An Unexpected Turn in My Life
Have you ever had a time when a topic you are not interested in might is suddenly interesting to you? Well, that happened to me a while back. It all started with my philanthropy class back in high school. My business teacher informed us of a field trip to a non-profit organization called CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). I wasn’t interested in going, to me, it just sounded like a boring place to be at. The day of the field trip arrived and like any other person, I had the annoyed attitude on already. As, we arrive at the facility a tension feeling was present. As I walked inside some pictures of children on the wall intrigued me, but I didn’t attention to them and ignored them thinking that they might have been pictures of children that had attended an event they sponsored. As the presenter started talking about the mission of the organization, he grabbed my attention after he finished talking about abused and neglected children.
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My thoughts were that all children should be happy, play, and have easy lives, but after listening to these stories I understood that it is not always like that and these kids need special help. Before this visit to the CASA organization, I was focused primarily on studying in the field of law enforcement, but listening to those cases made me change my mind.
After this dramatic experience in my life, now I have changed my mind and my primary focus is to hopefully become a social worker. Graduating as a social worker will allow me to achieve my new goal of graduation and joining the CPS. I certainly feel that all my hard work will pay off when I can have the legal right to defend and protect these kids and punish their parents for such neglect. It also opened my eyes to learning that many kind-hearted people out there do care for others and like me especially poor innocent
March 5, 1973 started out as another horrible day for Dave Pelzer, his mother screaming at him to begin his chores. Dave was no ordinary child, he was abused horrifically by his mother. On this same day he was released from the clutches of his mother into police custody. Dave then uttered the words “Im free?” (pg 14) in displief that he was free from the evil in his life. This quote in the book shows how life altering his mother’s anger was on Dave. High levels of child abuse occur every year and have had mental and emotional effects on children, this essay is going to argue how cruel and life altering child abuse is. Foster Homes have saved children from child abuse for years, more than 6.6 million children suffer from child abuse each year.
Life in the United States has been difficult for many children. Statistically speaking, there are four children who are killed by abuse each day (Allyn & Bacon, 2011). With numbers increasing over the years change is something that is starting to take place. There are many things that will affect the child welfare system in the future, such as the economic policies, political views, and the current policies set in place (child welfare information). The reason for the child welfare system is to help the children who are getting abused. In the past, there was not a policy set in place; however, this is beginning to change. One of the systems that have been set in place is the Children’s Bureau, an organization that does studies on the mental health of abused children (Thomas, 2012). Although this organization has no authority to develop federal regulations, they are one of the largest agency leaders in child welfare (Thomas, 2012). There are many problems with the economy and government that make it hard to maintain the child welfare system.
The Children’s Aid Society is defined to help to protect infants, children and youth who are experiencing abuse or are at risk of experiencing abuse, physically, sexually, emotionally or through neglect or abandonment. The majority of the support and assistance is to ensure that the children can stay with their family, and be safe. Those working with Children’s Aid Society sometimes have to remove the children who are in unsafe environments and take them into their car – although, the main focus of this society is to protect the children and supporting them to keep their family together. But, that is not how things will also work out. Life gets tough, and sometimes, things do not always go as you plan. Families often face issues relating to poverty, addiction, unemployment, mental health challenges and inadequate housing, which lead to challenges being created in the house hold that can affect the parent’s ability to care for their children. “For example, a child may be suffering from neglect because of their family’s financial and housing situation, or there may be need for Children’s Aid assistance because of a parent’s mental health issues” (“Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies,”
... child no matter what. I feel like this story has helped me to be open-minded to the various situations that people may face and to not make assumptions. I also feel somewhat prepared for the situations that I may face in the field of social work as I continue to unpack my baggage.
Henrico Court Appointed Special Advocates (“CASA”) was organized in 1994, as a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation committed to advocating for the best interests of abused and neglected children in Henrico County, Virginia. The program has grown from 10 volunteers serving 26 children in its first year and now serves well over 300 children every year. CASA recruits, screens, trains, and supervises volunteers dedicated to championing the needs of children involved in Henrico County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court proceedings involving abuse or neglect, juvenile dependency, and CHINS (child in need of services or supervision). CASA promotes safe, permanent homes for all children, educates the community concerning the needs of abused and neglected children, and collaborates with other child-serving agencies on behalf of abused, at-risk, and truant children in the local area. Children with a CASA volunteer are more likely to be adopted, half as likely to reenter foster care, and substantially less likely to spend time in long-term foster care. They are more likely to pass their courses in school and less likely to be expelled.
The MSW degree along with my bachelors in psychology gives me a great opportunity to build my career as a social worker who will strive to act as a leader and empower others to help those in need. When I have gained efficient experience and expertise in my role as a social worker, I want to educate others on child welfare and family violence. Sharing knowledge and educating is a boundless way to make an impact and promote resilience within the
Ryan is a 7-year-old boy who has been in foster care, in the same foster home, for nearly 3 years. CPS became involved in Ryan’s life when he was 2 years old, following reported concerns of domestic violence in the home of his biological parents. Police had responded to the home on several occasions, both before and after Ryan’s birth. CPS first attempted to stabilize the home placement of Ryan and his siblings by providing in-home services. Family preservation services were offered to the family with little success. Ryan’s parents continued to abuse drugs and alcohol. They remained engaged in an unhealthy and violent relationship, impacting the children.
Child abuse does not discriminate against a child because of age, sex, religion, or socioeconomic background. Every child is vulnerable to abuse. Parents today face the possibility that someone they know or a stranger may hurt or take advantage of their children. Research indicates that as many as one out of every four children will be the victims of some kind of abuse (National Child Abuse Statistics). Furthermore, one of the biggest ironies of child abuse is that the family, a child’s primary source of care, love, and security, can also be their most taunting experience. This was the case of 17 month old baby, Peter Connelly. Throughout his short life span, he suffered from neglect and physical abuse that ultimately caused his death. Child abuse is a serious problem that is being taken too lightly.
One day that made all the other days seem to disappear. I woke up just like every other day, thinking all is well, only today is different, today is life changing. I’m a mother who has dedicated my entire life to my babies, and within a few hours, my whole life was turned upside down. My son has epilepsy, a seizure disorder that up until that day I knew nothing about. When you think of seizures, you think of thrashing around and foaming of the mouth, I sure did. For Blayk, my three year old son, yet, that was not the case. It started out that he was just quiet, which was not different from his normal disposition. A few minutes later, I noticed a spiked fever, followed by vomiting. To be honest, at this point, I didn’t think too much of his
Throughout each experience in your life, you are expected to walk away with something; whether it be a new way of thinking, learned techniques or a mixture of the both. Throughout English 101, I ended up learning much more than expected. This was due to having a great teacher, but also the realization of how little high school actually prepared me for college English. The class itself took me on a journey of learning, not only acquiring new skills, but uncovering an unknown side of me as a writer; which then led to a change in my writing process and a solid achievable set of goals for the future. In this essay, I will be covering how ENG101 helped me advance my way of writing; as well as how it has affected me and what that means for my future college career.
In today’s society there are a variety of social issues that shape and make the world the way it is. These social problems can affect the economy, humans, and neighborhood communities ranging from local or national. One social problem that has increased among humans today is child abuse. This is defined as the physical mistreatment of a child by a parent or caregiver held responsible for a child at their time of care. Every year more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies involving more than 6.6 million children (Child Abuse Statistics). Abuse can be physical, sexual, or psychological. These forms of abuse can happen in many places, including the home, schools, or camps. A common form of abuse is physical where someone
The fall of my freshmen year at Salem State University, I started working as an assistant teacher at an after- school program at Horace Mann Laboratory School, which is the elementary school located on campus. I instantly fell in love with working with the children, but fell out of love with my major at the time, education. I started to contemplate and do research on what I really wanted to major in. During this time of feeling misplaced, I realized that I was passionate about working with the children in our after school program who have behavior issues. I quickly had an understanding that most of these children are acting out because of the problems they are facing at home. I soon realized that social work was my calling. I had an overwhelming
I went to camp for the first time last summer to get away from the pressures of home and school. Camp was a month long, I have never been away from my parents more than a week. I was very anxious. I had no idea what situations to expect and how I would handle them. I started to really wonder about my life. The way it was going was not the best for me. I can “run away” from my reality, but I know that I was going to have to come back to it in a month. The way I treat people was total opposite from how I treated my parents. What my friends were capable of doing was not a bit close to what my parents would let me do, my parents are very narrow minded. My grandparents were even more severe, my culture is different from my friends and it’s hard for me to understand and accept it. What my parents expect from me is much higher then what other parents require from kids my age. I have more responsibilities at home and of course I have school responsibilities to go along with it as well. Since my parents didn’t let me do the things I insisted to do, I became quite rebellious. I would answer back to them, not pay attention and not do the things they wanted me to. I needed a new ways of handling things at home, I thought nobody or anything can help me. I couldn’t wait to leave. After one week, camp was not great anymore, all of my bunk mates felt the same way. Everything little thing anyone would do, got to be so aggravating. We really started having problems from the first day of camp. A girl in my bunk named Jenna did not get to be in the bunk she wanted to be in. She decided to handle the situation by giving everyone a hard time as well as a bad attitude. The way she talked to the co...
Many children are victimized by child abuse, Child abuse is defined “any non-accidental behaviour by parents, caregivers, other adults or older adolescents that is outside the norms of conduct and entails a substantial risk of causing physical or emotional harm to a child or young person” (AIFS). Children who are abused are more likely to display socially disruptive behaviour such as abusing alcohol and drugs, or engaging in high-risk sexual behaviours. They may also have excessive fears and withdraw from normal activities. Any kind of child abuse can, and does, happen in all types of families, regardless of their background.
Years ago I had the most terrifying, shocking day of my life. I had between seven or eight years when this happened. The day before the accident, all my family was at my grandfather’s house. We all were eating the food my mother and my aunts brought, telling jokes at the dinner table. Meanwhile, I was playing with my cousins in the backyard. Everyone was enjoying the family meeting. As the time passed by and everyone was about to go home, my mother suggested the idea that we all should go at my grandparent’s ranch next day, since everyone was in town we all could have the chance to go. Everyone liked the idea. It was the perfect time to go because it was a weekend. As they all agreed to go, they begun to decide who bring what to the gathering. Who would have thought that thanks to that suggestion, I would lead me to the hospital the day of the reunion.