The Effects Of Homelessness On Homeless Children

Homelessness has a devastating impact on homeless children and youth’s educational opportunities. These children tend to lack in reading and ability skills as well as speech skills which affect their overall school performance. In addition, those who get a chance to go to school, only a small percentage end up completing the school year. According to the Access Your Future Learning Today article (1993), homeless children are nine times more likely to repeat a grade, four times more likely to drop out of school, and twice as likely to score lower on standardized test (1). A study done by Spence, Stevens and Parks (2007), found that homeless children have vocabulary and reading problems, as well as cognitive impairments. Steven and Spence looked into a study by Rescorla et al, whom compared poor families from New York with homeless families on several …show more content…
It was found in their study that “receptive vocabulary to be significantly lower in homeless preschool children (ages 3-5)” (2).
With education being the key to success for many and it aiding in a prosperous future, the absence of schooling for homeless children often leaves them in the dark. Every child deserves to live and grow in a safe and secure environment, but where homeless children often sleep in cars, shelters or abandoned buildings their reading, vocabulary and overall cognitive level isn’t at the standards of an average child at their age.
Living homeless means that skills in terms of reading and speaking are not of an average domiciled child. Less time is spent reading, doing homework and carrying out school based activities. Homework provided by teachers is supposed to be done at