Children are Homeless but Not Hopeless

One possible reason that US children are not doing as well as those in Finland, the country with the smartest teenagers, is the higher number of homeless children in the US, which is 1.4 million a year. Tasks for educators in the US are certainly more challenging than those in Finland.

Homeless children have significantly more challenges in their lives, ranging from health, social, economics, and even psychological. Homeless students often times go to school hungry. They don't get a good quality and quantity of sleep. They have to travel further to school. They generally feel isolated and stigmatized. They have higher level of anxiety than their peers. And as a result of their many temporary residences, they tend to move schools a lot, repeat a grade, and have a higher percentage of school drop outs.

At school, these children would rather not be identified as homeless. And many instances schools officials may not know that some of their children are homeless and need more help than their peers.

As required by law through the Steward B McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, these children are entitled to a free and appropriate education. Schools must eliminate barriers to enrollment, attendance and success in school for homeless students. This can be done by providing services to these homeless children including providing backpacks, uniforms, materials for school work, fields trips, tutoring, transportation arrangement, and many more.

One of the tutoring volunteer organization who supports homeless children by going to their shelters, and therefore making access to tutoring easier for these children, is School On Wheels.







In the US, just because children are homeless they don't have to be hopeless.
Go to Helping Homeless Students, for more information.