Homelessness is a subject that is never pretty or easy to discuss. There is no cut and dry way to solve the problem, and multiple reasons for its existence. This article by NPR, at www.npr.org concentrated on the increasing affect homelessness is having on students. It brought the issue to a place I think many of us don’t think about often. We stereotype homeless people, and forget to realize that more and more families are becoming homeless every day. Kids that we see in schools on Monday might have had their house fall into foreclosure over the weekend and are now living in the family van. School might have just become the one safe place that student has in the world, and to think that these students are seen as a detriment to state tests as opposed to a child in need is appalling. Has the NO Child Left Behind Act warranted teachers to not only teach without creativity, but also with no compassion? It is a sad day for teaching when kids are seen more as test scores than human beings.
“Amid Foreclosures, A Rise In Homeless Students”
October 1, 2008 by mlemallin
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Unfortunately this trend is increasing in the United States. More and more people are becoming homeless. Though there are homeless shelters, they are not suitable for the lowest of the lowest. More needs to be done in terms of rectifying this problem. I do agree with you though. Too often, homeless people are stereotyped. I’m guilty of this myself sometimes. I know I shouldn’t, but the thoughts go through my mind nonetheless. With regards to education, it is unfortunate that everything revolves around test scores now. Though I do believe this trend was already growing before the NCLB act, it has now been amplified. I think when we examine our test scores and weight them against the rest of the world, it is important to keep one thing in mind. Whereas many other high-achieving countries do not let lower track students(and I think homeless would probably be included with that) and special education students participate in education(or weed them out and exclude them at some point), the United States tries to include everyone. We do still have a long way to go to make it a level playing field for all but at least they do get to participate in some form or another. That said, your article was informing and this is something I hope to look at with an open mind in the future.
With the changing times in this country with various economic crisis, the issue of homelessness is of great importance. There are indeed many families that have lost thier homes and have no help to go too. School is indeed a place that a child can be safe and help forget the pain from thier homelife for about 8 hours. Us people have to be compassionate to those around us that may not dress or have the material things we have because they are trying to make ends meat. Maybe we need to step out of the box and put ourselves in thier shoes and realize of how important school is for others than it is for some.