Writing assignments

This I Believe Essay

When asked as a young child why I wanted to be a teacher, I enthusiastically responded being a teacher would allow me to go to school forever. As an adult, my reasons for wanting to be a teacher are dramatically different. I feel if I can keep one student from experiencing the childhood I had, then everything I have experienced was worth it. Let me tell you some of my story.

Just before the start of my sixth-grade year, my mother was forced to flee an abusive relationship, taking her three children with her. We were all excited and scared to start a new life, but I think I was the only one of the three children who realized we were now homeless. We lived in a KOA campground just north of town when I started school. The first year was a struggle, but my mother loved and supported her children as much as possible. Then my mother found her only true love in life, alcohol. She spent less and less time with her children and more and more time in bars, leaving me to raise my younger siblings. My brother was 10; my sister was 7. I did everything I could to make sure they were loved and cared for, but I was only 12 years old. When my mother found out I was failing all my middle school classes, she realized I could not raise my siblings on my own. Instead of spending more time at home, my mother chose to send my siblings to live with their father, which left me alone to fend for myself.

Life was easier without the strain of taking care of my siblings, but my mother was around even less than she was before. I was the only 13-year-old who had her own apartment; which my mother stopped by once a week to drop off food, cigarettes, and alcohol. I was failing in school, depressed, and spent more time alone than any child ever should. It never occurred to me that other people were witness to my pain. My teachers noted I was wearing dirty clothes and did not have the supplies I needed. They noticed my mother never showed up for anything. After repeatedly failing to get in touch with my mother, school administration added the phone number of her favorite bar to my file, knowing it was the only way to reach her. However, nobody did anything to help me and things only continued to get worse.

I believe all children deserve to be raised in an environment which is supportive and loving. I further believe when a child is raised in an abusive environment, it is the responsibility of the child’s teachers, extended family members, and other adults in the child’s life to do something about it. Mandated reporting is a vital tool created to help children. As teachers, it is our responsibility to use this tool to help better the lives of our students. When we see our students are abused or neglected, we have the power to say something. My teachers could have prevented some of the pain and trauma I experienced by reporting it. Would you speak up to save the life of a student?