Broken Paradise: Homeless in Hawaii

You’re walking around on the sidewalk in Honolulu and suddenly you smell something weird, you take a look and you see a bum on the sidewalk, the source of the smell. Every time I walk on the sidewalk I see homeless people who smell like they haven’t showered in years. When walking on the sidewalks of Honolulu you have probably seen a lot of homeless and I bet you’ve often seen them carrying alcohol. I have encountered many bums with my dad when I go to school. I have even heard that people from other states and countries have been sending their homeless people here to live on the streets of Oahu.

Whenever I walk past these homeless I start to get really nervous. My palms start to sweat and I don’t know what they might do to me. Lots of them are mentally sick and/or on drugs. They could stab me behind my back, or how one time when my dad moved some of their trash off the sidewalk because it was blocking our way to pass by, the bum started swearing and threatening my dad, this has happened more than once. My dad called the police but instead of taking action with the homeless guy they gave my dad a hard time. I wonder why the police aren’t doing anything to stop them and help make kids like me feel safe. It seems that all you see are police cars driving around but not the police men/women.

    Now after doing some research I have found that there are over 7,000 homeless just on Oahu. From my perspective, it seems that these numbers are multiplying every day and soon all the parks and sidewalks could be covered with street dwellers. I call them street dwellers because I’ve noticed that there are different kinds of homeless people. A lot of them are just plain crazy and even more are drinking and taking drugs. They say they don’t have a problem with living in the streets and parks and think that we have the problem because we don’t like them living there. They are choosing to be there on purpose so I call them street dwellers.

When I see children as homeless I feel bad. homeless can be someone whose house got destroyed, like the people on Big Island whose houses got destroyed by the volcano or parents who lose their jobs, and even elderly who have nobody to take care of them. But what would you call someone who just sells drugs, or just leaves their trash on the sidewalk. They don’t even try to get a good education or get a job and they spend any money they do have on cigarettes and alcohol.

When I moved to town in Honolulu in 2016 the Thomas Square Park near my home wasn’t filled with homeless and I remember playing soccer in the park with my family. In the past three years it’s become covered in homeless smoking and on drugs making me worried. I don’t feel comfortable going to the park now most of the time.

The final thing I want to talk about is why I don’t like street dwellers. It’s about what they leave behind. The two main things that they leave behind are lots of trash and the worst is the poop and pee they make everywhere. You’re probably very disgusted by that, but it’s true. I have seen many areas with homeless poop. There was a place around the corner from our street where I saw some and nobody cleaned up the poop. It was there for months. Then there was poop at the bus stop by the bench and behind the trash can, because some street dwellers live at the bus stop. I have also seen street dwellers pee at the bust stop and in the parks by my house. So I have been disgusted many times and it gets annoying having to walk past it.

In conclusion, I want to mention the good things people are trying to do to help street dwellers and people without homes. Some build homes for them. Some work to help them stop being on drugs or smoking and get jobs. Some even give them clothes or let them take showers. Sadly this can only help certain people who want to be helped and make their lives better. We can all still try to help, or at least raise awareness like typing your opinion on street dwellers & homeless, or make a video of your own. I hope you can make a difference and HELP STOP HOMELESSNESS.

by Leo McMillan-Zilberman

Leo McMillan-Zilberman is a 7th student Grade at S.E.E.Q.S. (School of Examining the Essential Question of Sustainability) He wants to be a better writer, so he practices making articles about real-life problems. Leo will be very happy if you give him feedback.