However, despite the instability of a home life, a positive school environment for children and youth impacts their success as adults. It is recommended to promote community awareness regarding child…

    • 1711 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    They are criticized for their living conditions, but are homeless people at fault for their situation? “Saving the Dreams of Homeless Kids” (Las Vegas Sun, January 15, 2016) by Delen Goldberg and Ian Whitaker and “Some People Choose to Be Homeless” (Creators.com, August 18, 2015) by Debra Saunders both present the issue of people who lack a home. Golberg and Whitaker discuss the situation of two kids who are either homeless or in danger of becoming homeless and the actions people are doing to help youth in need. Debra Saunders expresses that the destructive choices of people lead them to become homeless. In both articles the authors use tone, paragraph organization, and sentence structure to present two contrasting sides of the homelessness…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A child’s nutritional status is directly affected by homelessness due to the lack of nutritional options at an affordable price which results in children who eat what they can when they can to try to satisfy their hunger. Low socioeconomic status increases a child’s likelihood of being homeless. Also, inadequate income lessens the likelihood that a homeless…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They face being, cold, hungry, afraid, and alone. Almost half of America’s homeless children are under the age of six, they cannot survive by themselves. Six percent of homeless children die before the seventh birthday due to malnutrition, as a result of living on the streets. Yet and still nobody cares. You get too comfortable in the life you live and take it for granted. You see people who need help and still act as if they did something to you and they cannot be helped. You call them “bums”, “dirtybutts” and all types of names just because that is what society teaches you. But you forget that one day you could be in that same situation going through the same…

    • 2150 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tents under highways, cardboard blowing in the wind, begging for money, eating out of trash cans. All of those things are what 3.5 million people, half of them children, experience every day (“National Coalition for the Homeless”).A homeless person is one who shall lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, at any given time. Most of the homeless are those with a mental illness, or the unemployed. (“Facts and Figures: The Homeless”). Knowing that oneself cannot provide for him/herself is a devastating realization, especially if children are involved in the situation.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One paycheck can mean the difference between having and not having a home.As stated by NAEH’S ,lack of job is a commonly given reason for homelessness .In 2008 , 8,924,000 individuals in the United States were unemployed, rising to 14,265,000 in 2009. Poverty and the lack of affordable housing are the principal causes of becoming homeless. Even if a person is working a full time job making minimum wage,he or she is not able to afford rent required for a home.Another cause of homelessness is due to mental illness or physical disabilities, as a result it becomes difficult for people to coexist with other civilians. Which in most cases leads to addictions and causes them to lose their homes and families.Domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness among families, violence in a household can force the victim to leave their homes. Such things as divorce ,sexual abuse, or neglect can also perpetrate to homelessness as reported by The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Youth Homelessness

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Unfortunately, many homeless youth are “befriended” by drug addicts or encouraged into prostitution. For many of the runaways due to abuse, many wonder how bad their situations must be if they would face addiction and sexually…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Homeless people often have been through some of the worst hardships a person can endure. Abuse is so prevalent with homeless single mothered families that around 92% of homeless mothers were either sexually or physically abused (greendoors.org). According to studies one out of every four homeless mothers are homeless as a result as a violent act from a previous lover or partner. Although women are the main abuse victim, men actually have been found to be the prey of an abusive relationship that results in homelessness. However, violence doesn’t only occur with the mothers of the families. Not only are women usually the one being abused around 85% of homeless families are headed by a woman (greendoors.org). Around 83% of homeless children will have witnessed a severe violent event by the age of twelve (NSCAHH). Not only does this violent event usually leave one parent severely injured, it leaves the other to move out and often live on the street, thus becoming homeless. It may not be the child’s first choice but often the kids are forced to move to the street with the parent leaving the house. This extreme violence will often leave the child traumatized and he or she will adapt violent habits and will be the same way with their family to come (usich.gov). Children taking after their parent or guardian that lives on the street causes many of the cases of homelessness.…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many children are forced into homelessness due to poverty or household instability. For homeless children, the loss of their homes is often more sudden, more unexpected, and more traumatic. The family is suddenly thrust outside of its own community, friends, support system, and schools. They begin to focus on their survival instead of their education and becomes the last thing on their mind. What many people don’t understand is homelessness affects a child's ability to succeed in school, their legal rights regarding education, and what schools can do to mitigate the potentially harmful effects of homelessness on children (Rafferty).…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, "homeless youth are typically defined as unaccompanied youth between the ages of 12 and 24 who are without family support and who are living in shelters, on the streets, in cars or vacant buildings or who are "couch surfing" or living in other unstable circumstances." On any given night in the US, there is about half a million homeless individuals. 40 percent of that are homeless youth. It is important to say that exact numbers of homeless youth are hard to determine because the lack of standard methods and the mobility of the homeless population. The amount of homeless youth is staggering and heartbreaking. There are many factors that lead to homelessness, and many consequences…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Recently I learned that a cousin of mine, Jenny, had become homeless. Jenny became homeless not from drugs or mental issues, but through bad luck and poor judgment. Her first mistake was when she became in an unhealthy relationship with a man and had four kids. They struggled throughout the years, but our whole family was there for support. When about everyone had given up on their bad decisions, something had to happen. They tried to live with family members, but that would only last for awhile. The kids were eventually taken…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays