Imagine if a homeless kid comes up to you and asks for some money. I would hope you would give them a few dollars or offer to take them to a shelter. If you saw a kid crying and no one else was around, I would hope you would have the heart to ask if they are okay. Imagine teenagers in those same scenarios. How would you react? Would you react in a negative way? Now imagine the teenager has a home and access to food, but she can't eat due to a facial condition. Would you still ask if that person was okay or not? Whatever your answer may be to those questions, I hope that you look inside yourself and see what you can do.
Someone can provide help in a number of different ways. People are creative in their ways of helping and those who seek help are creative to find ways to get help. I have a student (Amy Sauls) that I assisted in teaching for a number of years. She is going through a problem where it is next to impossible for her to eat solid food due to the pain in her jaw and the 20% narrowing of her throat. Her mom hosts garage sales to help with the bill for surgery that would cost them almost $40,000 without the help of insurance. I know my family has given her items of value that would be able to help her, but they still have a journey to go through financially. Her mom takes donations and continues to clean her house out to have continuous garage sales. More on her story is on her GoFundMe page.
If a teenager is lashing out, would you stop and ask them why they are lashing out? Do you know it could be a problem at home? Maybe they lost a sibling or someone that they were close to. Can you imagine the pain of waiting for relief that may or maybe not come? A simple act of talking to someone of any age is something that could be powerful in their life. The power of helping someone rather than ignoring them is something to behold. Do you know a lot of troubled people were the ones being ignored? Did you know that troubled people went through the healing periods because they had someone they could trust? Yes, there are people who refuse help, but the simple act of being there can have more power then you could imagine.
I hope everyone will take time and consider what could be done for people. Especially teenagers, teenagers don't get the most love more than half the time. It is truly sad that people don't look at teenagers who need help. Yes, there is a stereotype surrounding teenagers that they will refuse help because of their raging hormones. Teenagers like Amy are the people who need help. Imagine not being able to eat steak or chips because chewing hurts too much. Imagine not being able to handle being around those who you love and not participate in hobbies that you originally loved.
