Criminals in waiting
I know that people think kids in care are criminals in waiting. And I
know that because my dad went to jail people expect the same to
happen to me. You know the kind of thing: “oh, it runs in the family…
his dad was no good, so he’s bound to turn out the same.”
To be honest, it’s something that I’ve worried about myself. Whenever you hear people talking about taking after their mum or their dad,
I think to myself well if I’m like my mum I am going to have problems
with my head and if I’m like my dad I’m going to have problems with
the police.
But because of my fantastic carers, I don’t think either of those things
are true. They made me study really hard and made me appreciate
how important school would be. The result is that I left school with
all my GCSEs. I decided not to do A-levels, but started an apprenticeship with a builder and decorator. My plan is to set up my own business and I’m getting lots of help with this.
Moving on
I suppose I just want other kids in care to read this and understand
that whatever has happened in the past, and whatever your parents
are like, you’re not automatically going to follow in their footsteps.
Care might mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but it gave me a
chance to put some really difficult things behind me and move on in
my life. My dad is the criminal, not me.
16