Important Issues

Important Issues In Society "The Adolescent Child In America"

In today’s society there are many controversial issues which as of yet are not fully recognized or just ignored all together. One of the main issues is the shocking increase in the trend of fatherless children and teen parents. Young women most typically being those in the mid to upper teen age group, are having children outside of the haven of wedlock and that has eased the way for irresponsible young males to go around droppin "seeds" on innocent and naïve young females. The welfare system also has led to the emergence of many teens having multiple children before they are indeed legally adults. In the many books that I am using to research this subject farther I found that many childhood problems are some which can be prevented by steady planning and less "accidental"births.

One of today’s biggest problems is the lack of proper governmental funds for child welfare. By the constant budget cuts the welfare child is the one who suffers most. The book "The Adopted Child" talks mainly about this aspect of a child’s life. It touches many facets from who adopts the children and there reasoning behind seeking adoption to what the future may hold for that child. When the talk about the adopted child they are focusing mainly on the younger pre-teen age groups. Many young children are overjoyed when they are adopted because they feel like they are wanted by someone. As the book notes the kids general mind frame is "I’m LUCKY! My PARENTS chose me from all the others" (pg.18 line #1) This phrase is common among young adopted children. Since the adopted child has spent a good portion of their developmental years at an orphanage they have these thoughts engraved into their mind and they rehearse potential behavior like a script. As opposed to an infant who has not yet encountered preconceived feelings other than emotional and physical pain a young child in an orphanage is old enough to realize that they need someone to love them. When a child is adopted it gives them a sense of normalcy so to speak. When they are raised in there upbringing, they are hit with the label of being a "BAD SEED"which is undoubtedly unjust in most cases. As things progress into the more mature stages of an adopted child’s life so should the ways in which they view things. They are more liable to be upset about being in an orphanage than a child of a younger age. Since the adolescent stage is that in which the most obvious physical and mental changes occur, dealing with there varying problems can be a bit difficult. Their feeling about being different from most kids is more obvious than that found in younger children. They are more picky in things ranging from what to wear to how they act to many different things. They are subject to more scrutiny than most kids their age because this is the time in there lives, when belonging to certain social status groups in vital to their emotional maturation process. They can go through many tribulations especially if they have siblings whom are not adopted. They may be looked down upon in the family tree. His parents may be quicker to side with a non-adopted sibling before taking their side. Many adolescents especially females may fear of repeating the steps in which there mothers may have journeyed by having illegitimate children. Some parents are shameful of there adopted children because they may feel that they are not "normal." It is an uneasy situation for both parties (ai. Parents and children). Since this is not an ideal society adopted children shall always face more scrutiny than there un-adopted counterparts.

The next issue at hand is the increasing number of teen pregnancies. In the book "The Teenage Parent’s Child Support Guide" it states that by having more teen parents who are still children themselves has led to many of today’s next generation children to be engulfed by the violent terrain’s of the streets in urban America. From personal experience, I have seen what teens, with kids go through. The few that take responsibility for their actions end up having a very rough route to go. The book tells about how the common perception in mainstream America is that the main causes of these problems are due to the minority community but in fact the Caucasian race also is being plagued by this growing phenomena. The book points out many things such as places in which one can call in for or contact to seek advice regarding places to turn to paternity tests. It talks about the increase in teenage pregnancy and how it could correlate to the constant growth in the murder rate and percentage of violent acts committed by minors. Inside the book there is a comic strip called, "Teenage Parents: Choices and Responsibilities." In this comic strip various scenarios are broken down. Everything from accidental pregnancy’s to responsible fatherhood, to paternity cases. A lot of times today many teens don’t take on the responsibility of a child and try to use every viable resource to dispel the notion that the child is in fact theirs. In one scene the male and female are in the courtroom and the judge tells the man "You have a right to have an attorney represent you, the right to present your own evidence and witnesses, and the right to blood testing, among others. A blood test can scientifically prove you are not the father of the child" (pg.47 column #4). But the main legal technicality to stop abuse of that right is the fact that "Many courts will not pursue paternity and child support if the alleged father is under 18 years of age, a full-time student, and unemployed. They prefer to wait until he is 18 years old and fully employed. Other courts will order a "token payment" of $5 or $10 a week to help the young father understand his responsibilities for his child" (pg.58 caption). By the lackadaisical lifestyles in which most teens engage raising a child is not most suitable because the nurturing environment and the constant responsibility requirements are not met on a constant enough basis. Unless the government asserts power and more money geared toward teen parental mentoring classes these problems shall continue. Many of the proposals involve complete abstinence and safe sex. Now safe sex is a reasonable request but the majority of teenagers have outrageously high hormonal levels so abstinence is an option that I feel is not very viable.

The third issue is a bit more specific. The book "Children Of The Storm" focuses on racial separation and black children and the welfare system. This book has many in-depth charts focusing on a variety of social issues. It talks about the racism minority children face. Also topics touched upon are that of the negative conception that is placed upon black people, black children and welfare since World War II, the black community to black parents adopting. The book states that "All of the agencies had difficulty in finding sufficient numbers of Black homes for Black children they had available for placement".(pg.188 paragraph #2, line #1). Another stereotype based on black orphans is that they are more so mentally dysfunctional, than per say their white counterparts. There are three different systems involving with adoption and "All three systems tolerate overt racist practices, and all three have covert racist aspects. (pg.134 paragraph #2, line #3). Another aspect hit is the "White System". Places like "The Jewish Child Care Association of New York City, The Lutheran Child Services, and the Catholic Association of Children’s Agencies are excellent examples of white child care systems designed expressly to meet the needs of groups of white children (pg.222 paragraph #1 line #1). This book mainly expresses the vast differences that is encountered between black and white children. This book is a bit more racially driven than the other books but it has a lot of facts, and figures to back up its claims. Overall even though a bit outdated the book still reflects in a sense of how today’s modern society is still a bit "shady".

Personal Note:

If politicians such as President Clinton and other major party leaders and chairman stop bickering over irrelevant issues like "White Water" and scandalous actions indulged in by the current president before his office term then the blame should be a burden in which they start to take direct responsibility for. Maybe this old and balding Member of Congress and menopause induced females should stop resting on their laurels and dedicate more financial aides to the minority community so that the people can be educated. I feel that better budget management would drastically decrease many of the problems today that face society. Instead of spending billions of dollars to build fighter jets why doesn’t the government pay money to keep people alive and educate them over just trying to kill them off. Maybe peace is the way but until many of today’s leaders in these bureaucratic civilizations decide is humanity worth investing in then the quickly approaching anarchic times may engulf us prematurely. As I did this book report my goal was to set out and try and shade light a bit on the rugged life in which a large portion of today’s youths have to endure. Everything from group homes to church ran orphanages. My main assessment of the current state is that things still really aren’t changing at a rapid enough pace and with the approaching millennium, important issues such as proper child care by public and private agencies should be just as big a focal point as things such as a Balanced Budget and education. In a sense this is education because if people aren’t taught how to raise there kids and have illegitimate children then, more than likely they will put them up for adoption, and then the child will have to go through a life of false misconceptions. As you can see the order in which I did this report was in a manner in which you could see a progression.

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