Blog Post #7

Today in my Orgs and Comms class we watched Lemn Sissay’s TED talk. Sissay is now a British author and broadcaster. From society’s standards he leads a very successful life and many may not guess that he was raised in the foster care system. Lemn told his own moving story of growing up as a child of the state. His mother was young and unwed when she was pregnant with him. After immigrating to the UK she was pressured to give her child up to the foster care system. Lemn experienced feelings of loneliness, longing for a family or anyone who knew him for more than a year. With no one to advocate for or speak on his behalf, he was mistreated and even institutionalized for over a year (a consequence for spilling paint). The emphasis of his talk was on the fact that children who are raised in the foster care system, adopted, or orphaned feel compelled to hide their backgrounds, “as if their background’s will somehow weaken their footing in their foreground.” Sissay wishes to change this so that children of the state are able to proudly claim their stories. His talk made me think about the issues with the foster care system. What I’ve gathered from his TED talk and other classes is that separating a child from their family is not the solution. We need to instead provide resources for those who are less fortunate so that they may empower themselves and become stronger parents.

Observation: Less than 3% of children in the foster care system will go to college.