Children In Foster Care

We are surrounded by very affluent communities here on the San Francisco Peninsula, but there are still many children who find themselves in the foster care system due to abuse and/or neglect. Society turns its back on these kids in a variety of ways. The affluence many local people enjoy allows those who want to experience parenthood to have a biological child by in-vitro fertilization or hiring a surrogate mother. They would rather spend the money to have their own biological children than take in a child that many believe will become nothing but a detriment to society. Just because many foster children suffer emotional and psychological damage doesn’t mean they aren’t deserving of a loving home or capable of becoming contributing members
Everyone knew he was a foster child because his skin was brown, and his foster family was an affluent white family with several of their own children with whom we also went to school. One day, Paul was goofing off in class, and our teacher shouted at him, “You know what, Paul? No wonder why nobody wants you. You are just a punk getting a free ride through life.” I immediately felt the blood throbbing into my face, and anger took control of my actions. An invisible force took control of my hand, slamming it down hard on my desk three times, and then it rocketed me upwards. Pointing an accusing finger at our teacher, I yelled, “How dare you! You are a teacher! You are supposed to help kids, not make them feel like crap!” I marched straight down to the principal’s office and told her what happened and that this teacher shouldn’t be teaching at our school. The teacher was reprimanded, but retained his job. This experience defined for me how little credence people lend foster kids and how little respect they are given. Since that day, I’ve harbored a grievance about the treatment Paul (and I, indirectly) received. I knew that foster children really needed someone to stand up for their
I know I’m angry about the treatment we received both in foster care and with my adoptive family. I came to blame society for thinking so poorly about foster children, and having such low expectations of them. Statistics show they don’t often come out of the system with a healthy approach to life. Most come from abusive homes, so they start off on a bad foot. Then the rejection they endure damages the self-esteem to the point that they seek relief through the use of drugs. In fact, of children in the system who are not adopted and eventually “age out”, 65% don’t even have a place to live, less than 3% go to college, and over half are unemployed. Only a third of one percent of American population are foster children, yet 40% of people in homeless shelters and about the same percentage of America’s prison population are former foster youth (California Progress Report, January 17, 2007). No wonder no one wanted me. I didn’t have a very bright