In this story, I shall call the little angel Twinkle. Twinkle was everything the above poem says about her. She was a happy, compassionate little girl who had a lot of love to give to everyone,
especially animals. It was almost as though Twinkle could "talk to the animals", as the song goes. Twinkle comes from a very loving and supportive family who has always been very active in their children's lives. Twinkle has two older brothers who are very good students, and excel in sports, especially baseball. Twinkle was also involved in school sports and activities, and was the first girl in her school district to be drafted onto the "all-boy" All-Star baseball team.
But, at the age of 11 years, and for about 4 years, Twinkle began to change, and life
for this family also dramatically changed. As is usually the case, these changes came about so slowly that they were almost
unnoticeable. In those 4 years, this what happened:
Twinkle lived on the streets more than she lived at home. She was reported as a run-a-way
every time she left home, but since it is not against the law to run away from home, her parents lived in anguish
every day until she returned, for short periods of time.
She had been picked up and taken to hospital emergencies for alcohol and drug overdoses and apparent suicide attempts several times. During these emergencies they
had never done drug tests since the state in which Twinkle live says that anyone 13 years old and above has to consent to a drug test. Since she never
consented, the drug tests were not performed.
Twinkle had spent two 5-day terms in a children's psych ward, and was diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), a diagnosis doctors seem to give when they don't know what else to say. She
had seen numerous counselors whose opinions ranged from her "needing to be admitted to a long-term in-patient residential program" to "she is just having a few struggles with life."
Whenever Twinkle got upset with her family for imposing rules, she would go to Social Services saying she was being physically abused. After lengthy investigations Social Service finally concluded the reports were all false and referred her to the "troubled children" section of their department. Twinkle was assigned a state case worker who was impossible to reach and would not return calls from the family, the school counselor, or the school nurse.
At this point in time, Twinkle was now stealing from her family on a daily basis, threatening to kill everyone in her family, and
she eventually attacked her own brothers with a knife
and a threat to kill herself. Police were called; Twinkle was handcuffed and taken to the emergency room for a suicide watch.
She was eventually released and sent home.
By now, police officers knew Twinkle by name, where she lived, who her drug dealers
were, and the anger and rage she exhibited whenever they were called. But in spite of all this, Twinkle
did not have enough "points" to be arrested or charged with anything.
Because of continued truancy, her parents were threatened with large fines if she
didn't attend school. She had been ordered by the diversion courts to attend drug and alcohol counseling, which she did attend and
was eventually released, but without follow-up.
When it was apparent no cooperative help would be received from the state in which they lived, Twinkle's parents began to look for and contacted out-of-state facilities to see if help was available. They were told it would cost approximately $10,000 per month for a private in-patient residence in a lock-down facility, AND considering the state in which Twinkle lived, (a 13-year old state), they would need Twinkle's written permission for admission.
When the school shooting in Springfield, Oregon occurred, Twinkle's family finally
succeeded
in making an appointment with Twinkle's case worker. They told the case worker (a very burned-out individual) that Twinkle was very capable of being the next "troubled and confused" student to make the
headlines. But, the case worker said there was nothing she could do since there was not enough money or man-power to help everyone. She did offer to put Twinkle on the waiting list for a state residential facility, but
Twinkle's parents never heard from the case worker again.
The case worker was also told of the threats Twinkle made to her brothers (also
minors at the time), and it was suggested they report it to Social Services who would then remove the boys from the
home!
The family lived in a home with locked bedroom doors in fear of what she may do to them during the night. They
kept their money and personal possessions under lock and key to prevent them from being stolen. They
were afraid to answer the phone at night in fear of what she may have done, or
in fear of what may have happened to her. When she walked into the home at night they don't know if she
would go into a drug induced rage and pull a knife on someone or just go to bed to sleep it off. She was
picked up for MIP (Minor in
Possession), but released because she still did not have enough "points" to be kept in juvenile hall.
The family had family counseling and parental counseling. They maxed out their health insurance, spent a considerable amount of money in court costs (diversion court which apparently does not give "points"), and exhausted all resources for help.
As a result, Twinkle was allowed to come and go as she pleased since discipline and rules prompted her to either run to the streets
and might disappear for days and weeks, or it could have created enraged scenes in the home which
were dangerous and unhealthy for the other members of the family.
So where could they have gone for help? It seemed as though our country and governments need to get more involved in helping
families solve some of the problems they are experiencing with their children. We have federal and state agencies spending money on all kinds of causes and concerns, but what concern can be more important than that of our children
of today will be the adults of tomorrow?
The President called for more gun control; the two boys at the Columbine
shooting made bombs that could have done much more damage than the guns they used. The President
also called for more parental control and responsibility, and the parents of the two boys
involved in the Columbine shooting almost had charges pressed against them because of what their boys did.
But, what if these parents had experienced the same thing Twinkle's parents experienced?
And wasn't it true that the probation officers of the two Columbine boys had released them as "good"
boys prior to the shooting? Today's music? . . . Twinkle's favorite singer is Tim McGraw singing "Don't Take The Girl." Video games? Movies? The Internet? Isn't it much, much more than that?
I don't know why Twinkle was the way she was, nor do I know where her anger
and rage was coming from, and I certainly do not know who or what was to blame
for the way she was. What I do know though, is that Twinkle was a very sick
little girl who needed more help than her parents could provide; help before she
hurt herself or killed someone else, and I also know this kind of help was not
available. So where do the answers lie? . . . and where can families go
for help for all the little angels who have, for some reason, have forgotten
their purpose in life?
