Poverty/ Homelessness

   

    This week's discussion talked about poverty and homelessness in America's youth, especially students. Poverty in America is not something new, rather it is an aspect of America's society that has been a concerning component since its beginnings. Since the early days of America, especially after the creation of cities, we have seen an overpopulation of people living on the street, with no place to go. Since then, this problem has only amplified, especially with America's youth. It is our job "...As a nation, [that] we must do everything we can to ensure that all students — including students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity — are able to access an excellent education that opens doors to opportunity and thriving lives,” (Cai, 2021.) After reading various articles, and watching the documentary The homestretch it can be seen that there are an overwhelming number of children enrolled in public school, but why? One answer is lack of proper parental guidance, and the other theme that resonated throughout the film was hopelessness. It is easy for children who are kicked out or abandoned to feel an overwhelming amount of hopelessness and like they have no outlet, which is why we need to as a society help alleviate this problem. 

    The homestretch highlighted the highs and lows of a homeless student, with there being more lows indefinitely. Throughout the film there was a fluctuation of narratives from various students who are homeless, and how they navigate their daily lives. A commonality amongst all the narratives was that they had no biological parental guidance or influence in their lives. As children who then grow to become young adults, it is important that children have their parents in their lives to be a source of comfort and guidance. Throughout the film we saw how many of the young teenagers had parents or family that simply did not want them, or were unable to provide for them properly. For example, Roque in the beginning of the film said that he has to be his own parent and that he does not need anyone. The mindset that homeless youth have is disheartening because they do not need to be their own parent, they should be taken care of. Roque is undocumented and his father had issues with immigration, therefore he had no where to go. One of the young women, Kasey, was abandoned by her parents and at one time was living with her grandmother. However, Kasey had to leave because her grandmother was uncomfortable with her being a lesbian, and was depleting her mental health. This situation is disheartening because regardless of the grandmother's feelings towards LGBTQ she should never treat her granddaughter the way she did, and should still have provided love and a roof over her head where she felt safe. It is concerning that some children feel so unsafe and unloved at home that they would rather be homeless than live at home. Another important factor of having parental guidance is that they can educate you and help you when you are placed in a difficult situation. Anthony in the film explains that he had a child with someone, and because he is homeless cannot take care of that kid. Anthony was a kid having a kid, and did not have people there for him like he should have. 

    The theme of a lack of parental guidance, coincides with the other theme of hopelessness in homeless youth. Regarding homeless youth, "In the 2016-17 school year, the number of homeless students exceeded 100,000 in California (262,935), New York (148,418), and Texas (111,177)" (Cai, 2021.) Those are concerning statistics that display the commonality of having a child that a parent gives up on, gives up for adoption, or  walks a bad path and has the child taken away from them. It is the job of the parent and provider, to guide their children, protect their children, and educate their children In order to help them prosper throughout childhood into adulthood. However, as the statistics show, this is not happening for many parent child dynamics. Throughout the film, one heard the youth saying things such as "I am stuck and do not know what to do" or "How do I change?". The students in the film expressed desires to finish their education and prosper through their situations, but felt they did not have the tools to do so. Here is where us as educators come in, because we turn hopelessness into hope and prosperity. Where parents fail to be parents, educators and school faculty step in to alleviate the issue to the best of their ability. Throughout the film one witnessed how teachers and schools help homeless youth, one teacher even took her student in to live with her and helped him through the college process. The school we witnessed had a program in their school where they logged the homeless students in their school, and would buy whatever they need and provide them shelter when need be. Teachers look out for these students, for example when one teacher said a young girl was having a constant odor and appeared to not be displaying proper hygiene or mental health. Reasons as to why children may be homeless have been noted and found that "Approximately 18% of homeless students were students with disabilities, About 16% of homeless students were English language learners, [and] Nearly 9% of homeless students were unaccompanied homeless youth or youth who were not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian" (Cai, 2021.) Therefore, there had to be an implementation of programs to help the homeless youth not feel hopeless and unprotected. One is the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act, which "states that children and youth who lack “a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” will be considered homeless" (Mc-Kinney Vento Homeless Education, 2021.) The program provides students with free public school education, immediate school enrollment regardless of specific documentation, and transportation to and from school (Mc-Kinney Vento Homeless Education, 2021.) We also saw in the video programs such as TLP, the transitional living program, where various students throughout the film stayed. In another article "1 in 10 NYC public school students is homeless. I was one of them." a girl explains how her and her family were uprooted and became homeless. Her mother"... kept saying we would be OK, that “God is always with us,” so we shouldn’t worry" (Galarza, 2021.) Despite their overwhelming feelings of discomfort and fear, they trusted in the Lord which is something more people need to do. Despite their inability to tell people they were homeless because of judgement, they knew the Lord had them. 

    A song I chose was "4 your eyez only" by J. Cole, because it explores a man who grew up in the streets, had a daughter, and writes the song for her in order to help her see that her dad did love her even if he is not present in her life. Some lyrics include " Don't know if I ever had a chance At a glance, I'm a failure; Addicted to pushing paraphernalia; But Daddy had dreams once, my eyes had a gleam once; Innocence disappeared by the age of eight years" (Cole, 2016) This relates to the theme of hopelessness because we understand that he feels like a failure but when he was only eight, still a child, he lost that innocence a child portrays because he had a rough home life. Another couplet was "And now I fear it's too late for me to ever be; The one that set examples that was never set for me" (Cole, 2016) I felt this lyric related to the topic of parental guidance and the child Anthony because like this writer, Anthony had a kid, and was trying to navigate how to be the influence his father never was. Another song that relates to the concept of hopelessness in the family is "Alyssa Lies" which talks about a young girl who lies to her classmates and teachers about her situation at home. This relates to the idea of hopelessness because homeless children at times lie about their situations and just how bad they are, and at times can put their lives in danger; similar to how the girl in the film Kasey overdosed on medication, but brought herself to the hospital. 

    A novel that I chose that I felt related to the idea of a rough home life or a home life one does not like, is Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Holden Caulfield is a 16 year old boy who runs away from home for two days and explores the realities of adulthood, and the importance of the perseverance of innocence. The book allows students to relate to the idea of wanting to get away from the control of other people, and be independent and live their own lives. However, some of Holden's experiences could make the reader think twice, and allow them to be grateful for the parents they have. This novel relates to the themes from the videos and articles because it allows the reader to see both sides of a story, the one side being people who want to flee their parents, and the other being people who are alone, wishing they did have parental guidance. 

References 

 

Cai, J. (2020, July 27). Homeless Students in Public Schools Across America: Down but Not Out

National School Boards Association. https://www.nsba.org/Perspectives/2021/homeless-students

Carroll, J. (2007). Alyssa Lies. On Waitin' in the Country

 Cole, J. (2016). 4 Your Eyez Only. On 4 Your Eyez Only

De Mare, A., Kelly, K., & Taber, K. (Producers), & De Mare, A., & Kelly, K. (Directors). (2014). The homestretch [Streaming video]. United States: Bullfrog Films.

Galarza, S. (2021, May 14). 1 in 10 NYC public school students is homeless. I was one of them. Chalkbeat New York. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2021/5/14/22436576/homeless-students-nyc. 

Mc-Kinney Vento Homeless Education. (2021). New York State Education Department. http://www.nysed.gov/essa/mckinney-vento-homeless-education

Salinger, J. D. (1991). The catcher in the rye. Little, Brown and Company.