Homeless Youth
This semester our focus will revolve around the Town Hall Meeting.
During the Spring 2009 Town Hall Meeting, students from US 101 will facilitate an evening of discussion and awareness-raising on topics pulled from The Soloist. This book explores the nature of interconnectedness amongst joblessness, homelessness, and mental illness.
This discussion will start here! Via “blogging” our students will have the opportunity to discuss similar ideas with students from other US 101sections. The responses will help you reflect upon your own thinking, while examining and responding to your peers’ writing. Through your responses, you will learn how to better articulate your ideas while examining and incorporating multiple perspectives.
Have fun and starting ‘bloggin’…
If we can work together to prevent homeless children from becoming homeless adults, we can help extinguish homelessness on a wider scale. Children learn habits from their parents by either modeling their actions, or as the result of some type of abuse that funnels their perspective on life into a winding rollercoaster of declining self confidence and pessimism. If a homeless child is given opportunities to learn about living a successful life at a young age in which they are still impressionable, they may be saved from forming habits of gambling and drinking away the money they earn, and from learning that there is no way out of homelessness and they deserve to be there. Homeless children should be shown the fact that they have a choice and can choose to be capable of being a fully integrated member of society. This could be accomplished by making education available to all children by serving them food and providing them with skills to survive and make a living when needed.
Through these schools, smaller classes could be offered therefore allowing instructors to build a personal atmosphere and allow each child to be engaged. Schools like these would give every homeless child an opportunity to nourish their intellectual self and be better prepared to make decisions that would allow them to lead a comfortable life. If we provide the basic needs of the child and do it in a way that would not be so undesirable to many homeless parents, we could effectively construct an environment in which homeless children could thrive.
When reading the Gladwell Essay I found myself being torn between anger and sadness. Homelessness is affecting America whether people want to admit to it or not. In the Albuquerque school district an astonishing 2,235 homeless students were enrolled for school. [Gewertz, 7] This is about the size of Bozeman high school, and this is only one school district in America. Another issue which reflects upon this is the amount of money which has to be used to help the children get school supplies.
America needs to do something about the homeless whether the government steps in or people pull together as a community. People wouldn’t just walk by someone who was bleeding in the streets or a small child walking around by themselves. So why is it ok to ignore those who endure the cold every night, and who have to be rushed to the emergency room unimaginable times a month. America as a whole has become victim to the bystander effect when it comes to this issue. Everyone needs to take off the blindfold and unveil the truths that are happening in our backyards.
In 2001 Wichita created a data base in order to keep track of it homeless and in it they found very surprising results. Some of the statistics of which they found included a majority of the homeless 63% were women, another 58% were victims to domestic abuse, and 17.5% had attended college. [Kratzer, 10] These statistics are both ear shattering and demolish some of the preconceptions which a majority of people shared.
stephanie.long3 Reply:
February 18th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
@jera.clark,
Jera, I think it is unfair to relate homelessness to someone bleeding on the streets or a small child wondering around by themselves to me homelessness is a lot deeper problem then that and can’t just be solved overnight. And saying we are just ignoring it is very unfair as well. I think as a society we are trying to fix it but it takes time and money, which as I’m sure you are aware isnt things our ecomony has much of at this time. also, by saying we are ignoring it then why are we as tax payers paying for it. Rememeber, most of the money that is spent on helping the homeless comes out of all tax paying citizens.
Another substantial concern for researchers has been the poorly guided teen public healthcare services. In the article Report finds fault with U.S. health services for teens, “Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said that some teens, particularly those who are under- or uninsured, have little or no access to mainstream primary care services. Instead, they rely largely on safety-net care provided by hospitals, community centers, and school-based health centers.” They have not been given the specialized healthcare they need. Homeless youth healthcare has been a primary concern for many people.
These adolescents with mental disorders have been left to make things worse for themselves on the streets. According to the article Helping youths on the streets: what one shelter has learned from years of experience by Lenard D. Prewitt, “They have no resources, usually no insurance, and no one to guide them through the healthcare system. As a result, healthcare needs are deferred, and a medical problem may fester until it requires a visit to an emergency room.” Teens on the street are the most vulnerable to involvement in drugs, prostitution, threat of STDs, and violence. The YMCA and various other organizations have made an empathetic effort to get these adolescents off the streets and on the right track. The problem is that most of them don’t want help because of past experience of mistrust, but by attempting to reach out to these teens could be vital to their improvement.
cari.simpson Reply:
February 11th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
@thomas.carr2,
A teenager in a stable, roof-covered environment worries about appearance, responsibilities, and goals for the future, but eventually moves past these and begins to stress over jobs, income, and health care. Homeless teens worry about which street corner to stand on, where their next meal is located, and what to scribe on their slab of cardboard the next day. As it was stated by Lenard Prewitt, teens “have no resources, usually no insurance, and no one to guide them through the healthcare system . . . a medical problem may fester until it requires a visit to an emergency room.” What does this mean? It means if homeless teens are not shown the proper way to obtain healthcare, they will find themselves in and out of emergency rooms most of their lives. However, the dilemma is deeper than simply finding a way to educate them about these options. The larger problem posed is: How do you convince a teen who is solely concerned about their survival that health care is important; especially when they go free of charge to the hospital when they do become ill?
Adolescents who have a stable home-life commonly struggle with the image others create for them. Young boys and girls spend hours in front of the mirror in an attempt to perfect their image every morning. This is done in a search for the individual’s identity and a sense of belonging within a certain peer group. Teenagers who do not live in a stable environment consisting of a home and supportive family use their new-found pubescent bodies not to achieve “the perfect look,” but their intent is to appeal to men in order to provide a sexual service. Several teenage girls sell their innocent bodies in order to earn money and survive. Thus, they are concerned about their image also in order to “make a living.”
Teens in school often have rules imposed and enforced either by parents or by school officials. These rules are accompanied by privileges that act as rewards to elicit continuous positive behavior. These privileges include driving a car, spending time with friends, and perhaps an extra curricular activity such as a sport, band, or drama. Children without a school or home to go to every night do not share these concerns. They only worry about which corner they are going to station the next day or where they can receive their next meal. In a sense, homeless teens have responsibilities to uphold, but the outcome is entirely different. A homeless teens’ responsibility is to find food and shelter daily. On occasion they are the provider for their homeless siblings and debilitated parents. These teenagers are responsible for other’s lives and in return they do not receive privileges, but survive another day of life.
Furthermore, the YMCA, as referred to in the blog above, attempt to assist homeless teens, but falls short of success to this day. This facility offers shelter and a stable schedule of meals. While this is all mandatory for life, programs like these lack a method to educate the teenagers that seek help. Perhaps this is because, first and foremost, homeless teenagers and children alike need to be sheltered and fed before they can adequately perceive any means of education.
Clearly homeless teens do not progress at the same rate as a housed teen through societal roles. Homeless teens will most likely never stress about their formal occupation, how expensive their car is, or how to pay their taxes. The dominant thought throughout their day is: How do I survive another day? Thus, is there a way to make education regarding health care and insurance relevant to their life?
@cari.simpson
Cari, I agree with you on your statement regarding the fact that we can all work together to end homelessness. Some may feel that it is impossible, however one needs to look at the big picture. Looking at were homelessness begins is the key. An article in The Bozeman Daily Chronicle on September 14, 2008, there was an article called “Homeless teens left with few options in Bozeman,” written by Jessica Mayrer. It spoke of a young women who was at the time a senior at Bozeman High School, who had been discovered sleeping in her car by a school counselor. The counselor called the Human Resource Development Council better know as HRDC to see if they could help. At one point they could have helped , however their federal funding had been cut and they had no resources to help this young women. In the same article, “The Montana Continuum of Care Coalition estimates there were 603 runaway and homeless youth statewide in 2007, aged 16-21,” and the number “Living in Poverty” in Montana was 22 percent with those children being eighteen and younger. (Mayrer) Today I say a young man, who looked to be about sixteen standing on the corner of Oak and Seventh Street with a sign that said “Homeless Anything Helps.” It breaks my heart to know that this is happening in our own town and it seems as though the only time someone gets involved is when it makes the newspaper. We as a city and as a nation need to step up and help these children get off the streets and into a stable environment where they can become strong members of society.
Blog response to Cari Simpson
Cari, I definitely agree with the first half of your paragraph about how children model after their parents. However, I also felt a sway of bias that you stated they would gamble or drink their money away like their parents. I do believe that if the parent or guardian was doing this, it is very likely that the child would follow in their foot step. However I think it should be noted that not all homeless people behave this way. It has come to my attention especially with the deterioration of the economy that good people and families are also going homeless.
America is in a cry for help about the rising crisis of homelessness. However who should be the one that steps up and puts forth the money and man power to build these schools or pay the teachers. Do you believe that it should be the American government’s responsibility and obligation to its citizens? Or do you think that Americans should volunteer, and help make the “American dream” a possibility for everyone? You could think about a program perhaps like Habitat for Humanity, to assist in the building of the school. Then again, you may not even be thinking about building an entire school but just devoting some classrooms in an inhabited school to homeless children.
I also believe that your idea about a school with smaller classrooms would be very beneficial to homeless children. The dynamics of that classroom could really help a child cope, and feel safe in their surroundings. Although one question I do have about the teacher would be; are the teachers supposed to have training in dealing with children in these types of situations? Or is the teacher supposed to be more of a mentor? Also, I wonder how you would place the students into the classrooms. Would homeless children be mixed with other that are enduring family hardships, or would the classroom be made up of all homeless children? This idea of all homeless children in the same class seems like it could be both good and bad. For example they could all just feed on each others hardships and nothing may be gained, or they could see that they aren’t the only ones in this struggle to live everyday. Either way, I believe that the classroom would play a crucial role in the development of the child.
I also agree with statement you made about how the child needs to learn that they can do better and they don’t deserve to be in that situation. Since, children have such a fragile mentality they should be encouraged and shown that they can do better in order for them to actually strive to do it. This may be exemplified in any difficult situation children make face, but as long as they have someone there to support them they can overcome the obstacle. Overall, I agree with your blog and would be curious about the inter workings of your idea and details that would be involved in the structure of the classrooms.
You bring up some very compelling points and arguments although I disagree with you on one aspect of your post. In my opinion the government has stepped in a great deal, by pouring millions of dollars each year to shelters, hospitals, and welfare. I feel the government has done their part and are giving enough funds to help the problem. Although homelessness will never be eradicated a massive influx of funds is not going to help much. If the nation wants to see lower statistics for the chronically homeless we as a people are going to have to attack it from an individual aspect. Providing funds to help large amounts of people is very important but I feel more needs to go to hiring personal councilors and care takers to give the homeless someone to report to. For the most part funds go to shelters and they feed and house hundreds of people every night. But it isn’t really helping the long term problem the people that go will just go back time after time get there meal and return to their old lifestyle. But if shelters would hire more staff and make it mandatory for the use of the facility that they must visit a councilor and receive help. This way we are truly helping the individuals who want a change and keeping the free loaders who are content with their situation out. Yes it does seem harsh but I don’t see the point in helping someone who isn’t willing to help themselves. But for those who wish to change and become a productive member of society the opportunity is always there.
There are always cases of substance abuse, and mental illness. I feel new facilities need to be put in place to address these issues all on their own, instead of having everyone thrown into one bin. And this makes sense, why treat a person who happened to be laid off of their job and evicted the same way an alcoholic or a schizophrenic. You wouldn’t; not all case workers that deal with different characters and situations are qualified to handle substance abusers and the mentally ill. They need highly skilled and qualified, and had a passion for helping these types of people. Because overcoming addictions isn’t a fast process and the mentally ill is mostly likely a lifetime ordeal but with caring people that are willing to offer there help for a long period of time they could really help anyone’s situation.
@jera.clark