Essay On Children During The Great Depression

You gradually trudge away from your school that you have gone to since you were young. You continue to trudge away from the school and towards the rusty railroad. Once you had quietly sneaked onto the dirty, faded boxcar, you quietly sit trying to not draw attention to yourself. That day you go without food or water and it’s the same for many days after. You hold hope in finding a job, but as the days go on your hope lessens. This happened to many children during the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a difficult time for many people and families because the stock market crashed causing many people to lose a lot of money. Several people lost their jobs so, countless families became poor and money was tight. In result of this many children

Many kids lacked the several things they needed like protein, vitamins, and minerals. In some coal mining regions, the percentage of kids that were undernourished reached as high as 90%. This is incredible high compared to the numbers today. Several families also couldn’t get the clothes children needed so during the winter, many kids wouldn’t be warm because they didn’t have the right clothing. This was because several parents were unemployed so they could no longer provide for the family. In fact, over 20% of U.S. children were hungry and lacking proper clothing. Numerous kids faced these misfortunes however, many tried going to the rails, but their life wasn’t any easier. Boxcar Kids While the Great Depression was happening over 250,000 kids and teens road on the trains and they were called Boxcar Kids. Many things led kids to become Boxcar Kids. This was because several kids were feeling like a burden to their families and others left because of the shame of poverty and unemployment. Some kids just left because they thought it would be a great adventure. The biggest reason though was probably the fact that many kids were looking for jobs to earn money. Kids left because they thought they were helping their families or it would be so much fun, but numerous kids didn’t think of the dangers they would face on the rails. The dangers of the railroad were huge, but countless kids still went anyway. On the railroad over 24,000 kids or teens were killed and 27,000 injured. That’s a lot of kids. There were also several diseases they could easily catch on the rails. These diseases were caught because of lack of cleanliness, exposure, rats, or infections. Another danger was the possibility of being caught. Being caught could be a good or a bad thing. Some states were nice where if they caught them they would give them a place to stay and some food to eat. Others were not so nice, when if they