ISSUE
UPPER INTERMEDIATE
LOOKING FOR A FAMILY
Living in a children's home, or a real home?
According to statistici, 50% of young children or babies arein care (inly b f i ai:Wůl -5uCJ.il rra«ioni, like tli-hts of tiotrsirí3»íitfTN
Children who don't have parents to look after them are placed fnto Institutional care/ also known as orphanages or children's care homes. The Czech Republic has been criticized by the United Nations for its large number of children living in this type of care.
The Czech parliament has just passed an amendment (= added changes) to the law to deal with this issue. The following story is an example of how lire might have been different fora boy called Tom if there had been alternative (- other) options1 for him when his parents found themselves'in crisis.
Little Tom's story
Both of Tom's parents grew up in children's care homes, so they
did not have much experience of family life and how to bring up3 a child, They loved him a lot, hut it was difficult. When Tom was three months old, his mum left him, and his dad struggled on his own3 for another three months, trying to take care of his son.
He turned to a social worker for help and he was advised to put his child into a children's care home. He wasn't offered any other alternatives. So from
the age of six months Tom ended up in a kojenecký ústav institution where there was only one nurse for every nine children to look after.
Tom lived there for two and a half years and during this period his father visited him regularly as he was very fond of hi? child C — liked him a lot).
One day a man and woman came to "look at" Tom when he had a high fever. Sometime later he was told by the staff O employees) that he was going on a trip. The man and woman returned and he had to get dressed in clothes they had brought. In fact, it wasn't a trip - he was being transferred (= moved) to a foster family4!
Tom with foster parents
Tom is a regular kid. He enjoys cycling, climbing trees* and all the other things that children like doing. However, every day his foster parents deal with the problems he has because of alackof (= not enough) early personal care and love. "When he came to live with us, he used to hit the pillows at night, because he was wet5. Even as a three-year-old he did not respond to his own name. He didnTtknowhowto cuddle6 with us," say his foster parents.
Living in a family
When you are a foster parent, you provide a safe home within your family for a child who for some
reason cannot live with their birth parents (= biological patents). You do it until it's either safe for the child to go back home or a relative can take them, or until they are adopted into another family. Children might live in a foster home anywhere between a few days and several years -Sometimes until adulthood. Foster parents are given foster care benefits7 forthis.
VOCABULARY
option ['Dpi(a)nl - možnosr 1 to bring up-vychovat 1 struggled on his own - usilovné se
snaiil, pokoušel se sám * roster family ('fosta) -pěstounská
rodina, péstouni s was wet- byl mokrý, pecuniae
On the other hand, when you adopt a child> you have all the parental rights8 and you are legally responsible as if it was your own child.
A bit of history
Before communism> it was much more common to foster children. This changed in the 1950s, when foster care was banned' and children were pu t into
There are still over 5,000 children today in children's care homes.
big "collective" institutions. One of the first psychologists that criticised this was Zden£k Matejeek in the 1960s. Very young children especially need one on one* care in a family setting {= environment).
Even though now fostering is legal, there are still over 5,000 children today in children's care homes. That's the same number of children in care as when the institutions were createdn
Changing the law to help kids
The amendment to the Child Social Protection Act10 will change the current law to ensure that children have to stay in their families. (If a crisis occurs, social workers should help.) If it is not possible, a foster family environment should be offered. And only if none of these are available, then a child can be put into an institution.
It will also make sure that any child under three years old stays
with a foster family and not in a children's care home.
Fostering will be regarded as a regular (- normal) job. Foster parents will be paid and so it is expected that they prepare for it as a profession. They will have to work with accredited [— government checked) organizations to get advice from psychologists, etc. Foster parent Karel Švejda agrees that in this way they will not be left alone to deal with problems that kids might have.
The director of the Karlovy Vary children's home, Petr Zmuda, actually welcomes a change in the law. He says that despite the excellent work in his care home, it can never replace the emotional support that children need: day to day" contact between parents and siblings (= brothers and sisters). He also says it is an unnatural environment to bring up children in.
Respect for biological parents
One of the more demanding aspects of fostering, unlike adoption, is the relationship with biological parents. Tom's foster parents recall [= remember) quite a funny moment when they overheard Tom talking to their kids. The kids were all playing together and Tom said: ílMydůd is stronger than our dad!" Tom didn't say your dad. He naturally thinks that he has two fathers.
A different scenario for Tom
If someone had visited Tom's father in his home and given him practical advice and support, there is a strong chance Tom would not have ended up in a care home. Another option may have also been foster care in a family environment in his early years. Hopefully these changes in the Czech law regarding
5 to cuddle ['kAdfa))] - obejmout, priUllit
se, mazlit se 7 foster tare benefits - výživné
* rlght^ právo
* to ban [brcn) - zakázat
10 Child Social Protection Act
['spti|[.i)l pra'tríťjteju řclcl] - zákon o sociálne-privní ochrany "détí
AMALTHEA
An organization that helps foster families and adoptive families with bringing up children, (t atso tries to find possible foster parents. You can support them by donating money 107-352280257/0100. www amoftheo,pardubu:& e?
DISCUSS
What ate day-to-day situations that children experience at home which children in institutions cannot?
SAMPLE ANSWERS
In a family setting, children con experience what it's tike to hove family arguments and then how to saive them, how to share things and how to follow rules in the family. They may hove to wash windows, mow the lawn and generally be part ofo team helping out with extra chores. They also learn how to shore life with an extended family (aunts, grandfathers, etc.)
childcare will provide a better life for children like Tom in the future,
Hana Pomaihacavi (CR) Jo MoDoy (UK)
" day to day- každodenní
GLOSSARY*
one on one - a situation oc relationship which involves only two people; the child gets much more direct attention in this scenario
LANGUAGE POINT»
tare home, children's home - In the UK babies don't go to children's homes, they are fostered There are usually only older children in care homes.so there isn't •a special word for kojeneckyustov.
2012 I rwemiw I BRIDGE
SftDGE I tetrtlMi" I Í01Í
G Use of English 2
ewrite these sentences using the word in bold.
I didn't find his |okes at all amusing, by
I was_his tokcs.
He regrets resigning, because he can't find a )oh. wishes
He__.___because he can't find a job.
Could 1 borrow your bike this afternoon? lend
Could___this afternoon?
i I hate the way you treat my mother, wish
]____my mother like that.
i I wasn't frightened by the film, but my sister was terrified, find
1 didn't___, but my sister was
terrified.
5 It's such a pity I lost her phone number, only
If___her phone number.
H Vocabulary 2
Find the missing adjectives or prepositions and write them in the squares. Look for words like responsible for and proud of. The number in brackets at the end of each clue tells you how long the word is.
ACROSS
1 I'm not surprised that he forgot your birthday. It's absolutely typical__him. (2)
3   The gunman should not be approached. He is
highly dangerous and is__of doing almost
anything - including shooting. (7|
7 You behaved very badly at the party. Even I was quite shocked___some of the things you said. [21
8 Jan passed all her exams with good grades, so she was very__with her results. (7)
9 I think I'm going to try and get a new |ob. I'm fed _with the way my boss shouts at me. |2)
10 Jane's terribly__about what has happened to
her cat. It hasn't been home for three days. (7)
11 I've always needed a calculator, because I'm not exactly brilliant____maths. |2)
13  She suffers from claustrophobia - that means she's_of enclosed spaces. (6)
16 You really needn't have bought me a present, but it's very_of you all the same. (4)
17 I was always terrible___tennis because I've got
such bad eyesight. |2)
18 I find languages very difficult to learn, but I'm quite_at science. |4)
20 The opposite of yes. 121
22 I feel very__for George. He has had such an
unhappy life. |5)
23 My teacher was very pleased__me because I
got all the answers right. |4)
DOWN
2 You'll have to type this letter again, I'm afraid. It's __spelling mistakes. (4,2)
3 How did you manage to do such a difficult sum so quickly? It was very__of you. (6)
4 Why was he shouting at you? What was he so angry_? |5|
5 She's crying because she's upset____some of
the things you said. (2|
6 The children are really__about their holiday
in Disneyland next week. |7)
12 She's very fond_her nephew. (2|
13 She's very quick__running. |2|
14 You shouldn't have started eating before they sat down. It was very_____you. (4,2)
15 I've never been interested__politics. |2|
16 She's very___on gardening. In fact, she spends
most of her free time doing it. (41
17 The contract is fine, on the whole, but there are one or two things I'm not happy__. |5)
19 I've interviewed a few people but so far there's been no one I've been very impressed__|2)
21 I like tennis a lot, but I'm not all that keen___
squash. (2)
UNIT 6   • 33