Has it ever occurred to anyone that there are many children in rehabilitation centers that should never have been there in the first place? Picture this; A youngster is dyslexic, he battles to get through school because initially no one realizes his problem and scolds him for being stupid, lazy, without ambition and many other unpleasant things. This leaves permanent scars that no one is aware of at the time. Picture his later years; He becomes moody, rude, disrespectful and anti-social. He loses friends, respect and trust and this sends him more and more into his own shell.
You find him sleeping whenever he gets the chance, and often with his face turned towards the wall. Because of his despair he’s trying to shut the real world out and to numb his own senses. Those are all warning signals. Next, one finds him mingling with the ‘wrong’ crowd. Why? Because often they have the same or similar problems and we all know that birds of a feather flock together. There, at least, he finds acceptance and no one is ‘on his case’. He starts taking hurtful substance with them, gets caught out and next moment he’s branded a drug addict. He’s sent to a rehabilitation center. He comes out and soon he’s back with his old crowd again. He’s so different from the friendly little boy he once was that his own family can hardly recognize him. In and out of centers a number of times and everyone despairs.
He can’t find work, becomes suicidal and only then real alarm bells start to ring. But is he really a drug addict? Very often not. So what’s up? He finds sanctuary in those places of care and correction. He feels safe there. He does not have to face life while he’s there. In fact, he’s not an addict at all. Everyone simply missed the signals. What he needed was understanding. What he craved for was acceptance. What he would trade everything he owns for is to be loved – by at least someone. Could you perhaps be that ‘someone’ that he needs so desperately? Of course you can!
