“A 2005 nationwide study suggested that about 3 percent of households with children ages 8 to 18 included child caregivers,” wrote Pam Belluck of the New York Times in her article entitled “In Turnabout, Children Take Caregiver Role.” This article featured the ups and downs in the lives of children who are primary caregivers.
We usually imagine home caregivers as middle-age parents who dress their parents, and tend to their disabilities, Alzheimer’s, or some form of cancer. We never entertain the idea of 12 and 13 year olds being primary caregivers, but this situation is more common than you think.
Parents and grandparents being provided for suffer from a large array of diseases including multiple sclerosis, bladder cancer, diabetes, and colitis, and extend to caring for parents who are crippled or blind. The children must administer medication, bathe their disabled parents or grandparents, give up regular activities, and some even drop out of school. Some children even rebel against their parents and run away or “beat them with canes.”
On the up side, children have the potential to mature at a faster rate.
There are special programs dedicated to the education, recognition, and support of children who are primary caregivers and one such program is the Caregiving Youth Project.
Children who are primary caregivers obtain such titles because of their culture. Others become primary caregivers because they’re too poor to afford health care or they come from single-parent homes.
I personally believe that it is immoral to place that much responsibility on a child. Granted, that our parents raise us and I understand that life can drop unexpected situations in our life.
I feel that medical help should be provided for those in need. We shouldn’t have a system that wants to take away a child’s right to be around their parent or parents’ if the parent(s) can not provide for themselves, and that is what keeps these child caregivers in the dark. They cannot get the help they need without fear of expulsion from their family by the state.
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That's a very touchy subject, although it very intresting. I mean it's the age old thought that the parent takes care of the child and the child later on takes care the parent. I guess in some cases though it's happening eariler then one had hoped. It's not right that a young person gets taken away from their normal activites of being young and having fun. But sometimes you just have to do what needs to be done. If anything ever happened to my parents I would be the first one there to take care of them!
ReplyDeleteYour blog really hit home for me--I have a hard enough time dealing with my very elderly parents' stubborn refusals to take medicine, get along with each other, hire help, etc. After reading your blog, I took a deep breath and thought, "Well, it could be worse. I could be a teenager." How is it that the richest nation (well, maybe we aren't anymore) can have such a dilapidated health care system that teens are forced into this situation? Programs to help kids like this are the first to go when we cut taxes. These young adults are sacrificing their future and that shouldn't be the case.
ReplyDeleteThis was a tragic article. I read it and couldn't help but feel for the children in the story. Especially the young bipolar girl.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that children should legally be allowed to take care of their parents. I could easily see the laws changing so that children are taken away from their parents instead. I feel that would be far worse because then the child will become a ward of the state, undergo foster care, they may experience psychological trauma because they think they weren't 'good enough' to stay home, and a number of other things. However, I highly commend the Caregiving Youth Project for helping children who are placed in such a hard role.
I think having children as caregivers can be both beneficial and tragic at the same time. Childhood is meant to be spent acting like a kid, having a good time. But its touching to see a young teen being able to take care of their family too. I'm not saying they should do what a normal parent would do, but it's nice to know that if a situation arises, it's good to see that a young teen knows how to handle the situation.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand how you feel about the situatoin but families feel like they don't wanna put their trust in people they don't know when they have family that can help.
ReplyDeleteAnd please understand that medical assistance of that extent can kind of expensive and as of right now, anything that is high and not needed is out of the question.