Analysis Of The Homeless Child Experiment

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“Hey, look it’s the Grouch!” uttered a child on Sesame Street children’s program (“The Grouch”). This character, the Grouch, is green, smelly, and lives in a garbage can on the side of the road. Many viewers see the Grouch as a homeless individual on Sesame Street. On the show, this character has an ill nature and seems to be upset at everyone (“The Grouch”). Many of the characters on the show criticize the Grouch for his rude behavior and some avoid him due to fear. The Grouch does not work nor does he have a stable family. He lives his days in an old garbage can alone and miserable. Many viewers see him as homeless and by popular belief feel that the Grouch is lazy and unmotivated to change his lifestyle. This type of message that the homeless are lazy is synonymous with homeless stereotypes found in the American culture. Many Americans view the members of the homeless community as addicts, outrageous drunks, and inadaptable to adjust to society due to the lack of motivation. There have been countless media portrayals of homeless people as dangerous to society and viral images degrading the homeless population. Such American media portrayals have …show more content…

This viral video titled “The Homeless Child Experiment” has a total of 14 million views and counting (Erakat). This video clearly displayed the lack of understanding and sympathy many people have towards homeless individuals. The video staged a young 12 year old boy holding a cardboard sign in a busy sidewalk and asking for money. After several of hours, only one person took out $2 for the young kid (Erakat). This experiment displayed the lack of motivation pedestrians had for the young boy. Many of them criticized the young boy for being “lazy” and “looking like a criminal” (Erakat). This type of rationalization further reinforces the American stereotypes developed because of its promotion in

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