Why Is California Penalizing Poor Women for Wanting to Be Parents?

[DebJ]

139. bettyellen, you don't know me at all, nor have you seen my Facebook page

where I am constantly trying to correct that same impression among several of my conservative cousins. I don't broadbrush the poor; I've actually been out there in the community trying to help them. I spoke of 'one' case, and in no way inferred that this was a standard example or what usually happens.

My own son is trapped in poverty and the social services system because he has bipolar disorder. It is horrible, horrible, horrible, depressing, tragic, crushing in spirit for me and for him. He can't work his way out of it because at just a minimum wage full-time job, he would lose all support benefits, and his meds alone are $800 a month. His only way out would be to somehow jump up and over and end up immediately with a sufficiently high-paying position.

There is no way in hell that I want social services to be cut or to end. That would literally mean my son's life would end.
There is a need for redirection however, and for education.

I'm not fear-mongering. I am not saying this is the typical case, or the always case, just that this is ONE case, and there should be a better way to handle it. It may very well be a case of the local authorities not implementing a law as they should be (and that's why I tell people to report suspected cases. Both to resolve those cases, but more likely, for those who are suspicious to maybe find out that things aren't what they perceive them to be.)

Also, I am repeating what I have actually heard said by local high school students. THEY perceive some advantage to themselves; that is what they said; that is the actions they are deliberately choosing, as evidenced by what they said.
What they need is a different vision of life; a different concept of opportunity. I did my best with the opportunities presented to me to help them. I might have reached ONE child who now wants passionately to pursue the career that a volunteer presented in my classroom. But that's only ONE. It is not helpful to just say 'poor babies' and not try to do something to actually change the situation for them. It crushes a teacher to see children with so much potential, many incredibly intelligent, and to see that their goal in life is to have a baby before high school. Our drop out rate, the REAL one, the one the community knows well not the numbers published, is well over 60%. Over half of the students in 9th grade will smile and periodically say to their friends "I only have 'x' days left before I can quit school. How many days do you have?" Because bettyellen you clearly haven't heard and seen these things, and worked to do whatever you could with each of these many children to give them a better perspective, and seen how very hard that is to do, you choose to slam me. Ok, make your own day. I'll keep trying to help make someone else's life better, rather than making snarky comments.

Ha ha! I just got a phone call. My husband (now retired) is substitute teaching some of my former students and two of them wanted to talk to me. That was fun. Both of them have self-corrected quite a bit from their habits of 7th grade. Christian was thrilled to hear I was in the bleachers rooting for him as he played on the basketball team and Amari was pleasantly surprised I remembered her. I remember every one of those little faces and their stories and I will until dementia takes over.