Homeless students in TN

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

I was not aware that there are over 11 thousand kids in various grades that are homeless in TN..

That is really astounding and sad...

I been thinking about that since I read about it a few days ago..

Are they set up to fail right from the start since they have no stable home enviroment?

That is so sad..

[UncleJak]

Are they set up to fail right from the start since they have no stable home enviroment?

Almost always. Very sad indeed.

[Jonnin]

There is a subtle difference between doomed to fail and being disadvantaged. Many kids are at a disadvantage in school; its hard to focus if you are hungry or your back hurts where you were beaten or your clothes do not fit or the other kids pick on your because of your poverty/cleanliness/behavior/other issues. It is not always related to income either; I went to a high school that now costs more than most colleges per year, yet there were a few kids there that had unbeliveable problems. Some were dumped in the dorms to fend for themselves --- they had money, but no support network, parents wanted nothing to do with them. Others had parents who were at war with each other, a disruptive and violent home life. Some just did not try. A very few wanted to be there and could barely afford it, or even not (scholarships) and worked hard to take advantage of it.

In any case, while environment is a big deal to success in school on the average, there are many, many cases of people that excelled because they wanted to get out of their horrible conditions, and many, many examples of people who did not try in school at all in spite of a great home life and supporting family.

So, no, they are not set up to fail. They just have a more difficult journey, and just possibly, for a few of them, the motivation to excel against the odds. For the bulk of them, however, failure is indeed a sad and likely possibility, as it takes a rare soul to overcome tough conditions.

If we could only have a fraction of the money we send to our enemies as foreign aid, we could probably afford to give such kids an easier life and a chance to succeed. While I am not keen on entitlements, giving kids a "sink or swim" chance and supporting the ones that choose to work and and "swim" would be far better use of that money.

[peejman]

There is a subtle difference between doomed to fail and being disadvantaged. Many kids are at a disadvantage in school; its hard to focus if you are hungry or your back hurts where you were beaten or your clothes do not fit or the other kids pick on your because of your poverty/cleanliness/behavior/other issues. It is not always related to income either; I went to a high school that now costs more than most colleges per year, yet there were a few kids there that had unbeliveable problems. Some were dumped in the dorms to fend for themselves --- they had money, but no support network, parents wanted nothing to do with them. Others had parents who were at war with each other, a disruptive and violent home life. Some just did not try. A very few wanted to be there and could barely afford it, or even not (scholarships) and worked hard to take advantage of it.

In any case, while environment is a big deal to success in school on the average, there are many, many cases of people that excelled because they wanted to get out of their horrible conditions, and many, many examples of people who did not try in school at all in spite of a great home life and supporting family.

So, no, they are not set up to fail. They just have a more difficult journey, and just possibly, for a few of them, the motivation to excel against the odds. For the bulk of them, however, failure is indeed a sad and likely possibility, as it takes a rare soul to overcome tough conditions.

This.

If they can learn to succeed in the face of adversity at a young age, very little gets in their way later in life. Sometimes all they need is a little nudge in the right direction, a ray of hope. I think its far worse to have all the advantages and fail anyway, just because you're lazy.

If we could only have a fraction of the money we send to our enemies as foreign aid, we could probably afford to give such kids an easier life and a chance to succeed. While I am not keen on entitlements, giving kids a "sink or swim" chance and supporting the ones that choose to work and and "swim" would be far better use of that money.

And especially this.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

I thought about that too..Maybe if we can help just 1 kid and make a difference ..

I wonder what the parents are doing in those cases.I read that some live with relatives, in tents or in homeless shelters or even in tents or travel trailers..

Here in the little town we live , there are quite a few parents that do not seem to care how they live...makes me sad for the little ones...

And i never understood why we send so much damn money overseas.. meanwhile we still have people and kids who go hungry at night..

[gjohnsoniv]

There is a subtle difference between doomed to fail and being disadvantaged. Many kids are at a disadvantage in school; its hard to focus if you are hungry or your back hurts where you were beaten or your clothes do not fit or the other kids pick on your because of your poverty/cleanliness/behavior/other issues. It is not always related to income either; I went to a high school that now costs more than most colleges per year, yet there were a few kids there that had unbeliveable problems. Some were dumped in the dorms to fend for themselves --- they had money, but no support network, parents wanted nothing to do with them. Others had parents who were at war with each other, a disruptive and violent home life. Some just did not try. A very few wanted to be there and could barely afford it, or even not (scholarships) and worked hard to take advantage of it.

In any case, while environment is a big deal to success in school on the average, there are many, many cases of people that excelled because they wanted to get out of their horrible conditions, and many, many examples of people who did not try in school at all in spite of a great home life and supporting family.

So, no, they are not set up to fail. They just have a more difficult journey, and just possibly, for a few of them, the motivation to excel against the odds. For the bulk of them, however, failure is indeed a sad and likely possibility, as it takes a rare soul to overcome tough conditions

I agree completely with the school statement. I went to a boarding school where it was the exact same thing. It seems like even though some parents might have all the money in the world, if their kid has problems they don't want to deal with them, and send them off.

[personDJ]

It is real simple. This problem is caused by human beings. We here in this country do not believe everyone should have the same. we have millions of rich people sitting in church on sundays where is their love and support. We humans have a very long way to grow. Many folks in this country believe they should have it all because of the way they believe and they believe because of what they have.

I am often not proud of us humans.

[10-Ring]

It's really sad. What is even sadder is the there are a variety of government assistance programs out there to help these kids but there is nothing to keep the parents from selling off the benefits to buy junk that they want, which happens more often than not.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

How to you know .. if I want to help someone.... that it goes all to benefit the child or the teenager .. not the mother or father...?

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

It is real simple. This problem is caused by human beings. We here in this country do not believe everyone should have the same. we have millions of rich people sitting in church on sundays where is their love and support. We humans have a very long way to grow. Many folks in this country believe they should have it all because of the way they believe and they believe because of what they have.

I am often not proud of us humans.

I am not sure I want it to be this way either..Some people work a whole lot harder than others..

Some people do not want to work at all and think they should have the same as others...

And some people take advantage of the fact that people are willing to give to just flaunder it away for drugs and such..

Organizations that help people in destitute seem to have their own agenda most of the time and much of the needed funds trickle down next to nothing by the time it reaches the people who need it most..

[Romad7]

How to you know .. if I want to help someone.... that it goes all to benefit the child or the teenager .. not the mother or father...?

I also have a deep distrust of large organizations when it come to money but one thing you could do is give your time instead. I am guilty of being "too busy" for this myself but I have been looking into big brother/big sister type programs. This would be a good way to give someone much needed mentoring. Most of my childhood was spent poor and dysfunctional but I was blessed enough to have a family full of good men and women who helped guide me to a successful adult life.

These kids need more than money, they need guidance that they usually don't get from their parents.

[peejman]

I also have a deep distrust of large organizations when it come to money but one thing you could do is give your time instead. I am guilty of being "too busy" for this myself but I have been looking into big brother/big sister type programs. This would be a good way to give someone much needed mentoring. Most of my childhood was spent poor and dysfunctional but I was blessed enough to have a family full of good men and women who helped guide me to a successful adult life.

These kids need more than money, they need guidance that they usually don't get from their parents.

This. I was also going to suggest Big Brothers/Big Sisters. One of my wife's cousins volunteered with the knoxville area group several years ago.

[Jonnin]

It is real simple. This problem is caused by human beings. We here in this country do not believe everyone should have the same. we have millions of rich people sitting in church on sundays where is their love and support. We humans have a very long way to grow. Many folks in this country believe they should have it all because of the way they believe and they believe because of what they have.

I am often not proud of us humans.

I just do not buy the "blame the rich" mentality as a source of any sort of problems in this country. In general, the well off pay more actual dollars in taxes (not %, but actual dollar for dollar). In general, they give more actual dollars to charity (often to lessen their taxes, but the result is still good). In general, they quietly drop in a big check to fund the resurface of the parking lot or mission trips or new building at that church, or make up the difference at the end on a "donate X amount" goal for a special offering. In general they spend quite a bit which provides someone, somewhere with employment. A silly rock star may be a jerk but his tour provides jobs for dozens of folks to set up the stuff, security, and more.

Some people are greedy. Not all of those are rich. Some people are generous, and not all those are rich, either.

But take it even farther. So what if whatever billionaire does NOT choose to give away his money because "no one needs that much" or whatever the rationale is? There are only 2 ways to solve that "problem" if you agree it is indeed a "problem". 1) the guy can have a change of heart and give it away to be nice. 2) you can steal it from him (with taxes, penalties, punishments, and so on) and "force" him to be "charitable". IMHO stealing from people is always more wrong than someone wanting to keep what they have earned or inherited or won or whatever. And, again, even the guy that keeps his money close is going to creat jobs and spread it around unless he is a miser or something. Even the greedy option of investing it in stocks has a positive impact on the country --- he may get richer, but it also allowed the company that he bankrolled to buy new equipment or do some R&D too.

[personDJ]

I just do not buy the "blame the rich" mentality as a source of any sort of problems in this country. In general, the well off pay more actual dollars in taxes (not %, but actual dollar for dollar). In general, they give more actual dollars to charity (often to lessen their taxes, but the result is still good). In general, they quietly drop in a big check to fund the resurface of the parking lot or mission trips or new building at that church, or make up the difference at the end on a "donate X amount" goal for a special offering. In general they spend quite a bit which provides someone, somewhere with employment. A silly rock star may be a jerk but his tour provides jobs for dozens of folks to set up the stuff, security, and more.

Some people are greedy. Not all of those are rich. Some people are generous, and not all those are rich, either.

But take it even farther. So what if whatever billionaire does NOT choose to give away his money because "no one needs that much" or whatever the rationale is? There are only 2 ways to solve that "problem" if you agree it is indeed a "problem". 1) the guy can have a change of heart and give it away to be nice. 2) you can steal it from him (with taxes, penalties, punishments, and so on) and "force" him to be "charitable". IMHO stealing from people is always more wrong than someone wanting to keep what they have earned or inherited or won or whatever. And, again, even the guy that keeps his money close is going to creat jobs and spread it around unless he is a miser or something. Even the greedy option of investing it in stocks has a positive impact on the country --- he may get richer, but it also allowed the company that he bankrolled to buy new equipment or do some R&D too.

We were talking about kids that need help. where is the love. The help must come from where the money is, you can say whatever you want but it will not change this fact.