Protecting Our Number One Asset
I can’t remember the last time I was really hungry. Can you? That’s what I had swimming through my mind the other day as I watched the latest reports about the economy. 60 Minutes aired a story a few weeks ago showcasing what has been happening all over our country, and no one has been talking about it. As a mother, it breaks my heart. As someone who holds a degree in Psychology, in particular that of children, these latest figures are disturbing. After watching it, and thinking on it, and watching it again, I am angry and shocked and need for all of us to make sure we do something to stop this swirl of psychological damage being done to our most important assets – our children.
Yes, childhood poverty in America is creeping up at 25%, the largest percentage since we as a nation started even counting it 51 years ago. The figures are staggering. Two million children will find themselves HOMELESS this year. Let me repeat that: Two million babies are without shelter in OUR COUNTRY. Children are being forced out of their homes through foreclosure and because our homeless shelters want to split boys and girls up, families that choose to go there find themselves with the dilemma of separation. As a result, many families choose to move to their next largest asset, their car, for shelter. Children are crammed into the family vehicle to figure out a way to sleep where at least the doors can be locked and everyone can stay together. The personal items, such as portraits (this one got me crying) and dolls have been placed in storage only to become de-funk, sold at auction, never to be seen again. Why would anyone throw away someone’s portraits or a child’s lovey knowingly? It is despicable.
The family pet brings on a whole other column about pet homelessness and anyone who knows the love between a child and their dog or cat or what have you will know to loose that loved one is almost unbearable. Difficult times calls for difficult acts. We all know you feed your child before you feed the family dog. All of this resulting in irreparable psychological damage to the children. PERIOD.
In addition, there is a tight relationship between hunger and homelessness. It is most upsetting to know that children are hungry especially in America. When interviewed, the children said, “You can’t sleep. You wake up again and try to, but your stomach won’t let you. It’s like a black hole….” Through tears, they told of having to get food from a church, one even said, “It’s kinda embarrassing when you go to school, and you walk around and ask your friends if they want their cereal or something.”
Heart breaking as it is, most of these children will not be fed adequate amounts of food to perform at their best and taking into account the other variables of psychological stressors placed on these children, they will not leave their childhood undamaged by this experience. They are the largest group in our society to see real, knock down and dirty poverty since The Great Depression, and we all know what lasting effects that had on those that lived through it.
What worries me the most is in twenty years. What kind of adult is made from homelessness, hunger and disparity? What recipe for disaster are we as a society cooking up to let all this go unchecked? With children dropping out of school to try to find work as a mere teen just to keep their families together, what kind of life will there be for that selfless act? With uneducated children, what hope do we have for their greatness in a successful life?
We are in sad shape, and we need to take a good look and seriously think about the ramifications of all of this for our society. In a country that boasts to everyone how rich we are, where commercials urge us to pledge to sponsor a child far, far away, we need not go three miles away from our very own door.
