{"id":16955,"date":"2021-06-21T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T13:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=16955"},"modified":"2022-10-09T06:18:54","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T10:18:54","slug":"homelessness-a-quietly-executed-war-on-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/homelessness-a-quietly-executed-war-on-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Homelessness: A Quietly Executed War on Children"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You\u2019d never know this if you rely on the news for vital information, but youth homelessness is rising at unprecedented rates, setting the stage for increased homelessness for our coming generation.<\/p>\n

If you typed the word homeless into your Google search bar and then clicked the tab marked images, you\u2019d immediately be bombarded with different variations of the same basic picture. It is the picture of a grown person, usually on a street corner, often seen clutching a cup or cardboard sign.<\/p>\n

The background might be different from picture to picture. This grown person might be surrounded by heaps of trash or rickety tents or perhaps the warmth of a kindly stranger passing them a fistful of change.<\/p>\n

This is particularly true when it comes to pictures of homelessness in America. We, as Americans, naively indulge this half-truth because homelessness sometimes looks this way to us. But if one were to draw an accurate depiction of 2.5 million homeless<\/a> people across the US, the thing they\u2019d all have in common is the fact that they are children.<\/p>\n

The Sobering Reality: 1 out of Every 30 Children in the United States is Homeless<\/h3>\n

According to the National Center on Family Homelessness<\/a>, youth homelessness climbed to a historic high back in 2014. It has been an uphill battle ever since.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not talk about that just yet, though. Instead, let\u2019s talk about war.<\/p>\n

What is a war? How do you know if you\u2019re in one? What if you don\u2019t always know?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

There are wars that rage over national, exploding loudly and violently in fields of open conflict. But then there is another kind of war, a quieter kind. A war where battles are drawn behind closed doors and winners are crowned in the shadows. A war where all the losing is made to look like happenstance, just a series of unfortunate accidents that happen to end in such a way where all the spoils wind up in the hands of a select few.<\/p>\n

I want to suggest that this is the war our children are already enlisted in, homelessness. And it is a byproduct of raging capitalism gone awry.<\/p>\n

The future for many young Americans is already tarnished through homelessness, soaked in the stains of inequality.<\/em><\/p>\n

How Serious a Problem is Youth Homelessness in America?<\/h3>\n

Homeless youth service center Covenant House<\/a> reports that nearly 40% of all homeless people nationwide are under 18. Homeless children and teenagers face unique challenges that adults who are experiencing homelessness either do not face at all or do not face to the same degree. Examples include:<\/p>\n