This past weekend, dozens of students in Birmingham, Alabama participated in a project called “Cardboard Connect” that provides students with an idea of what it feels like to be homeless. The students then spend the night without the comforts of home and then are given the opportunity to discuss issues of homelessness and how to take active leadership roles in trying to solve the issues. The students ended up giving back to the homeless community by collecting hygiene products.
After reading this short article posted on March 8th, there were three comments following it. Two of the three comments expressed negative feelings towards this project and how it doesn’t “truly” teach the students about homelessness. On even expressed that the students should have attended drug abuse counseling in order to learn about the addiction and the cost of taking drugs. However, like the students participating in the project, do these commenters have any idea about what it is like to be homeless? The one comment about drug abuse was only mentioned based off a possible statistic that homeless people are drug addicts or have mental issues, which are common stereotypes associated with homeless people. Yet with the other comment, there was a good point made that this project doesn’t show the reality that homeless people experience daily. Although this project allowed students to become more aware of what is taking place, do you think that this project is an effective exercise and learning experience on homelessness? Or do your thoughts linger towards agreement with the mentioned comments?
To read the article and comments visit: http://www.abc3340.com/story/24923385/birmingham-teens-spend-the-night-out-to-learn-about-homelessness