Children can see right through you

We all have heard that American’s whine too much about their way of life. Other countries really do have it much worse than we do. Our ghettos look like hotels compared to many third world counties slums. In America we really do have choices and a way out of poverty. So many of us have come from impoverish backgrounds and have climbed the ladder of success, but many of us have fallen from that ladder time and again. There always seems to be a safety net here in America that will stop us from falling completely into the bowels of poverty that so many in other countries have. Far too often what isn’t really considered by many in this country is the fact that some are just too physically or mentally handicapped to climb back up that ladder.

Some of what we here in America see is people who have had so many traumas in their life that they never seem to recover from them. We can send money to Ethiopia all day long to feed the poor and tell our children how much better off they have it than children in third world countries. But try telling that to a little girl whose mother burns her with cigarettes when the child’s playful yells get too loud. Or the girl whose mother traded her daughters virginity for another hit on a crack pipe. Tell that to the boy whose father beats him with anything he can get his hands on just to get out the bitterness he has for his own life. Or the kid who keeps running away from abusive foster and group homes because he feels safer in the parks and streets.

Children really do still go hungry in this country. Not only do their bellies hurt from not having enough to eat but their hearts beat for someone to love them the way they know is right. Their minds hunger for a balance life style and their little souls thirst for understanding and compassion, not just for them but for all who they care about. Tell them they have it better than other children in third world countries and they will try to help because they know all to well how it feels.

The biggest shame here isn’t just on the parents of these children because many are mentally ill. The most horrifying thing to me is that this happens in a country that claims to be better than other countries. This happens in a nation of so called liberals who claim to care about everyone but can’t see past their own prejudices. A republic where so called conservatives who claim to love God and family values turn the other way because they believe it’s none of their business.

I will never tell my children that we have it better than other countries because it’s not all about where you lay your head or how much you have eaten. It’s about having a voice that is fair and just, a voice that is all about reasoning and considers all elements.

If we want to help others we must first help our own children. Visit an inner city ghetto; take a trip to a holier. Go visit the welfare office or a group home and listen. Spend a day in family court and watch silently with an open mind. Look into the eyes of the abused and neglected right here under your nose before you pat yourself on the back for sending a dollar a day to other children in countries. Do things here at home before you get yourself fitted for your halo. Keep teachers happy, help the mentally and physically disabled without judgment and talk to a child and listen, really listen. Most of all be a friend to a family in need.

The children don’t always want to be taken from their parents. They want their parents to be fixed, to be happy. The system truly is broke and throwing money at it isn’t the only answer. Too much gets lost in the bureaucracy of it all and the children suffer because of it. Too many case workers have grown insensitive to the family needs and paint all with a bias and broad brush. So before you shake the hand of a child protective service case worker speak to his or her clients.

You want a better America? Do you really want to make a better future for our children? Then you should support our greatest resource, our very own children.