Can you imagine living life without your parents? I didn’t have my parents from the age of four until twelve. I got in some trouble and got put into foster care. Everything changed after that. I had to stop being independent about taking care of myself. I had to learn about doing chores, taking showers, and other things that I didn’t think were important before.
My mom was a single parent taking care of three children, ages four, seven and fourteen. I didn’t know where my dad was, the boys dad was around to keep them and to drop them off on the weekends. My brothers did what they wanted and didn’t really think about me in the process. They would do things like drink and do drugs. I was around it and when I was about seven, I tried and got addicted to a lot of the things they were doing.
When I was seven years old, I got addicted to smoking weed, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and doing anything possible to get supplies. I was always with people who had weed or alcohol or who knew where we could get some. I did it all the time and never went to school, like I wish I would have. I did this until I was twelve.
I was twelve years old and got put into juvenile for stealing cigarettes. I got locked up for about two months. I quit smoking weed, and I quit stealing. I had put drinking alcohol on the back burner for awhile but didn’t quit. DFS let me move back in with my real mom to try that out and I started drinking again and they took me back. So I was back in care and trying to get my life start. I went to three different homes in six years.
Now, I’m adopted. I got two wonderful parents. I go to school everyday and I have good grades. I have a future planned now and I see that it’s possible. They take very good care of me, and they keep me out of trouble. They love me very much. I get to see my real mom and the family on the holidays.
This is why I believe that parents are important. Without parents some teenagers do a lot of things they regret later. Parents are meant to be there but some don’t care.