Educational Media Reviews Online

Between Hollywood and the 6 o’clock news, we tend to hear a lot of negative stories about foster care. Families were torn apart, children in foster care were abused, the kids grow up as psychotic monsters, blah, blah, blah. But the reason that foster care still exists is because it is a good thing, and it works.

This documentary is about that message. It tells the stories of two women who each spent part of their childhoods in foster care. There are frank discussions about their birth families and their feelings when they first went into foster care. The main point is to demonstrate the positive impact that foster care had on their lives.

It also addresses the stigma of foster care. According to standard American cultural myths, a person should stand by their family come thick or thin. Children who go into foster care are often burdened by guilt for not staying at home or for admitting that home wasn’t perfect. The main message here is “You don’t have to feel guilty for wanting to save yourself.”

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