When it comes to accessing education, the gap between housed and unhoused youth has never been wider. Homeless students face a myriad of challenges, particularly during summer when the school they were attending shuts down. That school might have been where young homeless students would usually go for warmth, structure, food, and, of course, education.
No child deserves to endure a three-month interruption of their education, especially a homeless child who might also be struggling with issues like:
- Depression
- Family separation
- Lack of access to necessities such as running water, electricity, and Wi-Fi
- Hunger
- Untreated physical illnesses due to a lack of access to healthcare
- Heat-induced fatigue
- Anxiety and other mental health issues caused by being unhoused
Summer learning services for homeless youth can be a game-changer. They can open doors for these young, impressionable children, potentially preventing them from experiencing homelessness in adulthood. With the right support, these children can achieve their full potential.
Education Doesn’t Stop in Summertime. At Least Not for Children Who Are Housed.
You might not consider it, but housed children generally have access to educational resources throughout their summer “breaks.”
If they are enrolled in a traditional K-12 school, they probably have a packet of schoolwork due when they embark on the upcoming school year. They have likely attended a library or engaged in leisurely or school-mandated summer reading. They probably also have internet access and television, which means there are endless educational apps and programs at their fingertips 24 hours a day, seven days a week – all things many parents take for granted, but not everyone gets to use these resources.
According to Ardana Jefferson, currently positioned at the helm of Winnie’s Wagon, the first and only mobile classroom for homeless students in Southwestern Pennsylvania, there is a 4–6-month lapse in education every time a homeless child relocates to a different school district.
Add three months for that lapse in education that happens to homeless students in the summertime (sometimes referred to as ‘the summer slide’), and you have a school-aged student who is almost a year behind – not in hard work or study habits mind you, but a year behind in educational resources. This ‘summer slide’ is particularly detrimental to homeless students, exacerbating their already challenging educational journey.
Keeping Up with Housed Students is Vital to Preventing Future Homelessness
Unhoused grade school students are statistically less likely to graduate from high school. They face mountains of hurdles just getting enrolled, finding a quiet place to study, and adjusting to the ever-shifting tide of new curriculums they encounter each time they move from a shelter to a sofa or from a foster home to a motel room, etc.
While these students face a cornucopia of extra challenges, it could easily be argued that they will need even more education than their housed peers to avoid becoming homeless in adulthood. This is because, as of 2022, experts are pointing out an ever-widening gap in higher educational disparities, particularly amongst college students who grew up in poverty and those hailing from ethnic minority backgrounds.
According to the data, they are seeing that higher education, which has historically served as a means of income mobility, propelling impoverished first-time students into the upper and middle-class echelons, is no longer serving that purpose on a grand scale.
Some of this disparity can be pinpointed by the growing cost of higher education and the need for poorer students to take out more predatory loans, leaving them in the lurch for years. Another key component is the lack of access to prestigious universities, directly associated with the lower quality of education they receive in their grade school years.
As the college diploma slowly becomes the new high school degree as a mandatory starter to employment, community college graduates will scramble against Ivy League University alums for the same handful of employment opportunities that feature a livable wage. This means there is no time for homeless students to experience any lapse whatsoever – be that a six-month transition into a new school or a three-month gap in summer education – because they lack a stable nighttime residence, which makes them less likely to have:
- A library card, which is often required for school research
- An internet connection, which is necessary for online assignments
- A smartphone or a place to charge a smartphone, which is increasingly used for educational purposes
- Educational supplies such as notebooks, pencils, calculators, prescription reading glasses, a working printer with ink, and the list goes on
“Our afterschool and summer programs empower students to realize their full potential as learners through daily on-site programming led by highly qualified teachers and volunteers who work with the students on homework, literacy, and creative projects,” Ardana Jefferson explained in an exclusive discussion with Invisible People.
While her brainchild “Winnie’s Wagon” has been heralded as a possible blueprint for educating homeless youth, there needs to be more emphasis on these summer resources as well. For homeless students everywhere, life is no summer vacation.
Talk To Your Legislators About the Lack of Affordable Housing, Making Millions of Students Homeless
We are currently experiencing a nationwide shortage of more than 7.3 million affordable homes. Children suffer unfathomable fates as housing becomes increasingly less attainable for low- and middle-income earners. Many will not graduate from high school this year.
Talk to your local representatives about changing the legislation in favor of the millions of students who have no home today.
