Jonathan C. California

On The Homeless

Homelessness is a problem in America, and some of the ways it is being dealt with are both insufficient and unfair.

     Across the Unites States, many measures are taken to rid of the homelessness issue across the country. Some of the positive approaches include shelters, recovery homes, salvation armies, and many more. There are some very negative approaches however, and some of these include spikes under bridges, making benches uncomfortable to lay on, arrests for sleeping in parks, etc. These methods attempting to resolve the homelessness issue are both insufficient and unfair and they need to be either revoked or replaced with more efficient and more fair methods. 

     Some of the positive attempts being made to battle the homelessness issue include homeless shelters, recovery homes and salvation armies. Homeless shelters can be found in varying areas of the  country and provide temporary housing for those trying to get back on their feet. They are often vital in cities on the east coast as the weather can become brutal during the winter season. Recovery homes are another option for the less fortunate. In many cases a bed will be provided for a small monthly rent (usually around $500) for around 6 months until that person finds themselves capable of living without serious financial aid. Finally salvation armies help those who are unable to afford clothing or other items at standard retail stores. Products sold at salvation armies or goodwill's are donated and sold for much less than what they were originally purchased for. These three methods have proven to be helpful to combat the issue of homelessness across America and should be both continued and grown to further assist the homeless community. 

     It is also important to identify the non-effective methods that deal with homelessness. These include setting spikes under bridges where the homeless sleep, obstructing other public structures to make them uncomfortable to sleep on, and homeless arrests for no reason other than their unwanted presence.  Instead of spending money on making the world public for the homeless, they can instead use that money to build homeless shelters, recovery homes, and salvation armies. The same can be said about the obstruction of public structures. Instead of making the lives of the homeless difficult, state and federal governments could instead use this money to help them. Another unfortunate method being used to deal with homelessness are arrests for being out late in public areas. Arrests are commonly made on the homeless for sleeping in subway stations, parks, etc. Apparently it is not understood that they have no other place to go, and it is certain that sending them to jail will not fix the problem. In order to resolve the conflict of homelessness, these methods that are ineffective in dealing with it must be revoked and replaced with methods that are.

      

     


Newbury Park High School

IB Lang & Lit HL 1 - Period 3A (Lilly)

Newbury Park's period 3A IB Lang & Lit course

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