Finkelstein On Homeless Kids

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Homeless kids are people just like everyone else and contrary to popular belief street kids actually chose their lifestyles. Finkelstein’s argument of street kids exercising agency is correct because the kids in her study did not categorize themselves as victims of their situations. These kids chose to be free and their sense of freedom is characterized by going wherever they want and doing whatever they want and their true freedom is felt on the streets. Finkelstein states the different family backgrounds that the street kids she encountered came from. The kids had many different backgrounds but the common characteristic for them is that their personal choices led to their lives on the streets including the throwaways. Kids that suffered…show more content…
Panhandling is the most common way for the kids to make money even though many of did not like to do it. The main reason for the kids’ dismay is because of people’s negative reaction to their homelessness. People would say things like “get a job” or “go back to the suburbs”. These statements exemplify that the public is aware that these kids have chosen their lifestyles. The kids could get jobs but any do not want to because they enjoy the freedom of not having any structure and not having to answer to anyone but themselves. Telling them to return to the suburbs is also a valid statement because some of the kids did have stable lifestyles before coming to the streets. Albeit the statements are made ignorantly and completely out of context they do still ring…show more content…
The kids chose to do drugs at young ages and some got kicked out for these choices. When the kids are on the streets they choose to do different drugs in situations that were previously characterized by peer pressure but Finkelstein finds that the kids almost never felt pressured to do anything but merely did drugs because they wanted to. Kids have suffered overdoses and many other side effects associated with drugs but their initial se was never something that was forced upon them. Some kids have also gotten arrested for selling drugs but that does not make them a delinquent. The kids start to sell in order to help themselves not just to be

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