Invisible Children in the Society and Its Schools

This volume offers a series of reports by scholars writing in the field of education on the situation of groups of children and young people largely unseen or unheard in the society and its schools. By sharing the voices of the young, providing basic information about particular groups of children and young people, and offering analysis of their social situation, this accessible volume combines education and advocacy in response to the life-and-death issues of our time. Chapters focus on: homeless children and their families; white working-class girls who experience domestic violence as part of the daily fabric of life; AIDS orphans and other children profoundly affected by HIV disease; immigrant children, too often suffering silently in a lonely world; Appalachian children living in urban areas where they are regarded by many - including some teachers - as culture-less, value-less hillbillies; adjudicated girls who talk as if they are in full control of their sexual lives but remain dangerously vulnerable to repeated abuse; school-aged mothers, regarded by many - including some teachers - as social deviants and developmental oddities; and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered young people who are still subjected to harassment and denigration in a homophobic society and its schools. These chapters affirm the capacity of many children and young people to survive and even flourish despite the painful and even desperate circumstances of their lives, and to teach those who want to learn some of what we need to know to help create a world in which fewer children would suffer and in which all could be educated well. The chapters provide information, set an agenda, and point the way toward what must be done to reduce the suffering, if not eliminate it altogether.