Child - Care Work pt. 2

So there we were, living in a house full of teenage girls. Eight of them in fact, and we had no idea what we were doing. Just a sense that we were supposed to help those less fortunate then ourselves, and a need to feel like we were making a contribution. Some sort of payback for the help that we had received over the years. That is not to say that Molly nor I had a carefree childhood or that things came easily for us as young adults, but we never went without.
Not like some of these kids. It is hard to imagine unless you are born into it, or are related to someone who has these difficulties, that there are so many kids these days that are abused. We had all kinds of kids from all kinds of backgrounds in our care. It's also not like they are all from the same neighborhood either. There were poor Hispanic families, affluent white and black families, and a spattering of middle class families all represented in our cottage. We had societal orphans, kids in the Juvenile Justice system, and kids in DSS custody. Those that had been taken from their homes in the middle of the night because of abuse or neglect.
There was one girl who was 13 when we got there and she worked as a prostitute to help support her household. We had another whose family was so filled with strife that she resorted to cutting herself with razors to escape from it. Her self esteem was so low that she had intercourse with three boys that snuck into her room all in the same night.
Kids raped by family members.
There was one girl that was so mean she rallied the other residents against us and went after Molly (who was pregnant at the time) with a studded belt wrapped around her fist.
How is it that one of the richest and arguably the most powerful nations on the planet can't seem to care adequately for their own? I blame us for all this mess and those generations before us, that as time has gone on have seemed to care less and less for the proper raising of their youth. How do we decline so fast as a nation? Think about it, we are not even 250 yrs old! At this rate it will be a wonder if we still exist in another 250 years. Maybe Christ will come back before all of that happens and then we won't have to worry about it anymore.
More to come...