By Ashley Jackson
In D.C. recently, there has been a major spike in homeless teens. Even though this is the case, there has also been a recent cut of a budget that was intended to help with the problem by funding a shelter that provides the homeless teens with a place to stay and that gives counseling and prevention programs. The funding cuts reached 1.1 million dollars, causing the shelter to limit its services.
D.C. isn't the only place that's seeing a high rate of homeless teens, but it's really a problem all over the world. The main cause of teens becoming homeless is running away because of reasons such as physical or sexual abuse, addiction of a family member, and parent neglect. Although this isn't the case for everyone, many teens who become homeless become exposed to drugs, violence, crime, and homicide. Since they have nowhere to stay, a lot of the time they will squat in vacant homes, sleep on the streets, go to homeless shelters, or sometimes halfway houses. When a teen is homeless, they also tend to drop out of school because of a lack of confidence in themselves. In America, there is an estimated 1.6 to 2.8 million teens who were runaways, throwaways, or just homeless youths. When they are subjected to this kind of environmental living, they tend to go into a survival mode or a comfort method, which means many will use sex to get them things, increasing their risk of also getting HIV or STD's.
In D.C. recently, there has been a major spike in homeless teens. Even though this is the case, there has also been a recent cut of a budget that was intended to help with the problem by funding a shelter that provides the homeless teens with a place to stay and that gives counseling and prevention programs. The funding cuts reached 1.1 million dollars, causing the shelter to limit its services.
D.C. isn't the only place that's seeing a high rate of homeless teens, but it's really a problem all over the world. The main cause of teens becoming homeless is running away because of reasons such as physical or sexual abuse, addiction of a family member, and parent neglect. Although this isn't the case for everyone, many teens who become homeless become exposed to drugs, violence, crime, and homicide. Since they have nowhere to stay, a lot of the time they will squat in vacant homes, sleep on the streets, go to homeless shelters, or sometimes halfway houses. When a teen is homeless, they also tend to drop out of school because of a lack of confidence in themselves. In America, there is an estimated 1.6 to 2.8 million teens who were runaways, throwaways, or just homeless youths. When they are subjected to this kind of environmental living, they tend to go into a survival mode or a comfort method, which means many will use sex to get them things, increasing their risk of also getting HIV or STD's.
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