Outline
Being a part of the big city of New York has given me opportunities to explore all faces of life. The living conditions of homeless students in the city caused great pain in me. I was a part of the local high school student’s aid council which also addressed problems of homeless students and made donations to financially support their educational needs. There are approximately 9,000 homeless families living in New York City. The challenges faced by the children from these families are numerous. Something has to be done to address their issues or this can become a major threat to the nation. This essay discusses the causes and consequences of homelessness in the nation and a solution to decrease the problems faced by the homeless youngsters.
Admission Essay
A major problem that USA faces is the issue of thousands of homeless students in the country. It is considered as the second gravest problem faced by the country after the threat of a nuclear war. Seeing the children in homeless families working behind restaurants and indulging in fights with each other for food was very painful for me. It is hard and painful to imagine a life without proper food, shelter and normal school. The number of families relying on homeless shelter in the country is increasing day by day and New York City is not different from this problem. A recent news on homelessness indicated that there are more than 9,000 families living in temporary shelters and streets in the city. “The federal definition of homelessness used by all public schools in the United States includes children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate night time residence. This definition specifically includes children and youth living in shelters, transitional housing, cars, campgrounds, motels, and sharing the housing of others temporarily due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reasons” (Facts about the Education of Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness: How is Homelessness Defined, para.1).
Shortage of affordable houses, unemployment, lack of public services provided by the government, substances abuse, parental neglect, physical or mental torture by the family members, etc cause the children to run away from houses. “It is estimated that between 1.6 and 1.7 million youth run away or are forced to leave home each year” (Facts about the Education of Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Why are Children and Youth Homeless, para.3).
Homeless children face a lot of challenges from school as well as from the society. These children are not able to obtain a proper primary and secondary school education as they won’t be able to afford school stationery or clean clothes. The embarrassment in facing other children who come from financially stable families can lead to the development of psychological problems in the homeless children. These students often receive harsh and uncooperative reactions from fellow students. The mobile nature of homeless families also causes these students to change schools often which results in poor development of social values in these children. They will be forced to leave schools at an early age and will have to start earning to provide for themselves and their families.
These challenges can lead the children to dangerous activities like drug abuse, illicit trade of alcohol and drugs, smuggling, theft and even violent activities like fights and murders. A majority of them can end up becoming social criminals doing more harm to the city than anything else. The prevalence of criminal and violent nature among homeless children and youngsters is quite high.
What can we do to address this problem? Although many acts are passed by the federal government to help homeless students in the country, like the McKinney – Vento Homeless Assistance Act in 2001, the number of homeless children who really get the benefits is low. Discrimination of homeless students is prohibited by law in the country, but the extent to which the law is applicable is still unknown. There are many homeless students who face negative reactions directly and indirectly from fellow students. An effective way to prevent or at least reduce this discrimination is to make the children aware of the consequences. All schools should have counselors who can advise normal students to show more empathy towards their homeless counterparts and encourage them to help their fellow mates by donating clothes, food and school supplies. Associations can be formed by the students within the college or school to address the issues faced by homeless youngsters in the institution. This would help the needy students to seek help for their problems. These activities can bring in the students a sense of responsibility toward the fellow beings and the country. Giving recognition to the homeless youngsters would prevent them from moving to dangerous activities like drug trades and theft. The associations and councils working for helping homeless students should be supported and encouraged by the institutions and the society to eradicate the grave problem of homeless children in our city.
Works Cited
Facts about the Education of Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness: How is Homelessness Defined? NAEHCY: National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. 2007. Web.
Facts about the Education of Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Why are Children and Youth Homeless? NAEHCY: National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. 2007. Web.