Snow is pretty...but I HATE it. It's been snowing for twenty-four hours straight, and I'm sick of it! We now have a blizzard warning until 4pm today. No one is answering at work, so I can't even go there. The one time I actually want to go to work, I can't. That figures. And now the kids are awake...there shall never be peace and quiet again! Ahhh!
And no boyfriend.
I bet I sound real mature...
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Foster Care
This is the first of three articles about the foster care system.
Each article will focus on three main subjects within foster care:
article one - improving the children's experience
article two - helping the parents more
article three - focusing on the foster family/counseling
In the Ohio foster care system, children are taken from their homes, immediately put through a series of tests, including lice checks, questioning, and clothing inventory. They then get sent to a respite provider for the length of time it takes the agency to find a suitable home.
As soon as they're placed in a foster home, they children are thrown into a whole new school system with people they don't know, meanwhile begging to see their parents.
There are many foster parents who heard that there's a job that you can get a couple of kids, send them off to school, and get paid for it. They rape, neglect and abuse children of all ages. The people need to be screened more..and the agency should check up on homes more often.
Lets use my friend Shirley as an example. When I met her she was seventeen, but she'd been tossed around through so many homes that she was held back in ninth grade. She wasn't stupid or unintelligent in anyway, it was just the lack of stability in her life that messed with her grades. She told me that in most of her families she had either been raped, molested, or physically abused by the mother, father, or brother. So she acted out...she yelled and hit back. She ran away from home and skipped school. What happened? She became a delinquent, a "bad teenager." The one who didn't know what was best for her. That doesn't seem real fair, does it?
Another thing that messes with the kids' schooling is the fact that the agency is willing to take them out of school for just about anything. Every week our foster kids get out of school over an hour early to go on their visit with their parents. The visit is definitely extremely important...but so is school.
Now, I'm not a believer in public school. I think that homeschooling is the ideal schooling situation for most children, but its illegal to homeschool foster kids. So if you're going to force the kids to go to school, at least let them be there. They already get made fun of for being foster kids, why give their classmates more ammunition by taking them out of school weekly?
I feel that counseling should be made much much more accessible to the foster kids. Your foster parent has to request a counseling session before they even consider it. These children are dealing with SO much and they deserve a little help from an outsider, just like the rest of us.
The agency should also provide tutoring and alternatives to public schooling. They should at least consider online schooling. Schools such as OhDela still have structure like public schools, but when a child gets transfered to another home, they can continue with their school work and they won't fall behind.
I know that there's a lot to be done to improve the children's already difficult experience in foster care, so why doesn't the government focus on that a little more?
Each article will focus on three main subjects within foster care:
article one - improving the children's experience
article two - helping the parents more
article three - focusing on the foster family/counseling
In the Ohio foster care system, children are taken from their homes, immediately put through a series of tests, including lice checks, questioning, and clothing inventory. They then get sent to a respite provider for the length of time it takes the agency to find a suitable home.
As soon as they're placed in a foster home, they children are thrown into a whole new school system with people they don't know, meanwhile begging to see their parents.
There are many foster parents who heard that there's a job that you can get a couple of kids, send them off to school, and get paid for it. They rape, neglect and abuse children of all ages. The people need to be screened more..and the agency should check up on homes more often.
Lets use my friend Shirley as an example. When I met her she was seventeen, but she'd been tossed around through so many homes that she was held back in ninth grade. She wasn't stupid or unintelligent in anyway, it was just the lack of stability in her life that messed with her grades. She told me that in most of her families she had either been raped, molested, or physically abused by the mother, father, or brother. So she acted out...she yelled and hit back. She ran away from home and skipped school. What happened? She became a delinquent, a "bad teenager." The one who didn't know what was best for her. That doesn't seem real fair, does it?
Another thing that messes with the kids' schooling is the fact that the agency is willing to take them out of school for just about anything. Every week our foster kids get out of school over an hour early to go on their visit with their parents. The visit is definitely extremely important...but so is school.
Now, I'm not a believer in public school. I think that homeschooling is the ideal schooling situation for most children, but its illegal to homeschool foster kids. So if you're going to force the kids to go to school, at least let them be there. They already get made fun of for being foster kids, why give their classmates more ammunition by taking them out of school weekly?
I feel that counseling should be made much much more accessible to the foster kids. Your foster parent has to request a counseling session before they even consider it. These children are dealing with SO much and they deserve a little help from an outsider, just like the rest of us.
The agency should also provide tutoring and alternatives to public schooling. They should at least consider online schooling. Schools such as OhDela still have structure like public schools, but when a child gets transfered to another home, they can continue with their school work and they won't fall behind.
I know that there's a lot to be done to improve the children's already difficult experience in foster care, so why doesn't the government focus on that a little more?
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Kids..
I think kids are amazing, in so many ways. For one..every single child I've ever seen has been absolutely adorable. Adults definitely aren't like that. Haha. Anyway, they are so innocent. Truly innocent and content with simple things. Why can't we, as teenagers and adults, feel the same way?
Children are compassionate, kind, and caring. They find joy in the simplest of things, such as sliding down slides and swinging on swings. They have such incredible imaginations and they always seem to find the good in things.
In most cases they forgive and forget before you even realize they were actually upset. If we could act like that, can you imagine how many wars wouldn't have begun? How many relationships could have been saved, and how much happier we'd all be? What a world we'd live in!
They say that when a child is born, thats the closest to God you'll ever get. But why is that so? Why can't adults act compassionately? How come we forget how to forgive and see the good in everything (and everyone)?
I think thats what children are here to teach us. They remind us how to live well.
They are most definitely gifts from God.
Children are compassionate, kind, and caring. They find joy in the simplest of things, such as sliding down slides and swinging on swings. They have such incredible imaginations and they always seem to find the good in things.
In most cases they forgive and forget before you even realize they were actually upset. If we could act like that, can you imagine how many wars wouldn't have begun? How many relationships could have been saved, and how much happier we'd all be? What a world we'd live in!
They say that when a child is born, thats the closest to God you'll ever get. But why is that so? Why can't adults act compassionately? How come we forget how to forgive and see the good in everything (and everyone)?
I think thats what children are here to teach us. They remind us how to live well.
They are most definitely gifts from God.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Love
love
–noun
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one's neighbor.
–verb (used with object)
15. to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
16. to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
17. to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
18. to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
19. to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
–verb (used without object)
21. to have love or affection for another person; be in love.
—Synonyms 1. tenderness, fondness, predilection, warmth, passion, adoration. 1, 2. Love, affection, devotion all mean a deep and enduring emotional regard, usually for another person. Love may apply to various kinds of regard: the charity of the Creator, reverent adoration toward God or toward a person, the relation of parent and child, the regard of friends for each other, romantic feelings for another person, etc. Affection is a fondness for others that is enduring and tender, but calm. Devotion is an intense love and steadfast, enduring loyalty to a person; it may also imply consecration to a cause. 2. liking, inclination, regard, friendliness. 15. like. 16. adore, adulate, worship.
No real reason for this post. :)
–noun
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one's neighbor.
–verb (used with object)
15. to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
16. to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
17. to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
18. to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
19. to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
–verb (used without object)
21. to have love or affection for another person; be in love.
—Synonyms 1. tenderness, fondness, predilection, warmth, passion, adoration. 1, 2. Love, affection, devotion all mean a deep and enduring emotional regard, usually for another person. Love may apply to various kinds of regard: the charity of the Creator, reverent adoration toward God or toward a person, the relation of parent and child, the regard of friends for each other, romantic feelings for another person, etc. Affection is a fondness for others that is enduring and tender, but calm. Devotion is an intense love and steadfast, enduring loyalty to a person; it may also imply consecration to a cause. 2. liking, inclination, regard, friendliness. 15. like. 16. adore, adulate, worship.
No real reason for this post. :)
God's First Commandement
People might respond that it is the first of
ten commandments, but that's not it. Let's go
to the videotape, please (rewind).
In the beginning (Genesis) God's first law was:
"Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree,
in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;
to you it shall be for food."
Go ahead. Say a prayer. Ask God for a favor when
you really need one. Then ask yourself a question.
Why should God listen to you if you have ignored
his first rule?
Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
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