Something we need to do better on: mental health support for children in foster care, for foster families, and for families of origin. It's way tougher than it should be to get support in these circumstances, and often the support you ultimately get is insufficient.
Foster parents often get a bad rap, but lots of us (I'm a former foster parent) fight TIRELESSLY for these kids, and we are met with endless roadblocks.
We are relentless in our desire to get kids who have been through the worst situations you can imagine the help they need. Oftentimes it's too little, too late (if anyone even listens to our demands).
Then we release these kids at 18, with immeasurable traumas and little-to-no support and/or tools into society. We need to examine our foster care system and prioritize the rights of children.
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I'd also venture a guess that there's a decent number of people that are holding out on the vaccine bc they don't trust their leaders to lift restrictions anytime soon and they have seen post after post talking about the experiences with side effects and they are putting it off.
I think it was with good intentions and a desire to be honest that people posted on FB about every side effect they experienced- but I have talked to people who are hesitant and said that plus knowing it won't change the rules are why they're waiting.
They are hoping that enough other will get vaccinated so they don't have to, and they won't have to deal with the side effects. A year in, and the absence of any kind of hope/goal still plagues us.
We need to stop shaming people for contracting COVID. Doctors and nurses need to stop sharing people's stories clearly without their consent. This kind of behavior probably keeps people from getting treatment for fear of being shamed in the public arena.
We already live in an era where little to nothing is private. As if people weren't sharing enough about themselves, people live tweet other people's conversations on planes, their awkward blind dates, they surreptitiously take pics of people doing the "wrong" things.
That kind of violation of people's privacy takes place ALL the time, and was bad pre-COVID. Now, you go to your doctor and fear they will share your pain as a political football? That's what we've become?
Not only are there tons of schools across America that have not allowed in person education since March, schools that have opened are now starting to go back to virtual learning. Our children deserve better and their futures depend on schools reopening and staying open.
We have been in person since September with no incidents. And yet, since cases are rising in our state, schools are all starting to shut down. Our district is one of the final holdouts staying open, it's unlikely we come back in the new year.
Our kids have lots of support here at home and still struggled incredibly with virtual learning. They didn't retain the information well and there were lots of tears.