Quote:
Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans
Why are 22-year old kids panhandling in the first place? They could get a job tomorrow if they tried. I just don't get it.
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Possibly because they're crack heads ... or Fetal Alchohol Syndrome offspring ... or both. Some of these kids really have the deck stacked against them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to defend them. They need to be dealt with for the sake of public safety. I'm just saying that many of them come from a different background and face a different reality than I (we) do. I'm grateful I don't have their lives to live.
Many people argue that street people have a choice and they don't have to choose the life they do. In some cases I agree, but not in all cases. I know a young mother who has three kids, by three different fathers, two of whom are in prison. Two of the three kids were conceived while the mother was using crack. They are the type of kids you'll be reading about in the news in 10 years for doing stuff like this. It's sad when the writing is so clearly on the wall and nothing is done about it. The grandmother of these three kids tried to get custody, but social services felt they were better off with their mother, despite multiple drug convictions and failed treatment programs. Good call ... not. So their mother has failed them, and social services has failed them. It will be no wonder when they grow up to be like the kids in the Toronto story. The oldest of the three, who is about 14, is already a crack head and has attempted suicide. He attempted suicide because his step dad was getting out of jail and he was afraid his step dad was going to beat him to death. How sad is that? The kid was about 10 or 12 at the time.
That's why some of the street kids don't just get a job and turn their lives around. Some of them may be just lazy, but a lot face obstacles we thankfully have never had to deal with.