Don't Act, Take Action

Surfing around the web looking for articles related to youth homelessness, I came across an account of a group of students who spent 8 hours on the streets pretending to be homeless. Titled Nowhere to Go: Students talk about night of homelessness, the article detailed how the experience was (in the words of one) “the worst 8 hours of my life” and how another “broke down and cried”.

This is not the first time I’ve heard of things like this. Periodically, groups of young people in Portland do the same thing. When I ran programs, I would sometimes receive requests from such groups for permission to ‘experience’ drop in or shelter services (requests that I always denied).

I have such mixed emotions in response to these groups. On the one hand I admire the passion and intention, but I can’t help feeling that it’s misguided. Youth on the streets need assistance; they don’t need more youth on the streets pretending to be them. And, while I understand the goal is to give the participants greater understanding, I think it’s a goal that is both unachievable and unnecessary. It’s unachievable because it is impossible to duplicate the socio-economic condition. Every young person pretending to be homeless knows that they are not. This will end in a few hours, and they go back to the safety and security of their homes. That reality makes it impossible for them to truly experience homelessness, as the true impact of homelessness is not about where you are, it’s about the options you don’t have. And then there’s the psycho-emotional component that is also impossible to duplicate. Unless you can find a way to put them on the streets within a context of abuse, neglect and adult betrayal, they won’t really understand anyway.

Besides, as I said, the whole thing is unnecessary. Does someone really need to pretend to be homeless for a few hours to grasp the concept that being homeless sucks? I have been fortunate in my life to never have lived in a war zone like the people of Iraq are currently experiencing. Yet I can honestly say that I don’t feel a need to live in Baghdad for 8 hours to understand that they are suffering, need help, and that I would not wish to live that way.

Youth who are truly homeless and surviving on the streets have so many needs that I can’t help thinking the world would be better if these compassionate young people had used their 8 hours helping, rather than imitating.