This is a very important question in today’s society. This is something that we are seeing more and more of as time passes. The reasons are numerous and I hope to touch on most of them in this article.
Grandparents raising their grandchildren is a growing phenomenon in this country. It is becoming more and more important the we understand the reasons for this and also what things we may be able to do to help.
Addiction
The world we live in today is full of issues and problems. Many of these issues are the result of bad choices made by the parents of young children. The chief culprit here is addiction.
Alcohol has been a major addictive life style for decades. It still exists today and when the parents of children get so caught up in this, they many times find themselves unable or even unwilling to properly care for their children
Today we are also seeing an ever increasing number of people becoming addicted to opioids and other drugs. Unfortunately for their children, this behavior quickly leads to a situation that places the child in danger.
Death
Sadly, the death of one or parents creates the need for other arrangements to be made for the care of the children left behind. It doesn’t matter if the death was from some sort of accident or some terminal illness.
The final result is the same and it is very important to quickly find the best situation for the children.
Violence in the Home
This is a really scary issue, especially for the children involved. Although the majority of this behavior is created by the man in the relationship, it is not always the case. Women also can become violent in the home environment.
This situation quickly causes the children to not feel safe, to become scared to be around the person creating the violence, and not seeing any way out other than to try to hide when it occurs.
Homelessness
Given today’s economic situations and the lack of substantive help from government agencies, more and more people are finding themselves becoming homeless.
For their children, this is certainly not a good situation in which to live. The lack of good hygiene, adequate food, save environments and supervision all add up to a dangerous live style for the child to try to adapt too.
Jail
Unfortunately, the result of some of the behaviors already listed is one or both parents going to jail. When this happens the children are frequently placed on foster care.
Don’t get me wrong, there are many, many wonderful foster homes and the people that volunteer to do this are incredibly loving and giving people.
However, there are also many foster homes that are not so great. This again leads to the child becoming isolated, ignored, and sadly sometimes even abused.
Neglect
There are homes where everything seems great. Both parents are present, one or both are working, there are adequate financial resources, and a decent home.
However, sometimes, even with all these positive things in place, the children end up being ignored, or left on their own. They end up mostly taking care of themselves and receive only cursory supervision at best.
Working Parents
Sometimes both parents work. They are gone all day every day. Sometimes one or both has to work late or on weekends. Some of these people get so caught up in their careers that they don’t think about or care much for the rest of the family.
This creates a situation of neglect for the children. They begin to feel that their parents don’t really care about them or what is going on in their lives. They are pretty much left to fend for themselves.
Conclusion
From 2005 to 2015 the number of children being raised by their grandparents rose from approximately 2.5 million to 2.9 million. That is an increase of 16%.
First of all this shows that the situation is growing. It also shows us that grandparents are more and more willing and able to take up the raising of their grandchildren.
There are several studies that show it is much better for a child to be raised and cared for by a family member than to be placed in foster care of worse in a group home environment.
Subsequent articles on this topic will begin to address the resources available to grandparents and also tips to help with the day to day efforts required to be successful with your grandchildren.
I hope that this article has been informative and helpful. As always, I hope that you will chose to leave a comment and tell me what you liked or disliked. Let me know what I can do better in the future to make this blog more meaningful. And lastly, please tell me of your experiences and most importantly let me know what you would like me to research and write about in the future.
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Blessings;
Dan