Penni, I was speaking to a person recently who had just came back from 3 years in Japan. He told me an interesting story about the homeless there.
I asked him, does Japan have a homeless problem? And do you ever see people begging on the street? He told me, yes they do, but in order to beg on the street they are required to register with the city, get a license and wear a special sort of uniform with a hat. As they beg, they are not allowed to stare at passersby, but must keep their head down and sit in a sort of indian style position. He wasn't sure if it was a law or just part of the culture, but he assured me it was a well accepted practice. The theory being, I'm ashamed and sorry to be a burden on you.
This also ensures that the poor people are registered and given guidance and support to put their lives back together. It might be an interesting experiment to try that in a city in America.
It seems to me, the key to helping people get off the street is to ensure they are educated enough never to have to get there to begin with. Having an illiteracy rate as high as we do is unforgivable with today's methods of teaching and resources. Some studies I've read show a disproportionate number of homeless people who are functionally illiterate.
I go to our local junior high school once a week and help a few problem kids read. I'm fortunate my command supports the effort and lets a few of us volunteer's take off work during the day. It's just awful for me to see 12 year old kids barely able to read 5 and 6 letter words. How they were ever passed through the lower grades astounds me.
A friend of mine is a third grade teacher nearby, she tried last year to hold a student back that couldn't read, and the grief she got from the school board, principle and parents was gruelling. She finally had to cave in and allow the child to pass. We need to help more kids SELF, and worry about their self esteem later. This phycobable philosophy of not allowing kids to fail a class year has really hurt education IMHO. Some kids just aren't ready to advance for one reason or another, and we need to get back to the time when we held them back until they learned the basics. Reading is fundamental to success in life. Without good reading skills you may as well forget about a successful career or high self esteem.
We really need to fix the public education problems, especially the ones which are rampant in the inner cities. Teachers seem to care, principle too. The problem is a system so corrupt it makes the political process look efficient.
I read today that California is going to try and expand it's charter school allowances well past 500. Charter schools are showing some great hope for change. It's just too darn bad not enough people have the courage to try them in more states, and on a much grander scale.
The homeless problem will never be fixed in any measurable way, until we fix the public school problems for good.
I know I strayed from the feelings portion of how to deal with people in need when you run across them. My reaction when I see a beggar is first to size them up. If they appear healthy, and especially if they are a man. I immediately think, hey pick up the want adds, there are plenty of jobs available if your willing to work. If it's a woman with children or an elderly or disabled person, I have allot of conflicts and oftentimes feel like asking them to come home and stay in my spare bedroom or something. Of course my wife wouldn't allow that, so that's lets me off the hook, sort of.
The ones that really bother me are the teenagers. So many of them Penni it just breaks my heart. They just blend in during the day, but then at night, around any playground or park, they sit bored watching life go by, aching for a helping hand and a way to make it through another day. There is a crying need for more teenage homeless shelters.
I can't believe some of the mindless garbage that gets put on the news every day and yet they seem to totally ignore such a HUGE problem. People just don't know how big the problem is Penni.
Michael |
