Cooler days (unusually so) remind us that summer is winding down. Time to knuckle down to the serious business of ‘back-to-school prep” or as he French call it, “la rentrée.”
It’s that partly-dreaded, partly-eagerly-anticipated time of year when parents bustle about gathering school supplies, back-packs and new clothes to send their kids back to school. Getting children ready for school is a daunting task at the best of times; but this year brings a new set of challenges. School district budget cuts!
Because of the dwindling Southern Californian economy (err, that would be the entire USA's economy), teachers have been laid off in droves this year. Practically speaking, this results in fewer teachers per child, larger classes, which means less individual attention and a loss in quality teaching. Ouch!!!
Good news, though, is that in San Diego, some teaching jobs have been spared. Or, in some cases, laid off teachers are being rehired just in the nick of time.
Still, for as long as the economy remains precarious, so does the education of San Diego’s children.
But however the economy is faring, preparing children to go back to school after a long summer break is always taxing. It is especially so for those who have no money, no roots, no real home, no family—foster children.
No one suffers more than foster children—those who’ve traipsed from home to home, never rooted in a forever family, and often being forced to start new schools. Nothing is harder than trying to find your place in the peer hierarchy in a school you don’t know, where you don’t know anyone and where no one knows you. (And when they try to get to know you, you just want to hide the fact that you don’t have a stable family.)
According to an article in KPBS, “The average American parent spends $50,000 dollars from the time a child turns 18 until age 26. Foster children, who leave the state’s care at 18, get $500.”
Such disparity!
Children who begin the school season with shabby clothes, torn backpacks and chintzy school supplies, ache inside. They hurt. Some weep. (And their academic performance is affected by how they feel.) That’s how it is for many foster children.
Sadly, the numbers of foster children in San Diego County is ever-increasing. But “Back-to-School” season is as good a time as any to remember them. Pray for them and pray about helping them.
According to SleepTrain, “Not everyone can be a foster parent, but anyone can help a foster child.” Drop off new clothes, backpacks and school supplies at any local SleepTrain. And how about saying a prayer for the child who’ll receive the donations?!
That sounds like a plan. A very good plan.
However you slice it, getting children—and mom—ready for the school routine is not easy.
Tisha Myers from Oceanside, mother of 14-year-old Emily and 7-year-old Heather, says, “It’s difficult to get the girls to bed early and wake them up early again. Also adjusting to the new high school schedule and sports practices is a bit challenging.” Emily will attend Rancho Buena Vista High School and Heather the Lake Elementary School in Oceanside.
When asked about the stress involved in juggling another year of school with all it entails—car pooling, early morning wake-ups, homework etc.—Tisha replied, “Knowing that God is there for us, watching over and providing for our needs gives me the strength and encouragement I need to face another school year.”
And therein lies the key. Faith. No sense in claiming to be a Christian parent if you cannot trust God to help you as you try to take care of your family.
As for the foster children, they need to see true faith too. It’s easy to gloss over their problem ,and keep it impersonal. But true faith is expressed in action. Only faith put into practice can change lives—especially the lives of children.
“What does it profit . . . if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14-17, NKJV).
Janey DeMeo M.A.
Copyright © August 2011
Comments