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How does foreclosure affect children?

Query

Almost 2 million children nationwide have had their lives disrupted by home foreclosures, according to one study.

Do you know any children who’ve been affected by foreclosure?

Foreclosures force people to move, and moving is tough on children both socially and developmentally.

A recent study by First Focus, a nonprofit focused on children’s issues, found that children who move twice in one year are only half as likely as others to be able to read proficiently, and may have a greater chance of being held back. It also found that moving a lot reduces a student’s chance of graduating from high school by half.

Have you witnessed the disruptive effects of moving? Do you work with children who’ve been affected by foreclosure?

Discussion: 7 Comments

  • Posted by Eric on March 16, 2009 9:48 PM

    We’ve had students forced to move and switch schools due to foreclosure. Most move away from our school as it’s in an expensive region.

    We’ve also had new students come in after leaving private school. I know that some parents are opting to apply to private schools as a response to the education budget cuts, but I’ve no seen it where I am. I currently teach in the public system though my father-in-law is a principal in a private elementary with dropping numbers.

    Are children effected by foreclosures and moving? Of course. Will we know definitively how? No, but look back at the anecdotes from the great depression. Stories of adults stealing food from children. Maladjusted coping mechanisms. More than simple test scores…but that’s true of the whole educational assessment situation. Why don’t we cut the testing in order to save money?

  • Posted by Judith Ann Hen on August 16, 2010 7:03 PM

    All stressed out and no one to choke

  • Posted by Kryshon on August 23, 2010 9:23 PM

    When the Houston economy crashed in the 80’s my parents were faced with loss of job, the foreclosure of our home, repossession of their cars, bankruptcy, and inevitable disintegration of their marriage. For my sisters and I our childhood “bubble” burst. We moved from relatives home to relatives home. We bounced from school to school. From Kindergarten to fifth grade, I went to six different elementary schools. My formative years could be described more as scattered puzzle pieces rather than building blocks. But I did survive. I chose to use those experiences as motivation throughout my life.

  • Posted by GK on June 22, 2011 12:36 PM

    I had a similar childhood to another poster here. My parents lost jobs, a business and our house in the 80s. We moved in with relatives the. Got a rental, lost the rental through eviction and lived with more relatives. Eventually my parents divorced (my father finally left after child support wouldn’t have to be paid). Foreclosure can remove your sense of security, it can take your childhood and it affect you for the rest of your life. If you have children going through this or know children going through this please make sure they have support, a safe place and someone to talk to.

  • Posted by Elizabeth on July 2, 2011 10:23 PM

    As a teen in this time I have experienced foreclosure around me, I have been lucky though that it has not happened to me. Foreclosure is hard for children because it causes them to basically get up and go out of their house as fast as possible. I have a friend who found out their house was undergoing foreclosure and had to find a house right away. Luckily her family found a house but it worried us all because it was her senior year, she had younger siblings,andthey had to move suddenly and hopefully stay in the district.

    It’s harder for younger children because they don’t understand what is going on they jut know that their suddenly moving out of their perfect life and into an unknown one. It gets easier as children grow into to teens but foreclosure is a hard thing for anyone at any age. It means losing something, or some people, you love and having to completely change just because “mommy and daddy ‘want’ a new house”. In these times foreclosure affects children a lot, they either become more shy and scared because they have to move suddenly or they become stronger because they have had to learn how to live life in a more difficult way then others.

  • Posted by Andrea on July 25, 2011 12:11 AM

    It’s made life harder. So far, what I thought would be one of the greatest summers in my 16 years of life, has turned out into the oppossite. I don’t know how many times I’ve cried, or how many times I’ve denied having fun because I know I will not be able to have fun with the picture of my mom on the brink of tears and my dad with a rare fown on his forehead still in my mind. I worry too much and, for once in my life, I truly hate something.

    Response to Andrea
    Posted by GP on September 22, 2011 3:39 PM

    Hi Andrea,

    For all of us parents who have had to displace our children, we are so very sorry that our failure hurt you. To be a failrue is one thing, but fail our children is the most aweful feeling ever. Something that we will have to live with for the rest of our lives. :(

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