Advanced Conversation with Jennifer on Homelessness in the U.S. - Free Educational videos for Students in K-12

Advanced Conversation with Jennifer on Homelessness in the U.S. - By JenniferESL

Transcript


00:00	Hi , I'm jennifer from english with jennifer and I'm
00:04	here with another current issue for us to consider together
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00:34	30 minutes of highly personalized instruction . I'll put the
00:38	link in the video description . Mhm . In this
00:43	video I'm going to share vocabulary and information related to
00:47	homelessness in the US . I'm not here to blame
00:51	anyone or promote a specific political agenda . I'd like
00:56	for us to consider different viewpoints as we try to
00:59	identify causes , effects and possible solutions to the problem
01:07	. As an english language teacher , I'm here to
01:09	offer support that language learners will need to follow and
01:14	participate in discussions about homelessness . Are you ready to
01:18	get started ? Homeless can be a noun or an
01:29	adjective . We can talk about the homeless to refer
01:33	to all people who have no home , just as
01:36	we can talk about the rich , the poor ,
01:39	the elderly , the famous . We can also talk
01:43	about the homeless to refer to that whole population .
01:47	There are people without homes , they're homeless , be
01:53	homeless , become homeless , a homeless person , homeless
01:59	people , the homeless . We can also talk about
02:05	homelessness as a situation or a state . In this
02:09	video , we're going to address the current homeless crisis
02:13	. Homelessness is an increasing problem in certain areas .
02:20	When people are homeless , they generally live on the
02:23	street that could be a park bench , a city
02:26	sidewalk or a bridge underpass . That place under a
02:30	bridge . You may also hear a reference to Skid
02:36	Row . This is a really rundown place in any
02:39	city . Skid Row is associated with cheap businesses ,
02:46	cheap bars , cheap hotels and buildings in bad condition
02:53	. It's a place where you'd expect to find homeless
02:56	people , drugs and alcohol . Someone can be on
03:01	skid row , live on skid row end up on
03:05	skid row . Today we also hear about tent cities
03:11	. A tent city is a large group of tents
03:15	being used as temporary housing . We sometimes associate tents
03:21	with emergency situations like housing for refugees . But in
03:26	the US Today , tent cities are appearing in cities
03:30	that have large populations of homeless people . Tent campers
03:36	may need to move from location to location depending on
03:40	how strict the local authorities need to be with the
03:43	homeless . The closer these tent cities are two neighborhoods
03:48	and to businesses , the more anxious residents and business
03:52	owners become . Yeah . Mhm . Uh huh .
04:09	Mhm . Yeah . We've had homeless people in the
04:13	US for a long time , but the numbers in
04:17	some places are so high right now that people are
04:20	referring to the situation as a crisis , a humanitarian
04:24	crisis . Have we reached the breaking point ? That's
04:29	the point at which law and order fall apart A
04:35	society , a city or a community can be at
04:39	the breaking point , reached the breaking point or be
04:43	past the breaking point . There's a lot of evidence
04:49	that points to how serious conditions are people are dying
04:54	on the streets . There's crime disorder and gang activity
05:01	. The problem is the seeming inability to stop the
05:04	spread of all these crimes and tragedies . We can
05:08	say that crime is rampant in some areas . That
05:12	means that it's spreading and beyond control . Sometimes street
05:19	fights are among the homeless , we can call them
05:21	brawls , they're noisy and very public . Some acts
05:28	of violence are between the homeless and ordinary residents ,
05:33	crimes have gone both ways . Crimes are committed by
05:37	and against the homeless . Living on the streets isn't
05:43	allowed by law . So if homelessness is a crime
05:47	, why aren't more people being arrested ? Some police
05:52	departments are feeling the stress of trying to keep order
05:56	, but knowing they lack authority to enforce the law
06:02	, arrests are sometimes made if a more serious crime
06:05	is committed , but then people are let go .
06:10	There are repeat offenders . People who have committed the
06:14	same crimes multiple times , but the criminal justice system
06:18	isn't working and residents in certain cities feel vulnerable to
06:24	attack . They feel their streets aren't safe anymore .
06:29	A lot of finger pointing is taking place . People
06:33	want to place the blame somewhere are the police officers
06:39	doing their job . Our local politicians and officials taking
06:43	authority away from police officers have the drug dealers and
06:48	gangs made the situation worse . Our city is not
06:53	providing enough housing . Some complained that too many people
06:59	have turned their backs on the problem . They've chosen
07:02	to ignore it . Politicians argue that it's hard to
07:06	implement solutions without enough funding and support . Mm .
07:16	Mhm . Yeah . Mhm , mm . What are
07:29	some contributing factors is homelessness merely a social problem ?
07:35	Most recognize that it's larger and more complex than that
07:40	. It's an economic problem . It's a mental health
07:43	problem , It's a drug abuse problem . Some argue
07:48	we've become a society of the haves and the have
07:51	nots . Some have money . Others don't . Some
07:57	point to the need for affordable housing as a cause
08:01	. They argue that there's a connection between homelessness and
08:04	a housing crisis . Is there really a shortage of
08:09	housing ? Some say yes , others argue no ,
08:14	it's true that rent in Los Angeles , for example
08:17	, has gone up dramatically tenants , the people who
08:20	rent property complained that landlords jack up the rent ,
08:26	but others say it's just a fact of life .
08:29	Not everyone can live where they want to . They
08:32	find smaller and cheaper housing and less popular areas is
08:39	that the answer moved to another city , move to
08:42	another state . Some choose to find roommates to share
08:46	the rent or they move in with family . Some
08:51	politicians and residents believe that one solution is rent control
08:56	. They say that the law should limit how much
08:59	a landlord could ask for and that rent hikes increases
09:04	should take into consideration what the minimum wages . However
09:11	, rent control has a downside . Landlords could choose
09:15	to convert their rental properties into owner occupied properties and
09:22	if the law makes it more difficult to evict someone
09:26	meaning forced them to leave because they can't pay ,
09:29	then landlords will become increasingly more cautious and they'll choose
09:34	to rent their properties . Only two people they feel
09:38	confident can pay . It's important to consider the housing
09:43	market as a possible factor in this problem because not
09:47	all homeless people are unemployed drug addicts , that would
09:51	be a stereotype . Some homeless people do have jobs
09:55	, but their wages never increased as much as their
09:58	rent and they had to leave their homes . There
10:03	is a so called hidden population of homeless people who
10:07	live out of their cars . You don't see them
10:09	on the street . Some may have jobs , some
10:13	may receive government money , but that money isn't enough
10:17	to pay rent in the city . Mm . Yeah
10:37	. Some politicians propose building denser housing and creating more
10:42	available space for low income housing . But other residents
10:48	worry about the safety of their neighborhoods and the value
10:52	of their properties if they have more expensive real estate
10:55	and then cheaper housing is built in their neighborhoods .
10:59	The value of their property may go down . Similar
11:04	worries arise when politicians talk about building homeless shelters in
11:09	a community . On the one hand , people want
11:14	the homeless off the streets . On the other hand
11:17	, they don't want to live next to a homeless
11:19	shelter . This kind of attitude is called Nimbyism .
11:25	You'll hear and see the word Nimby , it stands
11:28	for , not in my backyard . Nimby can be
11:33	a person or an attitude . We often use shelter
11:38	as a noun . A homeless person needs shelter finds
11:43	shelter . A tent is a form of shelter ,
11:46	but when we talk about a homeless shelter , we're
11:49	talking about a large building that can temporarily house and
11:53	feed hundreds . Some homeless people don't like shelters .
12:00	They may say that shelters can be too crowded ,
12:03	maybe they're not clean enough , Maybe they're not completely
12:07	safe or they have strict rules . Some politicians see
12:13	bridge shelters as a possible solution . These would be
12:16	places that could help the homeless get off the streets
12:20	and ideally transition to a stable life . But if
12:25	such shelters are to provide clean rooms , healthcare and
12:29	drug addiction treatment , will there be enough tax dollars
12:33	to pay for everything ? And don't forget that many
12:37	don't want any kind of shelter built in their neighborhoods
12:41	. They feel it affects their safety and the value
12:44	of local real estate . One argument for homeless shelters
12:50	and low income housing is that it's likely cheaper to
12:54	house very poor people than to pay for all their
12:57	needs once they become homeless people living on the streets
13:03	, cost the city money in terms of emergency room
13:07	visits , police enforcement , sanitation and such . So
13:12	is the answer to have more safety nets , more
13:15	ways to catch people before they become homeless ? Yeah
13:29	. Yeah . Yeah . Mhm mm mm . Mhm
13:38	. Drug abuse needs to be considered a trip to
13:41	skid row in any city will likely reveal drug use
13:45	on the street , needles are among the things that
13:48	litter sidewalks . Many recognize that substance abuse is fueling
13:55	homelessness . If someone is mentally ill and on drugs
13:59	, how can they be a functioning member of society
14:03	? But what's the answer ? Treatment or jail ?
14:08	Some say that a new level of tolerance has appeared
14:12	in certain U . S . Cities . Do we
14:16	now have an open air drug market ? I've heard
14:20	that small amounts of drugs on your body will no
14:23	longer get you in trouble with the police . In
14:26	a city like Seattle Washington , that's not to say
14:31	that the police officers don't care . It more likely
14:34	means they lack authority to fight this crime or that
14:38	the criminal justice system is too lenient on drug users
14:42	and drug sellers . Should we As a society talk
14:48	about large scale drug intervention , What would that look
14:52	like ? How would it be funded ? Some argue
14:57	for drug treatment programs within prisons , could specialized prisons
15:04	handle people with mental illnesses and drug addictions ? Some
15:10	propose that prisons with health care , counseling and medication
15:15	would help us slowly crawl out of the current homeless
15:18	crisis , but again , would have to consider where
15:21	the funds would come from . Mm . Mm .
15:41	I recently watched a video about the homeless problem in
15:45	Seattle Washington and I listened to the concerns of some
15:48	local business owners . There was a grocery store owner
15:52	and a woman who ran a clothing boutique . Both
15:55	could report incidents of shoplifting by homeless . A shoplifter
16:00	is someone who steals things from a store . They
16:03	felt that little could be done to stop the situation
16:07	. In the case of the clothing boutique owner ,
16:09	she closed her store and then reopened it in a
16:12	neighboring city and some areas where the homeless population is
16:18	increasing , some small business owners are choosing to stay
16:22	and they search for temporary solutions . Increased trash from
16:26	the homeless population tends to litter the sidewalks . Some
16:31	small business owners hire private sanitation control , that means
16:35	they hire people to clean up around their businesses .
16:38	It's a helpful act , but it's a band aid
16:41	solution that's the kind of solution that repairs things on
16:45	the surface , but it's not a solution that addresses
16:48	the source of the problem . Residents of communities where
16:55	the homeless population is growing are concerned that increasing taxes
17:00	may not necessarily be part of the solution , because
17:04	the money may not be well spent . When people
17:07	complain about throwing money at the problem , they're worried
17:11	about how the money is being spent . Is the
17:14	money being used to find long term solutions in all
17:21	their frustrations . Some people become numb to the problem
17:24	, they're emotionally overloaded so they feel nothing . They
17:28	appear to be apathetic . Yeah . Mhm . Mhm
17:42	. Mhm . Yeah . Yeah . Mhm . Yeah
17:48	. The West coast has been hit hard by the
17:51	homeless crisis . The media has given a lot of
17:54	attention to Los Angeles and Seattle in particular . Property
18:00	crime in Seattle is higher than in most other U
18:03	. S . Cities . People point to the correlation
18:05	between homelessness and crime . What are the numbers in
18:11	Seattle ? There are about 11,000 homeless people in L
18:15	. A . there are about 36,000 in the city
18:18	and about 60,000 in L . A . County California
18:24	and the entire West Coast have seen the worst of
18:27	this problem in recent years . There are similar concerns
18:30	about homelessness and san Francisco and Portland Oregon . But
18:36	there are other regions battling homelessness in our country .
18:40	I just read about austin texas for example , I
18:45	don't have the time to share all the details of
18:48	this problem , but I do want to mention a
18:50	group within the homeless population . Veterans , a veteran
18:56	is someone who served in the military and sadly a
18:59	good number of veterans are homeless today , mental health
19:03	issues and disabilities often contribute to their situation . It's
19:10	also sad to note that the beautiful city of Seattle
19:13	now has a new nickname , Free Yatil . It's
19:18	supposedly attractive to homeless people because of free services and
19:23	the lack of law enforcement in the downtown area ,
19:26	which some people describe as a free for all meaning
19:29	you can do as you please . The police haven't
19:34	been able to enforce the law in many cases ,
19:37	arrests often don't lead to convictions . And one documentary
19:43	I heard that Seattle police stopped issuing tickets for small
19:48	acts of incivility . That means there are things that
19:51	shouldn't be done in public , but they're being done
19:54	so frequently that it's hard to stop them from happening
19:59	again . Residents complained that officials are turning their backs
20:03	on the problem or they're throwing money at the problem
20:07	. There is a need to address the causes and
20:09	stop focusing on the symptoms . However , there is
20:14	a bright spot in all of this . There are
20:16	communities with much lower populations of homeless people . That
20:20	means they're doing something right , something that could be
20:24	copied by troubled cities . These other towns and cities
20:29	have community outreach programs that offer services , inform people
20:35	of services and refer people to the places where they
20:38	can get help . Sometimes local firefighters and police officers
20:44	participate in these efforts . What more can be done
20:49	? You can be sure that more proposals will be
20:51	made during election season will lend here . There's a
20:57	lot to think about . I invite you to post
20:59	opinions in the comments but I ask that everyone expressed
21:03	their ideas respectfully and with maturity . Let's be open
21:07	to hearing different views . If you found this lesson
21:12	useful , please like this video and share it with
21:15	others . Learning English . If you'd like to talk
21:17	about homelessness or any other topic with me one on
21:21	one book , a 30 minute private lesson . The
21:24	link is in the video description as always . Thanks
21:28	for watching and happy studies . Follow me and gain
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21:36	new videos on instagram if you haven't already subscribe to
21:41	my channel so you get notification of every new video
21:45	I upload to Youtube . Yeah . Mhm .

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