What It’s Like Being A Foster Kid At EHS

Where do I belong? Who do I belong to?

These thoughts are common to many foster children. While school can be challenging for many students, it’s especially hard for foster children. They are faced with many challenges and questions that their peers won’t ever have to face.

The Antelope Valley Union High School District currently has over 250 foster students in its district. Fifty-five of those students attend Eastside.

“Coming to school sometimes is the last thing on my mind,” says one anonymous Eastside student. “As a foster kid, I have way more issues to worry about and no one gets that.”

Many adults don’t understand because their children are not foster children. And they don’t always handle it properly when a foster student cries or lashes out. Saying the wrong thing in these circumstances can really bring someone down, especially if the teacher is not aware of what the student’s going through.

“Have you ever wondered what it was like to have to ask permission every time you want to get something from the refrigerator? Or sleep in a bed that isn’t yours and can be taken away from you at any moment?” the student asks.

“These children can have up to fifteen different homes,” continues the student. “This can start from the day they are born. I have lived in seven different homes in the past six months.”

Truancy officer Rosie Paez knows how important it is for foster students to find caring adults here at school.

“So many [foster] children have been broken,” she says. “A lot have failed and still get shunned when they lash out. Still, we also have those that have gone to college, have careers, made lives of their own. So there’s no excuse besides us as adults who have torn them down after they’re at their lowest.’’