Absent parents

I recently attended a meeting at my job with a social worker to observe her and gain valuable experience about her position. She was scheduled to meet with a sixteen-year-old teenager with an adult decision to make. The teen was preparing to put her newborn son up for adoption. I learned that sex and early pregnancy was business as usual for this teen. This was her third baby in the past three years.

The other two had already been adopted. In addition to the social worker and me, the teen had brought her high school guidance counselor. I found this unusual. Here is a teenager having sex and giving away babies like candy...where are the parents? I soon discovered why neither parent was at the meeting…each had their own personal demons.

Mom was an alcoholic and dad had a cocaine addiction and couldn’t stay out of jail. Neither parent played much of a role in guiding their child. The guidance counselor appeared because she was the only positive adult role model in the teen’s life.

The counselor said the teen engaged in unprotected sex on a regular basis. She also said this third child would probably not be the last. She had done what she could for the teen by trying to advise her, but not being a legal guardian or parent, her ability to assist was limited.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t an isolated incident or anything on a television program. This is reality in many households. The most pressing concern was the baby’s welfare. Thankfully, a relative had adopted the child.

No one addressed the wayward teen’s behavior or offered any preventative measures to prevent this from happening again. It was business as usual.

After the meeting, I learned that it doesn’t take a degree in social work to realize that we live in a nation of broken families and children raising themselves without any parental guidance.