As a kid growing up in the 00s, Tracy Beaker was an inevitable aspect of my TV time. I loved it. Maybe because Tracy had curly hair like me and the actress was called Danni, also like me. I also had a huge sense of empathy for these kids, who were incredibly relatable, but didn’t have a home. Although I am sure much of the harsh realities of foster care were glossed over for the young audience, the show seemed to nicely balance both the hardships and happy moments of a children’s home. Life seemed tough for kids without parents, something many of us take for granted, and the foster system in itself seemed to fail those deemed less desirable. But at the same time friendships were formed and memories made that seemed especially special for children that had very little.
Don’t ask me how I found this, I don’t really know, maybe out of sheer curiosity. I think I just wanted to find out more about the reality of my favourite childhood TV show and how far the system had progressed in the ten years since Tracy Beaker filled my screen. But after a bit of googling I found some sites, albeit based in the US, which gave me an insight into it. These sites were full of hundreds of profiles of children that needed to be fostered and it was totally baffling to me; it was like these kids were on sale. All of them contain a charming, smiling photo and a small biography of their best traits. However, the weirdest thing for me was definitely the profiles which contained videos. They often showed the child playing, perusing their hobbies whilst talking about their finest selling points; an interest in music or drawing or politics or maths or more. There were often large groups of siblings trying not to be broken up also fighting for their case. It made me so sad that their lives had boiled down to this.
I luckily have never had to experience these hardships and I am in little position to judge these profiles. Maybe to them this is a really good thing, getting their names out into the world to prospective foster parents that will relieve them from the system. It might also be useful for the prospective parents in helping them find foster children suitable for them. However surely it creates a hierarchy, the children with more impressive traits and better photos must stand a better chance of being adopted? I don’t know; I am simply speculating based off what I saw on Tracy Beaker. This kind of came through on these sites which were filled to the brim with teenagers needing an adult figure to help them through this pivotal time of their lives. These are all just inevitabilities of the system that the sites seem to make much more bluntly clear.
However there is something I don’t like about these kids having to put themselves out there. For the extroverts motivated in gaining a foster home, it may come more easily. But for shy children with maybe a tough upbringing or medical issues, the existence of this profile may be hard for them. Personally, I was a very self conscious child and teenager and the thought of having such a profile would have truly daunting, and I definitely did not have the struggles that these children have had. And maybe these profiles could be a subject of bullying amongst foster homes, or some could see the success of some profiles whilst theirs receive little interest causing self esteem issues.
I think a possible solution is that these profiles shouldn’t be so public. I’m sure ten year old Casey who loves wrestling and football doesn’t want me, a 20 year old nosey student from the UK prying on his profile. There are also much worse characters than me out there that have access to this. The sites should be password protected, and prospective parents given login details when looking into fostering. There should also be more emphasis on visiting the homes and meeting the children in person. Maybe only then can the login information be obtained. It is not perfect but at least it would stop the strangeness of this whole thing. Or it could just be me weirded out about this, I don’t know, these are just my thoughts. I would be interested to know others’ points of view.
If interested, most of this post is based off the site http://www.adoptuskids.org/
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