I think it is a completely different experience between “being homeless” for a couple days, and actually not having a place to go after your social experiment of being homeless.

People have a fairy tale view of the homeless. Yes, there are plenty of people that are just down on their luck and need a little help. These are not usually the people you find actually living on the streets, these are the people you normally find in shelters, and work programs. The majority of the people that are actually living on the streets are mentally ill and addicted to crack or other drugs. Experiencing that is not a life changing experiment, it is possessing poor judgment, especially if you yourself are not mentally ill or addicted to drugs.