The current recession seems to have no limit, and the media has been pretty thorough in testing that. In some cases, it's what seems like the millionth Today Show segment on "recession chique" or how buying store brand food can save you money; in other cases, there is the New York Times' recent two-part series on the rise in teenage runaways ("Running in the Shadows", part 1 ran on Sunday and part 2 ran on Monday).
Just as people have been losing their homes due to what seems to be a never-ending rise in unemployment, more teenagers have been leaving due to a variety of reasons. What is most unfortunate is both what they do once they are out there, such as prostitute themselves, which is the focus of part 2; and how the help they can get is seriously lacking:
I don't have much firsthand experience with teenage runaways. Since I grew up in a middle- to upper-middle-class white suburb, my teenage existence was very sheltered. However, as an educator I have come across several people who could very well fit the description of the kids in both of these articles. I obviously won't get into specifics, but when you do have students who are in terrible situations it's very sad to see them fail, whether it be your class or completely dropping out. And even someone who is often cynical and detatched like myself cannot help but feel horrible when a student you did your best to help can't rise above.
This is just another thing, I think, that we need to be aware of. Not that we really have to insert ourselves into all lives and not that we have to over-accommodate for bad home lives when we write lesson plans or give homework. I often remind my students that literature does not happen in a vacuum; as teachers, we need to remember that we don't work in a vacuum, either. Hopefully, those reminders can come through great achievements and not sad stories like this.
Just as people have been losing their homes due to what seems to be a never-ending rise in unemployment, more teenagers have been leaving due to a variety of reasons. What is most unfortunate is both what they do once they are out there, such as prostitute themselves, which is the focus of part 2; and how the help they can get is seriously lacking:
Though President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package includes $1.5 billion to address the problem of homelessness, state officials and youth advocates say that almost all of that money will go toward homeless families, not unaccompanied youths.
“As a society, we can pay a dollar to deal with these kids when they first run away, or 20 times that in a matter of years when they become the adult homeless or incarcerated population,” said Barbara Duffield, policy director for the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth.
I don't have much firsthand experience with teenage runaways. Since I grew up in a middle- to upper-middle-class white suburb, my teenage existence was very sheltered. However, as an educator I have come across several people who could very well fit the description of the kids in both of these articles. I obviously won't get into specifics, but when you do have students who are in terrible situations it's very sad to see them fail, whether it be your class or completely dropping out. And even someone who is often cynical and detatched like myself cannot help but feel horrible when a student you did your best to help can't rise above.
This is just another thing, I think, that we need to be aware of. Not that we really have to insert ourselves into all lives and not that we have to over-accommodate for bad home lives when we write lesson plans or give homework. I often remind my students that literature does not happen in a vacuum; as teachers, we need to remember that we don't work in a vacuum, either. Hopefully, those reminders can come through great achievements and not sad stories like this.
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