Homelessness. A problem at South East High School?

Homelessness is a problem for teenagers all around the world.

Homelessness is a problem for many people around the world, but is it a problem for the youth in California? One of the causes of homelessness for the youth is parents. Tony Ramirez, the coordinator for Los Angeles Youth network says, “the teens who come to the shelter are neglected, abused, or just homeless.” Youth may have been kicked out of the house or ran away from home; they could have felt unwanted, abused, suffering from a divorce or other problems with their guardians. Other reasons causing homelessness may be problems with people around them, drinking, or vandalism. Youth might be facing a family crisis or may not have a home to live in so they live out on the streets. Being with out a home can also make the youth feel sad or depressed with upcoming holidays (like Christmas or New Year’s.) While some people are at home being warm and having a great time, youth outside may be looking for a warm place to stay and trying their best to not feel let down. The holidays may be a good time for us but for others it might be just a normal (cold) day.

Homelessness is problem for students because they need their education and with no place to stay it can ruin their education. Youth (and the family) may not able to find a place to stay to finish their schoolwork. It can be hard for the student to finish up their schoolwork worrying and/or trying to find a place to rest and spend the night along with trying to find food to eat. This then may ruin the education of the pupil. If the teen has a place to stay (s)he wont need to worry about a place to study, a place to relax and sleep, finding food to eat. A homeless shelter can provide for a teen’s needs.

A homeless shelter can help the teen’s education because if they have some place to stay then their education can go up. Volunteers can help them out with problems they encounter at school or on the streets, the volunteers may also help out with homework that they have if not, then other homeless youth can help each other. These shelters have people who care about every individual that comes in so it changes the point of view of the teen that everything is going to be okay. A youth homeless shelter in Hollywood (LAYN) is able to allow seventeen homeless teens in to have a place to rest. According to Lucile Packard (the website of a children’s hospital) about 3.5 % of youth are homeless in California. Many people form non profit organizations to help out the homeless by raising money, having fund raisers, receiving donations to buy food and cloths to help and give it to the homeless. The youth shelter in Holly wood has activities for the youth to do in the day like going to the park the beach or outside outings which is pretty much going to places such as the movies.
An article from the Gale Cenage Learning Center says, “Homelessness is a widespread growing problem in America.” This is a widespread problem because there is a need for more homeless shelters. GCLC says, “The 2004 Survey of Hunger and Homelessness in America found that 66% of emergency shelters surveyed reported an increase in the number of shelter requests [in 2004] as compared to [2003].” There will be a need for more volunteers and donations. It’s also a widespread problem because; according to Tony, the homeless who come to the shelter come from all parts of the United States.