Why I Left School

One day I came home from school for dinner. I found my baby brother alone and crying for something to eat. At the time the only thing in the house to eat was bread and tea. I didn't know where my mother was. That day I made up my mind to quit school, stay home and do the best I could for the rest of my bothers and sisters.

I loved going to school just to get away from the drinking and the fighting. But I could not learn because of what was going on at home. I was too worried about my brother as there was hardly any food to eat, or wood to keep us warm. My step-father worked but he drank all the money.

I took on the responsibility of going to the Salvation Army and the Presentation Convent for food and clothes. I also got Christmas toys from the Salvation Army. One day a Salvation Army Officer came to the house and tried to talk to my mother and step-father about the conditions under which we were living. Getting no satisfaction from them, they were reported to Social Services.

The social workers didn't help. They wanted to split up our whole family. They told my mother and step-father that if the house didn't get fixed and we didn't get proper food and clothing, we would have to go to a foster home. This caused a big racket at home. I got blamed for it because I had been the one who was always going places to look for food and clothes.

- Ann K. Green

From Coming Out of My Shell by Ann K. Green. Educational Planning and Design. Used by permission.