OCR Text |
Show Lost-A Child (Editor's Note This is second of a- series of articles in the interest in-terest -of finding homes for unfortunate unfor-tunate children). : 1 There is a child lost not far from your home. He is not lost in the woods or in the mountains or on a crowded city street But this child is lost in a world of social factors beyond his ability to comprehend. com-prehend. He is bewildered, frustrated, frus-trated, and torn by conflicts, not of his own making. He is lost in an environment of bitterness created by the lives of his parents. He is bewildered by their inade-qate inade-qate planning, by the dirt, neglect and cruelty that are imposed upon him. Ruth and Jane, ages five and seven respectively, have never realized the sense of security. Since the death of their mother, they have knocked about among unfriendly, un-friendly, unkind r elatives and strangers. It is true they have food to eat and clothes to cover their young bodies. But these sub. dued "lost" little girls have never known a living soul who wanted them. They have never had the ex perince of real affection. They have never experienced the joy of being tucked into bed at night. They look out upon the adult world with fearing hearts and insecure minds. Do you have a home for two lost little girls Tommy is only seven but he has already known the experience of severe neglect and cuelty. Many times his "SKinny mi-ie body hag had the marks of whippings. whip-pings. There are fears and distrust in Tommy's eyes. It will require time and affection to coax Tommy Tom-my to smile and trust you. ' Have you a home for Tommy? f Have you a home and love to; offer such a distitute lost little boy or girl? There are real satisfactions, satis-factions, not measured by money, that will come to you in taking such a child. The foster home plan of opening your home and hearts to some lost "lost" child, either temporarily or for a longer time, make it possible for more 1 children child-ren to find security and happiness of family life, and for more parents par-ents to realize the incomparable satisfaction of having a child in the home. The time has passed when any kind of home is good enough for a child, and when any person who is willing to have a child is immediately im-mediately given a placement regardless re-gardless of the motive, the home, the community status. Children are too precious and too important to be lightly disposed of. If your home can meet the requirements of the Child Welfare Division of , Ithe Salt Lake County Department of Public Welfare in regards to security, interest, and a whole, some family life, will you get in touch with the agency at 4-1961 and let them give further particulars. parti-culars. Let me at this point venture a plea for the freckled-faced little boy. Too frequently the curly-haired curly-haired girl gets the first call. Then, too, almost anyone can love a little child, but what about the "teen" age youngster? They need wise, friendly adults to guide their emotions and their social activities so that delinquent acts can be avoided. Also in asking for some ''dear little child" remember that children are dear and delightful delight-ful in proportion to the amount of j love expended upon them. A child who has been cruelly treated may be sullen or resentful of all you do for him. The devotion of a child cannot be bought with lavish presr entg or lax discipline. A child will begin to love you when he commences com-mences to sense security and the warmth of your affection. If you can offer a "lost" child a home, you will be doing a great service, but foster care must not be for the purpose of satisfying your own desire to possess a child, or realize a dream of what you would like a child of your own to be. Idealizing will bring disapoint-ments disapoint-ments to you and to the child. Perhaps this normal little boy placed in your home with dirty hands and ears fails to act like a dream child. The Janes. Ruths, Tommys, and other such children are asking only on-ly for a few of the simple but important im-portant things of life. They want you in the home when school is out and they have many things to talk about. They require peace in place of chaos, screams and fights. They need the enjoyment of wholesome companship in a family group the fun of being together. They ask for physical care, security, and real affection-al affection-al warmth. Simple things yet they will salvage unhappy lost children. HAVE YOU A HOME? |