IB learners: Societal Issues

Right now we are facing a real problem which is present in societies all around the world. Year by year, thousands of children end up in the streets, whether because they are looking for a new hope of fixing their problems or because they were not tolerated in their homes anymore, and in any of those cases, these children have to suffer a reality perhaps worse than what they were escaping from. This is a major concern, that hasn't been properly addressed by authorities; in fact, small groups of humanitarian people have been the ones that took actions on this, in an intent of helping those who have less; authorities have to remember that these children are the ones who will be forging our path towards a successful society, and because of that they should be now our major priority.

Now that we know what are they and why they do exist, it's important to analyze the consequences of being a runaway or throwaway, especially for young people: The odds of high-risking behaviors increase, which puts in danger the life of the person. Among many other conducts, we can find sexual intercourse without protection, promiscuity at a very early age and the use of diverse kinds of illegal drugs. Anxiety, PTSD, and depression are also common denominators for homeless people, which turns into a worse problem if we consider how difficult is for them to find help in their positions. Sex-related activities in exchange for clothing, food, drugs and/or money is also a common problematic, as teenagers usually find themselves in desperation to get resources and survive. For these people is also way more difficult to attend school because of their lack of required enrollment records. This only helps to feed a vicious cycle in which teenagers are homeless because the...

To be simple, we can say that runaways are young people who decide to go away from home because they can't stand a specific situation, while throwaways are the ones who are kicked out from home for some reason, that means that they don't want to leave home but they must do. Creating shelters, special programs and refuges for these kids should be a priority, the government needs to focus the resources in trying to prevent it, giving help to the families in a psychological way and also giving support to children who are going through a hard time; this would definitely prevent many cases of homeless youth. Children are not prepared to face the horrible situations that being homeless implies, not even adults are, and not only that but these children usually lose the opportunity to get a proper education as their only objective is surviving. Some might argue that running away from problems is not a solution, but it is important to considerate that for children which feel dange...

There is a phenomenon occurring in the modern society which should be a first rank priority, homeless people; more specifically, people have run away from their homes and people who have been thrown away. Even though, this issue is suffered by a wide variety of people of all ages, is significantly accentuated in young people, who are the most likely to be runaways or throwaways. A video made by the Youtube channel Al Jazeera English shows this problem in the Japanese society and kids who've been thrown away from their homes at a very young age, which is alarming because there children as young as 7 years old who don't have a real place to call home. According to the video, there are more than 30 000 children living away from home because of the abusive relationships they used to have while living with their guardians, which for a developed country is very disturbing. References: YouTube. (2018). 🇯🇵 Japan's Throwaway Children | 101 East |日本の捨て児. [online] Available...

In the United States of America, young people without a home, that have either runway or have been thrown away are a real concern for public authorities. According to diverse studies: one in seven young people between the ages of 10 and 18 will run away and youth age 12 to 17 are more at risk of homelessness than adults. These figures are frightening, to say the least, because we are talking about the same youth that is supposed to be preparing themselves in order to help developing modern and future society. But why do these children end up without a place to call home? Recent studies on the matter might guide us to answer this question: Around 30 percent of homeless and runaway youth identify themselves as part of the  LGBT community, which might indicate a tolerance trouble in modern American society, which might also be applied to other societies in which LGBT rights are a controversial topic. A big 46 percent of children who are now homeless, declare...