Flutterby™! : Who's the Adult?

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Who's the Adult?

2006-02-13 14:25:12.597429+00 by petronius 1 comments

An interesting story in Sunday's Chicago Tribune: A poor single father tries to do what's best for his kids by getting them into a good public school. The problem is that he's a cokehead, generally irresponsible, and borderline brain-damaged. He means well, but has trouble keeping it together. A government supported program tries to help by setting him up with what amounts to a parent; a very tough woman who basically browbeats him into doing the right thing. It's almost painful to see a grown man being bossed around this way, but he really seems to need it, and his kids are getting their one chance not to end up like him. My question: is this what it will take to end the cycle of poverty we see right now? Not money, not jobs programs, but just running somebody's life?

[ related topics: Children and growing up Education ]

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#Comment Re: made: 2006-02-13 16:20:54.211337+00 by: Dan Lyke

I think that that's the only way that any assistance program will help. This guy sounds like an extreme case of a pattern I've seen several times in my community, and if someone is broke there's a reason for it. The way to fix that isn't to throw money at them, it's to sit down and figure out how they can change their patterns, because it's their behavior that got them into the dire straits to begin with.

And I think to a large extent this means making the assumption that someone who asks for government support doesn't have the ability to make decisions and stick to them, and that a coach to change their lifestyle (or at least make sure they don't fuck up anyone else's life too badly) is a necessity.