Most older adults, such as myself, have a lot of concern regarding the path forward of the younger generations. We read about what’s happening in many of their lives; we hear stories on radio and TV; and we hear from people we know about the struggles many young people are facing. Based upon numerous studies, social media apparently gets most of the blame for a lot of their struggles. Add to this, many kids are living in very dysfunctional family environments with a parent with a criminal background, or a parent struggling with addiction or alcoholism, or maybe neither parent really is in the child’s life as a responsible parent.
Although it is rare to hear a really good story of a child coming from such an environment, it gives me some hope and makes me outwardly smile when the story has a happy ending. The question I sometimes have to ask myself is how does one child rise above everything in a situation where there are multiple kids living in that same dysfunctional family setting? The kids have the same genes if they have the same mom and dad, and they all live in the same horrific environment— with parents who don’t care enough to keep the young kids clean, make sure they go to school and do homework or do their studying, keep them away from drug dealers or others who are involved with illegal activities, and otherwise don’t make much of an effort to give their child a good chance for success in their lives.
So how does one child sometimes find a way to pull himself or herself out of this environment, maybe go to college or have a steady job, and earn a decent living when the rest of their siblings do not? Is it the result of one special teacher the child connects with in school? Is it a pastor or leader at a church that the family might go to? Or is it some organization that works with kids who need the guidance that they are not getting at home? Regardless of what enables that child to move forward with his or her life in a much different path than his or her parents and siblings, I have to believe someone coming out of such a horrific environment is a very special person. I pray we would somehow see what it takes to set children on life’s successful path and help as many of those as possible so they have a real chance in life. Wouldn’t that make the future of the world just so much better if all kids who were born into such horrible conditions could find a path forward where they will be given a chance to live healthy, meaningful lives? We need to work harder to achieve that goal.
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