Who are the Homeless?

          We see them struggling every day, yet we rarely help them. Who are they? The homeless. They are humans who are in need of kindness and charity and yet more often than not we avoid their pleading gazes as we walk or drive by. The question is why don’t we help them? Part of the problem is the way they are conveyed in the media. The media is a vicious tool used to spread messages to the world that may or may not be true. The media likes to portray homeless people as crazy men and women who are addicted to drugs so they beg for money to get the cash they need to buy drugs. Photographs seem to prove this kind of homeless person by showing the signs of men freely admitting they are addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Many homeless are even portrayed as fakes. They just know that they there is some money to be made in the “business” of being homeless.

(This video is about a man who pretends to be homeless and have a speech impediment and earns $100,000.)

 To be sure there might be those kinds of homeless people out there; however, many homeless people are not there by choice. For some, the housing crisis left them homeless, while for others the loss of jobs.

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/526/homeless-facts.html
(This site gives facts about the homeless and what it means to be homeless.)

 The media wants us to think that all homeless people are not worth our time and charity; they got what they deserved. Many homeless are capable, talented people who simply cannot land a job in this harsh economy or because of past decision.

(This video talks about a homeless man who had a great life, until he became addicted to drugs. He fell into homelessness due to his poor choices.)

(This video shows a man who is talented and had a job, but due to the harshness of the economy he was forced to live a homeless life with his young son.)

 No matter the kind of homeless person shown, they are people who are in need of assistance.                      While there may not be children of the homeless in schools, this message can still affect any child at school. Due to the media’s portrayal of homeless men and women as lying, crazy, drug addicts, impressionable children might think that all people who are poor struggle with these issues. Since children are taught not to lie and that drugs are bad, they may be wired, thanks to the media, to feel no compassion towards these afflicted people. This absence of compassion might even transfer over to those poorer children at school. In a sweeping generalization children could expect all the poor to be like the homeless therefore withhold their kindness to the poor kids. The poorer children at school will then suffer from the lack of compassion towards those who are destitute. Teachers need to recognize these stereotypes because in this modern world children are exposed to media biases every day, numerous times a day. As a teacher you have to realize what messages are put into the children’s heads everyday so you can learn to combat the biases and attitudes that are placed into their heads. If the teacher knows that children see the homeless as drug addicted and liars, then they can protect the poorer children from those biases. They could also adjust their curriculum to teach compassion towards the poor and afflicted so that they can help combat the stereotypes. Being a teacher in this world full of media which spreads stereotypes like the plague is hard, but worth it if you can take the things from the media and learn how to glean truth out of them and then help spread ways to fight the stereotypes in the classroom.