Blog 36

Personal Anecdote: 

A few years ago, my friend and I were hanging out after school got out. We were sitting on my couch just watching TV, like any teenage kids would be doing.  She then received a phone call.  She only talked for about a minute and then quickly hung up.  She told me something had come up and she needed to go.  I was a bit confused why she was leaving so abruptly, but I didn’t question it.  This kept going on, whether it was right after school or late on a Saturday night.  I started to notice that her leaving quickly was becoming much of a habit.  One day when she was leaving my house, I decided to ask her why she was leaving so quickly.  She told me that she needed to pick up her little sister; her mom was drunk.  I then understood my friend was much more of an adult that I had realized.  Since my friend’s family was suffering from alcoholism, she had to take up one of the parenting roles in her family.  Her father worked all day, so it was up to her to make sure her younger siblings made it home safely from school and practices.   Even though she was still considered a child herself, she had many more responsibilities than the normal 16-year old.  Since she had a few complications in her family, she was forced to act like an adult.

Hypothetical Scenario:

Children are supposed to live this ideal life, where there only responsibilities are their homework and cleaning their room.  We find many exceptions where these children are taking on adult responsibilities to help take care of themselves or their families.  But what if no child took on this responsibility? What if they refused to help out their family just so they could live a normal life like their friends?  Many families would struggle, and the younger children would suffer.  When the parents aren’t able to take responsibilities, they leave it to the child.  With a child who would refuse to help, many of the responsibilities would never get done.  Sometimes the responsible children don’t realize how much their efforts help.  Some families without dependable parents would go through difficulties if it weren’t for the older child.  The adult like children will take control of their dysfunctional families to give their younger siblings a more “normal” life.