Homelessness and Children

When people speak about homelessness, they mostly focus on adults who find themselves in the streets due to lack of proper housing. The reality is that children are affected too. They bear the impact of homelessness right from before they are born. If a pregnant mother is homeless then there are high chances that she does not go for neonatal care. She misses out on supplements and other support systems needed for a healthy birth.

How Children Get Affected

Older children who are homeless are more likely to be physically and sexually abused. Predators can find them as they roam the streets. This leads to trauma and pain that they carry with them into adulthood. Other than the psychological effects, it also affects their physical growth. Chances are they will not get a balanced diet on the streets. This can lead to malnutrition that affects childhood development especially when it happens in their formative years. The children will also develop some social maladjustments since they are not growing up in homes that have proper channels of discipline. Most of the children who grew up homeless admit in adulthood that they developed a sense of resentment to humanity. They also lag behind in academics and end up missing out on school, which creates a cycle of poverty as they grow older.

Helping Homeless Children

Helping homeless children goes beyond dripping a coin on their begging cup. The government should come up with a solid social welfare system that identifies such children and places them in better facilities. There should also be sensitisation on the public to report incidents when they suspect a child is homeless. Whether the child is with the parent at the time should not matter. Everything should be done while bearing in mind the interest of the child.