Week 2: BLOG #5 Youth Homelessness

TRIANGLE
Many children who become homeless have many things that they are facing in a daily basis. In the journal, From Home to Street, many had left their home due to physical abuse, family conflict and poverty. Physical abuse causes harm to the victim as well as their children. It is something that is difficult to repair and it will leave a scar for life. In this journal, Twig was a child who was pushed and hit several times by his step-father, but his mother did nothing to change that situation, because she was financially dependent on him. This led him to leave the household, but it was not as easy. For instance, he had several foster placements which were unsuccessful and he ended up leaving all of them within a short period of time. Although the circumstances of each placement varied, he described his struggles as trying to fit into a foster placement that did not acknowledge his past experiences. Family conflict is another way for which a person finds a way out without taking into consideration the possible struggles that this decision could later bring. Many times families are not supportive when there is family conflict; they tend to manage the situation differently. In which young homeless people often perceive themselves as antagonists in their life journeys. Poverty is a main issue from which a person leaves their home behind; many times when a person loses their jobs it is impossible to sustain their family for a long time. This can raise conflict of interest with the landlord and most likely will cause eviction. In the long run it could be difficult for a person to find a way out of a situation and most likely take life as its coming. Homelessness affects a large population in the United States, and it affects everyone.

SQUARE
In the Skid Row documentary, I agree that substance abuse is the major form of violence that there is. Substance abuse appeared to be a big issue in Los Angeles. According to the documentary, there are many people selling drugs, they do this without taking in consideration who is around. For instance, violence is seen every time without anyone doing anything about it. Franklin gave his testimony on how he saw a women been murdered and instead of getting anyone’s assistance they only kept watching on how she was getting stabbed.

CIRCLE
It is important to understand that even though there are many homeless individuals. There are many places that can help them with social services. But, despite of this many of the shelters are not that big enough for many of these individuals. Anyone can get the help that they need by going to the right place. Can homelessness be stopped or will this be an ongoing situation? What effects does it have on children?