a threat to their livelihood, a threat to their children that they feel is almost unavoidable.
YOUR WORST FEAR
And as I lied awake last night thinking about it, the only close analogy I can come up with to explain what that fear is like, is to imagine your worst fear for your child.
Imagine your child being offered drugs, heroin even, every single day. And this would happen every single day before school, during school, and after school. And even though you live in a safe neighborhood, this dealer is there no matter where your child goes. A constant threat to your child. You tell your child that it’s bad for them, that they could get arrested, or even killed. You do your best to prepare them but because you’re not with them 24/7 you can’t guarantee their safety.
I know that’s a crazy thought and highly unlikely, but if you can imagine the thought of your child facing that threat every single day, before school, during school, after school; that constant threat would feel like a living nightmare. Imagine the worry that you would have. Imagine the stress you would feel.
And if you could imagine that situation, imagine how it would consume you. Isn’t that kind of threat a fear that would play in the back of your mind throughout the day? Is that a threat that would worry you while you’re at work? Imagine how that kind of fear affects your child’s ability to focus while at school. Imagine that fear playing in the back of your mind while you try to focus on your job. Would it seem as though it was only a matter of time before there was an incident? With that constant negative pressure would it feel as though it wasn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when? With that burden weighing on you so heavily could you see how that would affect performances and grades at school? Could you understand
