Homelessness alone is a very rampant and unfortunate problem in the United States, as of today 564,708 people in the United States are homeless and of these 206,286 thousand are families (Snapshot of Homelessness, 2016). At first glance this may not seem so serious, except that one must take into account those living below the poverty line and the heavy burden many in the poor face to pay for housing. Now that a baseline has been established, the real problem comes to light: the number of children experiencing homelessness, even temporarily, has risen from 1 in 30 to 1 in 50 over the past 10 years , which is a significant fact. incredibly high increase (Child Homelessness, 2014). The reason this increase is so bad is because children in poverty and those facing homelessness take a hit to their education and the effect of this may not be felt now but, with 21% of all children living in families that are below the federal poverty line the future of the United States is in grave danger (Child Poverty, 2016). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Understanding how to help solve this problem requires understanding how homelessness and poverty impact children and their ability to learn and succeed in life. The most obvious harm that children face when they become homeless, even if for a temporary period, is that by not having children at home and their families are not focused on whether the child or children go to school or maintain their education, but instead of having their basic physiological needs met. These needs can best be demonstrated through Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs which shows that physiological needs underlie all needs and are the most important over anything (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, 2016). These needs include food, water, warmth and rest and until they are satisfied it is not possible to reach higher needs such as esteem and self-actualization needs (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, 2016). These needs include feeling accomplished and reaching one's full potential which are directly related to learning as an educated person can feel accomplished and gain the knowledge to reach their full potential (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, 2016). Understanding these needs provides insight into part of the reason why poor or homeless children struggle with education because they, or more specifically their parents, are focused on the basic needs of survival beyond anything else. To further highlight the difficulty that homeless children face, 75% of these children under the age of five have been found to have at least one severe delay in impulsivity or language (Homelessness and Academic Achievement, 2014). These delays do not help these children adapt and learn and further hinder their educational growth as they fall behind and also have difficulty with their academic development. To highlight the devastating effects of homelessness on children, they have double the rate of learning disabilities, are four times more likely to show developmental delay than middle-income children, and have three times the rate of emotional-behavioral disorders than middle-income children. to children. who are housed (Homelessness and Academic Achievement, 2014). As you can see, homelessness in itself is very damaging to children and their ability tolearn and the most unfortunate reality is that even if they were to emerge from homelessness, they will most likely do so anyway. live in poverty below the national poverty line. This poverty will in turn lead to other unfortunate burdens that these children will have to bear and prevent them from achieving further academic success or even keeping up with their classmates from more stable, middle-class families. Just to give an idea of ​​the type of burden that being poor or homeless brings, we must take into account the fact that it is theorized that behavior is composed of two factors which are the environment and genetics, leaving aside genetics it is estimated that 50-70% of a person's behaviors derive from the environments in which they grew up (Teaching with Poverty In Mind, 2009). Knowing this creates greater urgency in enabling stable homes for these children so that they are not plagued by other concerns, but can focus on schoolwork and have the opportunity to engage academically. It is also good to know that an acronym was created to highlight the most significant factors that these children face in their daily lives. The acronym is EACH which stands for emotional and social challenges, acute and chronic stressors, cognitive delays and health and safety issues. These four factors are what the average poor child faces, and in a world that has always placed high value on emotional intelligence and social skills, poor children fall short. When they manage to attend school, they become victims of the school socialization process which, on average, pushes them to be as similar as possible to their peers instead of standing out and trying to find a way out through academic studies (Teaching with Poverty in Mind, 2009 ). Knowing this creates a further understanding of the burden these children feel of being in a situation over which they most likely had no control. While the negative effects of homelessness and poverty have been brought to light, we need to understand how important academia and education can be. to these children and the opportunities that arise from them. First we need to establish that rising out of poverty and succeeding in life is a possibility if these children are raised in the right way. To support this statement there are some examples of people who have come from nothing and have amassed great wealth and respected success. The first is Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, who as a child grew up in a housing project for the poor, and then there is the luxury goods magnate Francois Pinault who dropped out of high school because of the bullying he suffered being poor and gone. to create a company that owns high-end fashion houses like Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, finally to hammer this point home Oprah Winfrey came from a poor family and who she is today speaks for itself (Billionaires who came from Nothing, 2014) . After highlighting the various billionaires who have come from poverty, we must also consider the positive aspects of education itself. Starting by educating children facing poverty and homelessness now has the potential to reduce these problems in the future as increased education in a nation has a positive relationship with economic development and growth. Additionally, each year of education increases an individual's earning potential (Benefits of Education, 2016) and instills in them a desire to learn when presented correctly (Key Benefits of Early Childhood Education, 2015). Overall, those who are educated are given many opportunities that they would not otherwise have and the more they push themselves to succeed at a.