The Importance Of Children In Foster Care

In today’s society everyone has rights that they are entitled to, for example, the right to freedom of speech, the right to choose religious beliefs, and the right to bear arms. Everything in the Bill of Rights is directed towards ensuring that people are aware of their rights as well as protecting them. However, children are not given the same rights as an adult. It is thought that children do not fully understand what rights are and that they are not mature enough to know right from wrong, therefore they are not entitled to the same rights as adults. Children should have the same rights as everyone else, regardless of their age because they are human beings too. Children may not fully understand everything a mature adult does, but …show more content…
“For students in foster care, these repeated moves also mean new rules and new faces. From losing touch with a trusted friend to being expected to eat unfamiliar food, they have little to no control over even the most basic aspects of their day-to-day routines. Instability itself may be the only constant in their lives.” (Williamson 63). These children do not have a complete and stable home, feeling like they have no control and in turn can ultimately cause them to go down a dangerous path. Lisa Williamson states “studies report that as many as half of kids in foster care have repeated at least one grade, and the National Working Group on Foster Care and Education found that only 20% of foster youth who graduate from high school attend college, compared with 60% of high school graduates in the general population.” (“providing support and stability” 62). Not only do these kids not have a stable home, they do not have a stable education. They more than likely do poor in school and do not have the support and confidence they need to continue their education in …show more content…
Some of the children in foster care are in a bad situation and take it out on the other children in the home. They can mentally or physically abuse smaller children in the home. The smaller children may not speak up and say anything to their foster parents because they will be afraid of getting in trouble; or worse they can get kicked out of the home and have to be placed somewhere else. This could result in being put in a worse situation. All though some may think foster care is better than living on the street, in many cases that is not necessarily true. The best case scenario is that they be adopted out to a loving family. Many children are given a better chance at living a happy life and receiving an education and healthcare to make them healthy and productive adults later in life. None of this could be possible unless children are educated on what their rights are and are taught who to go too, to enforce those rights. They need to be taught that it is okay to speak