Name: Ally Ervin
Social Justice Group: Homelessness & Education
Date of Fieldwork: November 15, 2018
Name of Organization: New York Post
Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Ben Chapman
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I did:
We traveled downtown at the New York Post headquarters to interview Ben Chapman. He has written over 2,000 articles on homelessness and education. We discussed how homelessness affects kids in school. And the different quality of education homeless kids get.
What I learned:
I learned that 10% of kids in public school are affected by poverty. Homeless kids are also more likely to skip school which could cause them to sink farther into their homelessness. In a way it is hard to escape poverty once you are in it. 40% of the government’s budget is spent of public schools. That’s a lot of money. And that is also 1,800 schools being funded. The kids are struggling with poverty and sometimes it is a struggle to complete schoolwork too.
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork: I realize the government should make more of an effort in order to fund these kids like supporting materials for the kids or ways in improve their housing situation. These schools and kids need access to tech, or health care.
