Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The effects homelessness has on children

Homelessness is taking a big toll in our country today. There are thousands of families everyday that become homeless and end up in the streets. Because there are so many families that becomes homeless with children, it has a great impact on our kids today. Children everyday has self-esteem issues, stress and parents are worried about the well being of their child. Some children have to repeat the same grade because they don't have a proper place to live or food to eat. Also homeless children don't have the proper clothing to wear to school and they sometime repeat the same outfit everyday. This can lead to the other kids teasing them about what they got on and calling them dirty. Sometimes these issues can lower a kid self-esteem and make them feel like they are unworthy to have what the other kids around them have. Most homeless kids have to sleep in the backseat of cars, floors, and even benches. Homeless children take on a lot of stress. Sometimes their mother is very young herself and has a lot of issues. The child father has left the mother and does not help out with the kid. There can be a lot of reason why the kid suffers from stress. When the family moves from house to house and does'nt have a stable home, it can lead to stress and a lot of other problems. They often go without full meals and sometimes only eat once a day. By being homeless and without anything, a lot of kids turn to drugs or get caught stealing and other violent activities.

5 comments:

  1. I think this is a very big issue here. Even last class when the guest speaker was telling us that it can even effect the childs education because the child can have severe behavior probblems. And it is pretty sad because they start using drugs at a very young age and dont fit into society because they wont be cinfident.

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  2. I agree that homelessness has a bad effect on children. I believe that a child needs nurturing parents, as well as a nurturing environment in order to thrive. Unfortunately, many life situations contribute to this problem and it becomes a reality for many families and children. Which causes sad & negative effects such as, learning and behavioral problems, as well as social problems. In some cases parents in this situation have been able to keep it together with the help of family, school personell, and homeless shelters, enabling children to have some since of stablily and they can succeed. However, lots of children aren't as fortunate and sadly the negative effects of homelessness has a very bad impact on the child. Homelessness is a very sad situation in "America".

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  3. I agree with you. Homelessness is a very big issue in our society today. Being homeless effects everyone around the individual, whether related or not. I can only imagine the effects homelessness could have on a child. When i was in middle school i was friends with a girl who did not have alot of money. One day when we were eating lunch, she admited to me that her family and her had lived in a van for 3 years of her life. I couldnt even imagine how her, her two sisters and her parents, had managed to survived 3 years in a van. So i agree with you 100% this is a very very serious issue.

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  4. Without a stable home environment, there's really no question about the fact that children aren't going to have the same kind of opportunities that children in stable homes have. I mean, you're not going to be having the same sort of education as the other kids, or access to some important things like health care or dentists - you'd probably end up looking pretty messed up if you never had either of those things, or the hygiene products that normal people have in their developmental stages.

    It's a very serious problem, and really outlines the fact that we have homelessness at all in this country is just plain wrong.

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  5. My grandfather was very poor as a kid and he always tells me stories about his childhood. He once told me a story about a Christmas that he got nothing except for a ring from a nearby gumball machine. Although he was not homeless, he was very close to it and I really feel bad for him. Although my grandparents live a great life now and are very wealthy, I know that your childhood are the most important years of your life and will shape you to who are later in life. I know that being homeless as a kid would suck and I would not know what to do if it happened to me.

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