All over the world, thousands of kids are without homes or bounce around to find a permanent one. The number of foster kids around the world is unbelievable. Just in the state of Kansas alone, there are 6,745 kids in the foster care system, as explained by an anonymous source at KVC; 164 kids are in foster care just here in Hiawatha. Someone may be a foster kid, and you may not even realize it.
Red Hawk Student A has been in foster care since she was 13, and has been in the same placement since she entered the foster system.
But not every kid in foster care is lucky enough to find a home that fits. They have to make sure they have good behavior, because that is a key factor for getting into a good placement.
Two other Hiawatha students - B and C - have been in the foster system for a while. Student B has been in care since he was 16, and C has been in the system since he was 11. Both have bounced around from home to home.
Foster kids almost always are on high alert, because they don’t know if the next day could be a whole new day in a whole new house in a whole new place. Not only do foster kids sometimes have it rough at home, they often have a rough time at school too. Hiawatha student B says that he wishes teachers understood that school can sometimes be hard because one, being a foster kid means that going to school means you could either be behind or ahead in something, plus kids also are constantly worried about home life, and school added onto that just stresses them out.
All of these anonymous foster kids say that it is hard being in foster care. A primary reason for this is because of all the moving, the new people, and having to constantly adjust if needed. Just when they get comfortable, it seems that life throws a curveball, and they have to pick everything up and start again. Red Hawk student D says that it is hard for him to be in foster care because kids treat him differently than they would other teens their age.
Most people think that foster kids have the same lives as them. However, that statement is completely false. In reality, foster kids’ lives are much different. Most people don’t really know this because their eyesight is cloudy, so they only know it if they really pay attention and let their eyesight become clear.