“One in seven young people between the ages of 10 and 18 will run away” (NCSL.org). Teens are known for having a feeling of being misunderstood. They struggle to find their place in this world, and feel lost without guidance. A way out of feeling alone is to run away from their problems. “Before age 18: (1) lived in a foster home, (2) lived in an institution, (3) ran away from his or her residence for a week or more, or (4) lived on the streets” (Wasson). The extent of teen homelessness has been impacted through law enforcement, family life, education and learning to survive those impacts.
The percentage of homeless teens continues to increase every year, and the government is not helping those numbers go down. One of the reasons teens
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Finding somewhere to stay is difficult, especially if it is not in a shelter and with the added fear of getting in trouble. And real life situation would be a 15-year old girl about living in the New York subways, “The cops would arrest me anyhow. Because I 'm homeless. Because I 'm under age. Because they can charge with trespassing for being down here” (Bolnick 1). The emotion of shame is still felt by teens like, “Contacts with law-enforcement combined with the turbulent family histories can foster feelings of shame and humiliation among the homeless youth” (Hagan 2). Homeless teens also feel even more alone because they feel afraid and worried about getting in trouble for “trespassing.” Without any guidelines of how teens should get help, they continue to live on the streets. Although many are still homeless, laws and acts have been put into place to help more of the homeless teen population. Some examples are “The Runaway and Homeless Act (RHYA).... enacted in 1974 is the only federal law that focuses on unaccompanied, homeless youth” (NCSL.org) and “Hawaii propose the creation of a task force to coordinate and develop …show more content…
Responsibilities at home, like chores and watching after younger siblings is normal for any teen. It is when teens have to take over the responsibility of cleaning up their parents’ liquor bottles and drug mess, becomes too much for them. Parents should be the ones to care for their children, and children should only have to worry about being young and their future. Not have their future decided for them when they are ten. Sometimes the only thoughts going on in their mind are how they are going to help their younger siblings, and prevent them from going down the same road as them. Author Jamie Pastor Bolnick recollects thinking, “the baby was sick, or Robert was drunk or how my mom was going to pay the rent this month… I used to be an honor student, but my grades were shot to hell because all I’ve been missing” (Bolnick 27). The most influential people in a child’s life is usually their family. Derek Steele followed in the same footsteps as his parents. An excerpt from his book describing his daily life reads, “I’m sure my mom wouldn’t want anyone to know we got high together and my dad was the epitome of self-absorbed” (Steele 35). His relationship with his sister wasn’t very much different where, “he liked hanging out with his sister...a very dysfunctional relationship… brought ecstasy over to her and David, and we all got high together” (Steele 44). These teen’s
According to Aykanian and Lee (2016) individuals who are homeless are often “common targets of policing when their behavior, especially behavior performed in public spaces, is viewed as offensive and deviant” (p. 184). A related point to consider is that some who experience homelessness do engage in criminal activities, but one shall not combine all members in a generalization. Hence, the image of having individuals who are homeless is not ideal for the people in communities, but it does not take into account people who are experiencing
The article titled “School Where Homeless Find Haven”, was written by the author Seth Myans. In this article, the author highlights a major problem that was happening at the Coeur d’Alene Elementary school in Los Angeles; the problem being on how to help the numerous transient students attending their school. These homeless children are constantly moving from school to school due to their family needing to travel around to finds jobs and lodging. One teacher comments saying, “We see the children come in, then leave in two or three weeks, then come again and leave again, It's very frustrating”. Because of this constant moving to different schools their education is being damaged.
Homelessness on Campus “Over 58,000 students identified as homeless on the 2013 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) , a 75 percent increase over the last three years”(Dunning). Homelessness on college campuses is damaging to the individuals who are affected by it. Homelessness is damaging to the individual because it makes graduating from college difficult. To find a way to solve homelessness we need to figure out what the causes of homelessness are.
America’s homeless population is increasing every year. According to the article “Foster Care and Homelessness,” “50% of America's homeless population spent time in foster care.” As children reach their teen years it is less likely that they will be adopted. This creates the possibility of aging out of the system. When a child ages out of the system they have to create a life for themselves.
Youth homelessness in Canada is not a new phenomenal, it has become more and more severe over the past 20 years. “One third of homeless individuals on the streets are under the age of 25”(Cino, Rose). It is a significant social justice issue in Canada. Within our community people are increasingly aware of the sight of youth sleeping in parks, asking for money and sitting on sidewalks. Youth homelessness is caused by tragic life occurrences such as abuse, illness or unemployment, while many falsely assume homelessness is a choice.
People make many assumptions about the homeless. Perhaps the most common is that homeless people are too lazy to work, for the vast majority of homeless people, the assumption that they are lazy is dead wrong. Many people who are fortunate enough to have a home see the lives homeless people have and wonder why they wouldn't do something to help themselves in that situation. “ Individuals and families who experience homelessness may not share much in common with each other, aside from the fact that they are extremely vulnerable, and lack adequate housing and income and the necessary supports to ensure they stay housed. The causes of homelessness reflect an intricate interplay between structural factors, systems failures and individual circumstances.
It is indiscriminate and has no concern for one’s status, race, ethnicity, background, religion, and so on. Therefore the fear of homelessness is the fact that it can happen at any time.. As a result of the United States economic situation, there is a lack of jobs and livable wages provided for growing communities. The insufficient provision of financial aid is among the factors that cause homelessness. Unable to be financially independent, the homeless tend to meet their financial needs through illegal avenues. These avenues involve the interaction with drugs and
Youth Homelessness in America Every year, millions of people are experiencing some form of homelessness in the United States alone. Of those people who are experiencing homelessness, a large proportion of them is under the age of 24. Data has found that there are over 550,000 youth have experienced homelessness for more than a week over the course of a year (“Youth and Young Adults,” 2018). In many cases, youth homelessness can be prevented, but the lack of resources and services available to youth is limited. As a result, the issue continues to grow and affect more and more youth have to experience homelessness.
Homelessness is one the most ignored problems in the United States with citizen and politician. Homeless people are walked by and ignored. Nobody ever thinks that they will be homeless. Due to the economy, people live paycheck to paycheck making house payments very difficult. Most people will want to believe most homeless people are drug addicts or alcoholics, but most people will be surprise to know that it is no all true.
In the United States homelessness has been a substantial problem for decades. The reason for homelessness is greatly debated especially
Children are becoming victims of homelessness too and this puts pressure on them because their peers might have nice homes, luxurious items, and name brand clothes; meanwhile they might have to wear the same outfit every
The issue of homelessness in America has been evident since the early 1600’s. Across the country men, women and children spend their nights on the streets not knowing when or if they will ever find a permanent home. States and federal officials or city councils have tried to alleviate or at least reduce the number of homeless over the last several decades at a city, state or national level but it continues to be an ongoing problem. There is a multitude of factors that account for the growing homeless population that affects each state in the country differently. Though there are many contributing factors that contribute to the amount of people living on the street at any given night in the U.S.
Our Observations Homelessness is a very outstanding problem in this community, its easily and often seen. There are certain observations that we have made to lead us to our research topic for this project. Those include regularly seeing homeless people on the streets and/or vacant areas, wanting to know more about how they got there, news and other media reporting on the homeless, wanting to know how to help and what others are doing to help. How It Led Us to Our Research Question These observations led us to our research question because we knew that almost everything is affected by the economy, for example taxes,wages, jobs available, etc. Also, that the local government plays a crucial role in the community and has high capability to We wanted to figure out how homelessness is specifically affected by the economy, and how the local government can help out the community.
Homeless Youth On Our Streets The government and its citizens should make a combined effort to eradicate homelessness forever. With the government 's funding and legislation and the people 's local support and organizations, eradicating homelessness is very possible. Many teens feel the need to leave or run away from their homes, because of the abusive and unwelcoming feelings they receive. Physically or sexually abuse, substance abusive parents, mental health disorders, and parental neglect can be one of the main factors a teen runs away.
There is always a probability that anyone could be homeless. Although they do not harm us, heartless teenagers are assaulting them, that is why they are constantly threatening thoughtless teenagers’ attacks. This had led me to start thinking about what we could do for