Students Experience Homelessness
This teacher thought it was important for students to be educated about the plight of homeless people so she took them to the streets of Atlanta to experience it for themselves.
Elizabeth Hearn wanted her students to experience and understand the plight of homelessness at first hand. She knew there were important lessons to be learned that could not be found in the class room, so she took her students to the streets for five days to live the life of the homeless in her class called,”Experiment in Living.” Hearn believes that learning empathy for your fellow man is the most important lesson in life. This is the fourth year she has taken students to the streets and brought them out of their comfort zone to experience the life of a homeless person on the streets of Atlanta.
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There are those who say a short lived attempt like this one will do little to bring more understanding and empathy to homelessness but Hearn believes this can be one of the most enriching experiences of a student’s life. She wants them to ask, “Who are the homeless?” “Why are they homeless?” and, “What is it like to be homeless?” And she wants them to understand any one of them could be homeless themselves.
Arielle who is taking “Experiment in Living” for the third time said, “I was afraid of the homeless and I avoided eye contact with them but I knew that wasn’t the way to treat people. Another student Tiffany, a first timer said, “I wanted to see how I would cope.” Each student was given $5.00 and had to walk everywhere. They left everything at home but a couple of changes of clothing. They bedded down every night at a playground of the Inman Park Cooperative Preschool near down town Atlanta.
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Although the loss of jobs and foreclosures put many families and individuals on the streets through no fault of their own, the students learned at homeless shelters that drugs and mental problems are the cause of most homelessness, and that Georgia has the 10th largest mentally ill population in the country, and Atlanta has the largest population of non-institutionalized people with mental illness.
Returning to the school playground on night two they eat a supper of peanut butter and Ramen noodles right out of the pack. Hearn said, “These students will become better citizens because when you are made aware of an issue, you act on it.” They retire early and are up at 6:30 the next morning. Before the day is out they will have walked many miles on the streets of Atlanta, met and talked with more homeless people, and the future will tell what these students have come away with from this experience.
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User Comments
Mr Ghaz
On June 1, 2009 at 8:59 am
Wow!..homelessness!!..very scary piece..errr..I mean..that was really good teaching technique..so effective..well done and thanks for sharing.
chris73
On June 1, 2009 at 9:07 am
Bravo Bravo Bravo to Elizabeth! and i forgot…Bravo!
Joe Dorish
On June 1, 2009 at 9:08 am
Might teach those kids something but at least it should make them more aware of homelessness.
rizzei
On June 1, 2009 at 9:12 am
this is such a good topic ..cause we can see homelessness in some parts of the world/country, if not all. we should be aware of this; not only the ones who are experiencing it but all, as well.
wonderful:)
ken bultman
On June 1, 2009 at 9:16 am
Good for that teacher. Field trips are educational. Her Atlanta “field trips” top them all.
Jenny Heart
On June 1, 2009 at 9:17 am
I believe this experience would truly help many people. Great wring!
clay hurtubise
On June 1, 2009 at 9:20 am
That program should be expanded!
Good piece.
Thanks,
Clay
JoseI
On June 1, 2009 at 9:27 am
Nice Job!!
goodselfme
On June 1, 2009 at 9:48 am
Good education in first hand experience. In N.Y. when mental institutions were closing, I wondered where all the patients went . I was a young teen at the time.
Southgate
On June 1, 2009 at 9:49 am
A novel way of learning homelessness at Atlanta.It is equally shocking to know that Atlanta has the highest number of mental illness cases.In fact this method actually test the students resourcefulness besides helping them to learn a particular issue practically.An interesting and useful article.Thank you.
Sheila M
On June 1, 2009 at 10:09 am
a brilliant idea! I know my kids could learn something from that
Pinaki Ghosh
On June 1, 2009 at 10:23 am
Brilliant idea! Nice article.
papaleng
On June 1, 2009 at 10:42 am
That was a novel idea that the teacher put. great article Ruby!
Darla Smith
On June 1, 2009 at 10:52 am
Excellent article. It was a very interesting read.
kate smedley
On June 1, 2009 at 11:38 am
That’s a very good idea, it can only have helped the pupils.
Thanks for sharing this Ruby.
Uma Shankari
On June 1, 2009 at 11:51 am
It’s important that one dirties the hand doing practicals than listening to theoretical expositions. Besides, certain things have to be experienced…only then will it sink in.
Daisy Peasblossom
On June 1, 2009 at 12:24 pm
A very sobering experience, I should think. Scary though. What if something happened to one of them?
OhSugar
On June 1, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Great life’s experience for her students. I believe their hands-on, if you will, experience will be a lasting one. Great article.
QuinMonty86
On June 1, 2009 at 12:33 pm
What a great life lesson!! Learning not to judge someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. Wow. I do hope the kids were supervised well, though.
Christine Ramsay
On June 1, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I take my hat off to that teacher. Children learn so much more when they have experienced something personally and they would certainly have a much better understanding of homelessness. I should imagine that risk assessments were in place before the experience was undertaken. A really interesting article.
Christine
101
On June 1, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Ruby,this is a great topic,and lesson for not just children but adults as well.great write!always,Gary La buda
hfj
On June 1, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Bravo for this teacher. There is more to teaching than text book study. No better lessons are learned in this life than living in the shoes of another. These kids will appreciate, and be more thankful for what they have in this life after this experience. This teacher was definitely thinking outside the box. Well done and thanks for sharing.
lanne
On June 1, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Great idea. I think we could all benefit by experiencing this kind of thing first hand.
Francois Hagnere
On June 1, 2009 at 2:08 pm
This had to be said, and you did it so well. Thank you.
Jo Oliver
On June 1, 2009 at 2:11 pm
More people should have to find the answers to that teachers questions. Thank you for sharing this story with us. It will be interesting to see what the children bring away from this experience.
Lucas Dié
On June 1, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Good one all round – great teacher.
In Britain she would be sacked for breach of Health and Safety rules, as they try to pack kids into cotton wool and store them until kingdom come … and then are surprised the kids can’t cope with reality …
Good writing!
Lostash
On June 1, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Fantastic teacher, leading by example. Kids really don’t know how good they have it these days. Not only that, one day, this could be them……
Alexa Gates
On June 1, 2009 at 3:37 pm
very scary. Great article
Lauren Axelrod
On June 1, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Now this is a perfect example of teaching real life situations. Well done.
C L Eckles
On June 1, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Wow, that teacher was amazingly brave for taking the students out like that. Where I’m from, parents would’ve most likely tried to disallow it.
But I agree with her method. I think it’s important for youngsters to learn empathy for fellow human beings; after all, we’re all in this together.
I didn’t know about the mental health statistics in Atlanta, though I did know that it’s one of the biggest causes of homelessness in general. Thank you for sharing.
Juhls
On June 1, 2009 at 4:34 pm
What an interesting, humbling project. It’s a great idea! Just reading The Street Lawyer I felt a deeper connection with homeless individuals, but this experiment is the true way to try to put oneself in another’s shoes, even though only for a short time. If anything, I’m sure the students’ have a greater appreciation for that which they have and a greater empathy for the homeless even if they don’t directly (or drastically) change their humanitarian focuses because of it.
Betty Carew
On June 1, 2009 at 5:03 pm
The greatest teacher is experience. Excellent article great read and write Ruby
PR Mace
On June 1, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Excellent article. Sounds like a real teacher to me and her students learned sometime about the human race. I know it will be a lesson they will never forget.
Unofre Pili
On June 1, 2009 at 6:22 pm
One ofthe greatest teaching strategy I’ve learned. I learned it today. Thanks for sharing maam.
rutherfranc
On June 1, 2009 at 7:05 pm
another eye-opener.. great article..
NA Staffieri
On June 1, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Great lesson learned.
Ruby Hawk
On June 1, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Thank you my friends for your interest and your comments. I should have explained that the teacher was with the students during the whole time on the streets, and the “experiment” was with the permission of the school.I thought it was an exceptional teacher who would have the spirit to take on the responsibility for such a sensitive project and follow through year after year. I feel these kids will understand maybe more than the rest of us going forward and who knows,In the future some of them might be in the position to do something outstanding for the homeless.
DA Cournean
On June 1, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Smart teacher.
swatilohani
On June 2, 2009 at 12:44 am
you raised the point very well on homeless that leads to juvenile delinquency
HatedNation
On June 2, 2009 at 1:23 am
Its a very interesting theory..thanks for sharing!
chitragopi
On June 2, 2009 at 7:26 am
Arielle’s words are true. We do try to aviod homeless people.It’s right to create awareness from childhood
Bullwinkle Muse
On June 3, 2009 at 7:21 am
Empathy is defined as the power to understand and enter into another person’s feelings. This “entering into” aspect is rarely experienced on a literal level by most of us. The old adage “walk a mile in my shoes” is a great teacher in learning true empathy.
lowellpendon
On June 9, 2009 at 2:44 am
i salute to this one. this must be quite effective
stumbleuponwriter
On June 17, 2009 at 10:33 pm
I agree with most comments above..
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