Education, and other facts, about homeless kids and youth - Matthew Birdzell

Out of all the homeless people you've encounter and will encounter, how many of them are kids or teenagers? Perhaps not as much as adults. Well over a million students enrolled in school are homeless children and youth. The question I have for you is this: Why is this the case? If education is a necessary part of life (which is always will be) , then why is there so much struggle with funding the right programs and ultimately ending the issue? Even providing a place to live while in school. I'll leave that thought to you.

According to a study done by Urban Wire, there are five facts about homeless youth that are needing to be combated. Amongst those, the conclusion that we can draw is two ideas: one) homeless kids need more available shelter and, really, families or couples willing to take a child or two in to their own homes to help, and two) they need connections via free public internet (ie: libraries), and for libraries to teach them how to find resources. I consider them equally important for any young child or near adult age person that is having difficulties finding a place that loves them, to provide and teach them, and to build them in to productive members of society.

As an extra thought, check more out on the homeless youth sex trafficking That might further hit this home for you. It's hard enough these kids and young adults are brought in to that world, but even worse that, for the young girls that end up getting pregnant and struggles to make ends meet, they end up with another person to take care of...unless their trafficker is "kind" enough to provide.

Are there effective ways to fix these problems? Government aid is one thing, but something else entirely is the home environments kids and youth are in. Fostering a strong and healthy home life, as well as having parents who take good care of them and have the money to support their learning, is probably one of the best ways to prevent homelessness and hunger in this age demographic.


 https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/education-department-releases-guidance-homeless-children-and-youth

https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/five-important-facts-about-homeless-youth