Quote Originally Posted by fastdogs View Post
Luckily for this bunch, the state took them away from her. My younger sister took the whole bunch in, and for the first time they saw someone making them the center of her life- she quit a job so she could move them closer to family, got them the medical, dental, and psychiatric care they needed. They learned to change their sheets once a week, help out with laundry and chores, and had schedules and discipline. They aren't perfect- they aren't from the best genetics and have some developmental problems, but they went from "special" slow students to honor roll students. Every day they sit down as a family for a meal, and they see a man and woman treating each other respectfully, and working every day. TV is limited, but they are involved in other activities and get to see what a "normal" life was like.
It's not just money- it's the way the parents act and how they treat the children. My husband was born in a foxhole during a civil war, and raised on rice and salt because of the famine created by the civil war, but during all the hard times the children were the most important things in their parent's lives, and they made many sacrifices so that the family could survive. They did not do things that would actually endanger the children, (something that is common in my niece's world). They had nothing, but they still raised their kids to be respectful, hard working, and moral.
It was shocking to me to realize there is an entire culture out there whose children are NOT the most important things in their lives- possessions and friends take priority over even their children. What it does to the kids is trouble for all the rest of us. I think they can shoot somebody for real, without a second thought, I don't think they are raised thinking that life means very much.
vickie
Wow, fastdogs your sister and her hubby have incredible patience! It's wonderful to hear these occasional success stories.

Cultivating civility in a child takes a long time, lots of patience and best start at home.

I just remembered now as a child I switched to a 2nd public school in Ontario where the children during recess, after the bell rang to end recess, we were expected to line up per grade level and file back into the school building under the direction of the supervising teacher each day. This also occurred when school bell signalled start of school each morning. Does this happen anymore to slow down children after high activity on playground? Previous school where I began did not have this form of near military discipline. Children just piled in through the door.