Teenagers
who Leave Home by
Miss Harvie is Children's
boys I know best are girls in the care of a local authority; they have been compelled by law or by family circumstances to leave their own homes at some time in childhood, and for a short or long period they have been living in Children's Homes or foster-homes, which one hopes have given them some feelings of security. If during adolescence they must move again to go into lodgings they will most of them have the same mixture of feelings that any adolescent has on "moving out" into the world: delight at the thought of freedom from all the
THE
and
petty restrictions imposed by adults,
excitement at the prospect of taking this big step in the process of growing up, and fear at leaving behind so many supports and having to depend more than ever before on themselves alone. For a child in care, however, the problems will almost certainly loom larger than they do for his cousin who leaves a stable home of his own; most children come into care with a load of personal difficulties and, although their 144
Officer for
school
D. E. Harvie,
^
Kent
may be fairly quiet the anxieties tend to greater at adolescence and many | the youngsters are peculiarly ,,( equipped at this time to shoii'0' additional responsibilities.
happy,
days
Greatest
problems
bec^,
J
Most workers in child carc say that adolescents present us our greatest problems, and we sadly inadequate in the help we K able to give to the more disturb among them; we have, howev learned a little in the last fifteen since Children's Departments established. We have come to kp u for instance that even well adjusted boys and girls may considerable difficulties in settling & \ employment and into an indepen#.'? life and we are slowly discover1 methods by which we can help over these two hurdles. To us tbf is a great sense of urgency in with these problems because we from bitter experience that this time when both girls and boys c
af?
ye3ff
comparative^
tbef? deal1^'
Penn
seri
'nto?US
in their steps towards indece' ant* a fa^ure may have consequences; a boy may slip
into a girl and their chances of bec stable adults may become slj furthermore they are only in carp UnW they are 18 and most of the hei can 51YW lllWill iO is cut off at give them t'nie, though a welcome section new Children and Young Per Act will enable us in future .t;,.?lve more help to those who are unsettled at 18. Jt nSpH to be the accepted practice in care that a child who lived in a Home should on leaving be placed jn either resiH ^mediately er,tial employment or in lodgings fro \ye, which he would go out to work. now realised that for most chiiH a double break of this kind js niuch and so by some means or We try to ensure that the change a kn Sc^??l to work takes place from A Tiov ??^n suPPorting background. into lodgings can, if necessary, be aC*e more confidently later on. The ^ew wee^s employment and Dr(W
delinquency,
s.cuity,
tha?
-UH
ut.
wmi.
ill t?rsons
M11 .
c^^ed
Schoo}d-ren'S ^ren
othe?
frQmr
fSt
at 'east Part'a' independence many demands on any boy or
^ak e
gjrj been Hom
especially
?
^
lear L sibiiv dent
on
^ut there are to he taken
peC>pfet0 r?tected
ma
^bstitute is having to ne
his
certainly
work out his
writing these notes I had the opportunity of consulting Child Care Officers in Kent and in Dorset and I am rery grateful to them for their comments.
who Leave Home by
Miss Harvie is Children's
boys I know best are girls in the care of a local authority; they have been compelled by law or by family circumstances to leave their own homes at some time in childhood, and for a short or long period they have been living in Children's Homes or foster-homes, which one hopes have given them some feelings of security. If during adolescence they must move again to go into lodgings they will most of them have the same mixture of feelings that any adolescent has on "moving out" into the world: delight at the thought of freedom from all the
THE
and
petty restrictions imposed by adults,
excitement at the prospect of taking this big step in the process of growing up, and fear at leaving behind so many supports and having to depend more than ever before on themselves alone. For a child in care, however, the problems will almost certainly loom larger than they do for his cousin who leaves a stable home of his own; most children come into care with a load of personal difficulties and, although their 144
Officer for
school
D. E. Harvie,
^
Kent
may be fairly quiet the anxieties tend to greater at adolescence and many | the youngsters are peculiarly ,,( equipped at this time to shoii'0' additional responsibilities.
happy,
days
Greatest
problems
bec^,
J
Most workers in child carc say that adolescents present us our greatest problems, and we sadly inadequate in the help we K able to give to the more disturb among them; we have, howev learned a little in the last fifteen since Children's Departments established. We have come to kp u for instance that even well adjusted boys and girls may considerable difficulties in settling & \ employment and into an indepen#.'? life and we are slowly discover1 methods by which we can help over these two hurdles. To us tbf is a great sense of urgency in with these problems because we from bitter experience that this time when both girls and boys c
af?
ye3ff
comparative^
tbef? deal1^'
Penn
seri
'nto?US
in their steps towards indece' ant* a fa^ure may have consequences; a boy may slip
into a girl and their chances of bec stable adults may become slj furthermore they are only in carp UnW they are 18 and most of the hei can 51YW lllWill iO is cut off at give them t'nie, though a welcome section new Children and Young Per Act will enable us in future .t;,.?lve more help to those who are unsettled at 18. Jt nSpH to be the accepted practice in care that a child who lived in a Home should on leaving be placed jn either resiH ^mediately er,tial employment or in lodgings fro \ye, which he would go out to work. now realised that for most chiiH a double break of this kind js niuch and so by some means or We try to ensure that the change a kn Sc^??l to work takes place from A Tiov ??^n suPPorting background. into lodgings can, if necessary, be aC*e more confidently later on. The ^ew wee^s employment and Dr(W
delinquency,
s.cuity,
tha?
-UH
ut.
wmi.
ill t?rsons
M11 .
c^^ed
Schoo}d-ren'S ^ren
othe?
frQmr
fSt
at 'east Part'a' independence many demands on any boy or
^ak e
gjrj been Hom
especially
?
^
lear L sibiiv dent
on
^ut there are to he taken
peC>pfet0 r?tected
ma
^bstitute is having to ne
his
certainly
work out his
writing these notes I had the opportunity of consulting Child Care Officers in Kent and in Dorset and I am rery grateful to them for their comments.
