By Zachary Sartin
Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer
(Editor's
Note: Zachary Sartin is a Motlow Smyrna student who is pursuing a career in
social work.)
SMYRNA -- According to www.childrensrights.org,
“on any given day, there are nearly 428,000 children in foster care in the
United States.”
I will never forget the day that I went
into the foster care system. I was 5 years old when I was taken away from my
mom. My brother was 3 years old when he was taken away. Some foster parents
were nice to us and treated us as if we were their own kids. We went back to
our mom two years later. I went to different schools, and it was hard to make
new friends. When we went back to our mom, we moved to a different house
because we had a little sister on the way.
 |
| Motlow Smyrna student Zachary Sartin |
In this article, I will talk about how
my environment changed, the different parents that I had in foster care, my
emotions, and how I felt during this time.
When I went into foster care, I moved
from one foster home to another. I also had a hard time making friends because
I went from one school to another school. The foster homes that I lived in had
different rules and values. I was also bullied in school and outside of school
because I was born with a cleft-lip palate. My life was not stable because of
the different schools and the different homes.
I was born in New Albany, Mississippi,
and I moved to Eugene, Oregon, two years later. This was the first time that I
went into the foster care system. I went to a different school in Eugene. I
moved back to Mississippi to stay with family. Five months later, I moved to
Memphis, Tennessee, and went back into the foster care system in October. I
stayed in a foster home in Tennessee for five months, and then I moved back to
Tupelo, Mississippi, to stay with my aunt. I went to four different schools,
and I was falling behind in my classes.
Trying to make new friends was also
hard because I went from one school to another school. I did not live a stable
life because I was moving all over the state and going to different schools.
The home setting was constantly changing, and the setting in schools was always
different. Foster parents had different rules and values, and the school
setting was different because the teachers were different.
Some
foster parents were nicer than others, and changing schools was hard on me. The
parents had different values in each home I lived in. I did not know what to
expect or know how to act. It made me lay awake at night wondering what I did
wrong. Living in foster care was not all bad. I certainly did a lot of thinking
about my life. I stayed with each foster parent for five months. Some of the
foster parents I stayed with were in a group home, and I did not like them. The
rules changed when I got to the group home to stay for three years and five
months. Some group homes will only take kids between the ages 11 to 21. Some of
the foster parents would hit me and lock me in my room. I did not like them
because of how they treated me.
I felt like people did not care about
me. I went through several emotions during this time. I did not know whom to
trust. I felt like my own family let me down. I would cry every day and night
because I did not have anyone to love me. I also felt like I was alone in this
world and felt like I was not good at anything. I felt anger and hatred towards
my family. When I was with different parents, I felt that I could not trust
them or listen to them.
Being in the foster care system, it
made me think about what I could do with my life and how to give back to the
community and help kids. I struggled to have long-lasting friendships because I
was going to different foster homes or group homes. The foster care system in
Tennessee is different from Mississippi and Oregon. The whole time I was in the
foster care system, I was thinking about how I could help others and how I
could talk to kids that are in the foster care system today.
When I met my grandparents, I felt good
because I knew that the Department of Children Services found my grandparents
for me that I had never known about. I have been with them for three years now.
My grandparents saw that I was behind in school, so they helped me with my schoolwork.
I would never be in college if it were not for my grandparents helping me with
my schoolwork. I love my grandparents so much for getting me out of the foster
care system. I am going to college to be a social worker so I can help kids to
find a temporary home.
Overall, because of the hand I was
dealt, I believe that I became a better person. I do not hold any grudges or
hatred towards anyone. I do believe that there is a reason that all of this
happened. I have finally been placed in a home with my grandparents who love me
unconditionally. The experience did affect me a lot because of how often I had
to change environments. I think that good things come from being in the foster
care system because my mom was having a hard time taking care of me. I think
there should be changes to the foster care system when a kid goes in. The
foster care system should look for family members of the kid.
I learned a lot about being in the
foster care system, especially how to help parents and kids. If kids do not
live in a good home, the foster care system can help those who need a temporary
home. Some reasons that children go into foster care is their parents could be
on drugs and they are not ready to be parents. Also, children sometimes go into
foster care because of physical abuse.
One way that we can stop children from
going into the foster care system is to offer parents drug rehab resources and
help people go to parenting classes. Also, having sex education in high school and
in college can help them to be ready when they have kids.
When I get out of college, I will
become a social worker because I was in the foster care system for a long time
and I know how it works. With my experience, I hope in the future I can help
others who have been in foster care.
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