The Children Who Wait by Marsha Traugot
MAIN SUMMARY
The Children Who Wait by Marsha Traugot
This essay, "The Children Who Wait," has been written by an American writer, Marsha Traugot. This essay describes the condition of children in the United States who do not have parents. The writer describes parentless children, their adoption scene in the past, as well as the reasons behind the new trend in adoption in the present.
The past situation in the case of child adoption:
In the case of child adoption, in the past, people adopted only white, healthy children. No one wanted to look after handicapped children or children who had emotional problems. Until 1960, society was very strict about the concept of adoption. During that time, white, healthy children were considered adoptable. Physically deformed children’s were considered damaged goods. No one was ready to adopt such children. The children who were black, mixed-race, handicapped, and over five years old were not adopted by families.
Child adoption after 1960 (a new trend):
After the 1960s, people’s attitudes towards children’s adoption gradually became positive. The change in thought was brought about by various factors. Traugot has mentioned the black civil rights movement, legalisation of abortion, a change in the attitude of the people, and a change in the government’s policy as responsible factors. The black civil rights movement brought a sympathetic attitude towards black people. White people started viewing them as humans and treated them accordingly. Another responsible factor was the women’s movement. Because of the women’s movement, they got the right to decide all matters relating to childbirth in addition to other rights. The lady who had to do an abortion to maintain her status before movement could live with dignity with her child later on. It has an impact on the reduction of unwanted children. The third factor responsible for the change in attitude was the government’s policy towards adoption. The government used to emphasise foster care in the past. The government made changes to its policy. Rather than emphasising foster care, they tried to find a permanent home for the homeless children. With the help of the media too, the government started a campaign, especially for homeless children. They advertised homeless children on television and in newspapers and tried to find better parents as well as a home for orphan children. Those children who were labelled unadoptable in the past are now widely acceptable for adaptation. The writer has given the example of Tammy, a black child of five and a half years old who is suffering from fatal alcohol syndrome and has been legally freed for adoption.
In America, experts were worried about the children’s future if they stayed in the orphanage for a long time. According to them, after spending a long time in an orphanage, children might turn into criminals or become mad. So the government started doing its best to find suitable parents for orphans.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The Children Who Wait by Marsha Traugot
(Important) How were the handicapped, black and weak children viewed in the past?
Answer:
The handicapped, black, and weak children were viewed in a biassed manner in the chool. They were really in very bad condition in the orphanages. People didn’t have any liking for such children. They didn’t want to adopt children who were physically unfit, weak, or black. Such children were supposed to be the damaged goods. The people who wanted to adopt the kids from orphanages only took an interest in healthy white kids. The handicapped, black, and weak children were not even looked at once by the people. So the condition of such children was so miserable in the past.
Whom does Marsha Traugot refer to as the children who wait?
Answer:
Marsha Traugot refers to the children of America who do not have parents and who are living under the care of orphanages. She raises the issue of orphans as well as orphanages. She explains the condition of orphans, their adoption in the past, and a new trend that occurs in the course of adoption. These children are homeless and parentless, and their eyes are always on someone.
Why was it difficult for the handicapped and the black children to find the foster family?
Answer:
It was difficult for the handicapped and black children to find a foster family because of the narrow concept of people in the past. People who needed children used to select only healthy and white children. Nobody wanted to adopt black or handicapped children. People did not have any emotional touch towards handicapped and black children. People thought only of white and healthy children. Such acts of people brought various problems to adopting black children as well as unhealthy children in the past.
According to Traugot, what changes are transforming the American adoption scene? What are the responsible factors for the change?
Answer:
According to Traugot, the following are the changes that are transforming the American adoption scene:
There is no bias in adopting the child. Foster parents do not have any problem selecting a child, whether black or white. E.g., Tammy, a black child, gets his foster parent.
The government and social workers try their best to find good parents for the orphans.
Children get fine facilities, even in foster care.
The factors that are responsible for the changes are as follows:
Development in social and conceptual sectors.
Legalisation of abortion.
Civil rights movement.
Changing attitudes towards sex and behaviour.
Study of anthropology.
Why were children like Tammy not adapted in the past? (The Children Who Wait)
Why are the children like Tammy waiting for adoption?
Answer:
In the past, the society of America was so rigid. Most of the people were uneducated and narrow-minded. They showed their biassed behaviour in the matter of adopting a child. They didn’t have any liking for those kids who were black in their skin colour. Handicapped kids were supposed to be damaged goods. For them, people didn’t have any emotional concerns. Only healthy whites’ kids were supposed to be adoptable. The case of Tammy was somewhat the same. She was black in her skin colour. She suffered from fatal alcoholic syndrome. She was such a fragile child. Therefore, she was stamped as unadoptable in the past.
What kinds of parents were considered suitable for adopting children? What kinds of children were considered ‘Unadoptable’?
Answer:
Those parents who did not have any bias in selecting the child, who were educated, had the ability to handle the child nicely, etc. were considered suitable parents for adopting children. Those children who were black, unhealthy, and more than five years of age were considered unadoptable.
How did the paper media help in the adaption process? (The Children Who Wait)
Answer:
In this essay, the writer has stated the role of paper media in the adoption process. According to the child specialists, those kids who spent more years in the orphanages are likely to turn to criminal activities as well as mental illness. So, the kids must not be kept in the orphanages for a long time. Thus, the government of the USA took the help of paper media. Paper media kept on doing its best in the task of advertising the orphans of one region to other regions. This process helped those kids who were staying for a long time in the orphanages. Due to the paper media, people got the right information about the kids, and the kids got their foster parents easily. Paper media made people feel it was easy to get information about orphans and adopt them.
How do adoption agencies find potential parents?
Answer:
Following are the ways in which adoption agencies find potential parents:
By giving a newspaper article or advertisement on television about an orphan.
By mobilising social workers.
By giving details about the child in regional exchange offices.
By starting various awareness programmes for people about orphans.
What had happened to the handicapped children in the past?
Answer:
In the past, people were so narrow-minded. They were not interested in adopting those children who were handicapped. Lots of handicapped children were so poor. They did not get foster parents for their future. They were supposed to be damaged goods. No one wanted to adopt such children.
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