Social+Effects+of+Homelessness+on+Students

Annie Walsh

Editorial Article:

Magazine Article: Keh, Andrew. (2011, January 26). In High School and Alone in a Homeless Shelter. New York Times. Retrieved December 4, 2011. From [] --In this article from The New York Times, they did a story on a girls struggle to stay in school and get an education. She had been in homeless shelters most of her life, but moved in with a family member when she was 16, when she turned 18 she was kicked out of the house and told to live on her own. She learned that school was the only place she really felt at home, and made it her mission to get the best education she could. They also highlighted the struggles and emotional stress and disadvantages she has had over the years. --Reading an article quoting a girl that had grown up on food stamps, taught to do everything herself at a young age and still has been able to create a good education for herself was inspiring. While my research was primarily on the effects that homelessness has on children, this was the first article where it was somewhat encouraging and told a good side of what could happen through this obstacle.

2. Scholarly Articles : Koch, K. (2000, April 7). Child poverty. //CQ Researcher//, //10//, 281-304. Retrieved December 3, 2011. Retrieved from [] -- This article went over the critical information about homelessness. It went over important facts and specific numbers and changes that have happened over the years. While the majority of the article was to explain the distinct nuber increase in homelessness and homeless children over the last 30 years, it did speak about the struggles that come along with being homeless and how it can be harmful. This article also went into different topics about homelessness and touched on different questions that come up in the fight for the homeless and different ways to reduce the number of children in this statistic and way of life. --Reading this article was eye opening. Again, I hadn’t realized just how many people, and children were affected by homelessness. Over the last few years, homelessness has been on the rise, due to the economy. After reading through this article, I learned more about what the government is trying to do to help support the ever growing numbers, while the government is doing what they can to support this issue, it also has to reach the schools and make an imprint on their teaching strategies.

Moorman, Felice, "The impact of homelessness on young children : building resilience through supportive early educational interventions" (2009). Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. Paper 230. http://commons.emich.edu/theses/230 --This article was very insightful on the struggles that not only children face in schools, but also that of parents. This article went in depth about the effects that homelessness has on children, and was able to describe and give detail to actual homeless families and their fight to stay informed and have rights in their child’s education. This article was also able to teach me about the many different forms of social issues and emotional distress children have.

--After reading this article, I was surprised to see the different struggles homeless families go through in the school system. I was also surprised to see how little some teachers tried to help these students, and how little they cared for the students well bing. Some have high praise for their child’s teacher and school who have helped their child overcome adversity to some parents being outraged at the school treatment, but having no transportation to have meetings. The different struggles that have been brought up through this article really woke me up on the topic of homelessness within the schools.

Summary Article: Tower, Cynthia Crosson, White, Donna J. (1989). Homeless Students. Retrieved December 1, 2011. From [] --This article was specific towards teaching teachers about the struggles of being homeless. It was geared to helping teachers learn specific facts on homelessness and how to help their students if they ever have them in their class. It went into detail about what to do in different situations and how to help a child through their schooling, and the changes that they are going through and may go through in the future. It spoke about the struggles of moving frequently, and the emotional challenges that children may face in the difficult years that they are homeless.

--While this article was specifically for teachers, it helped me learn more in depth about te struggles that may come about in the class room, and what the causes of them may be. Many different things can come about, and teachers need to be understanding and well informed about the home life of each child whether homeless or not. This article shed light on tactics that can be used, but also ways to help the homeless child feel comfortable, and become adapted to a regular schedule and school life style. I was able to use some information I found and was glad to see some ways that may be useful for myself as a future educator.