What would your first response be if you noticed an abandoned child on the street? Most people would approach the child and ask them basic questions like their age, if they've lost their parents, etc. Now, what if the abandoned child appeared to be homeless, dressed in dirty, mangled clothing -- would the response be the same? As part of its #ForEveryChild campaign, UNICEF, or the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund, recently held a social experiment starring an adorable 6-year-old girl to find out.
The young girl posed alone in the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia, once well dressed, looking very clean and put together, and another time dressed in filthy, grungy attire. When the child was dressed well, she was repeatedly approached by adults seeking to offer her help. But, when she appeared to be homeless, she was not approached by a single adult. UNICEF took the social experiment a step further and brought the "abandoned" girl into a restaurant, once well-dressed, and again appearing to be homeless. Overall, the response was generally the same, aside from a few diners that were so outraged by a dirty, homeless girl in a restaurant that they asked her to be taken out. The young girl became so upset with the way she was being treated that the remainder of the experiment was called off.
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This poses an opportunity to question why we are more outraged that an abandoned, homeless child has entered a restaurant than we are that a child is abandoned and homeless in general? Maybe it's the instinct to not approach strangers, especially homeless strangers that has been ingrained somewhere in our psyche. Or maybe we're scared and uncomfortable, as we normally are when we notice that something isn't right. But that within itself is the point, that seeing homeless children on the streets is not right; it's abnormal, and it should not be ignored.
In the midst of this social experiment blowing up on the internet, Politician Bernie Sanders tweeted the following, "We cannot allow ourselves to become used to the fact that we have tens of thousands of children in this country who are homeless." Followed by, "That is our greatest danger: becoming used to it and thinking it is normal. It is NOT normal. It is an outrage." He makes the point that we have nothing to fear aside from our own hastily made opinions of others and our quick approval of unacceptable things.
This social experiment is going viral and although it is fictional, it is a reality. Homelessness, especially in children, is becoming an inevitable and vicious cycle. Many people are born into circumstances that do not provide them with an opportunity to lead a successful life because of their race, ethnicity, financial status or place of birth. This leads to children especially being deprived of the resources they need to become healthy, strong and independent. UNICEF believes in a fair chance for every child and fights to disrupt the cycle of inequity because it can be changed and gaps in equity can be closed. If seeing a homeless child would make you uncomfortable, as it should, than you too should commit to fight for increased equity amongst all people in our society.
