Streetwise

I think Streetwise is a great video to see and understand the facts on street life. One of the concerns continuously showing throughout the movie was the kids family life. Every child on the street had some issue at home with their mom or dad or both. They were all very young, as young as 14 and have been using drugs and having unprotected sex. This one boy looked as though he was 10 and already knew how to get by on the streets and do it well. Some of the issues that the kids went through were their parents getting a divorce, their mothers boyfriend being abusive, their mother being an alcoholic, some were molested, and one had a mother that would cry to him and he could not deal with it. One of the boys father said that if he ever got caught with drugs for him to never come home and so he didn't. At 14 you really no nothing; not even discipline. And learning about safe sex does not even exist at that age. The documentary really emphasizes I think on how parenting your child determines how they are going to turn out. Maybe I am wrong and do not know until I have children but when there is a serious issue at home like fighting in front of your kid or molesting a child, kids act out in negative ways because they do not know how to cope with bad things happening to them. Some of them thin its their fault and are ashamed of themselves.

There was a girl that was constantly be screwed over by men that now she is a lesbian. Another girl said that her mother never loved her and she was adopted so no one really loves her. Thats why she became a prostitute. She wanted to make lots of money quick but also had men wanting her and made her feel special. Every story in this movie points out a major issue happening in ones life. As we all know when we become teenagers we start getting hormones and start acting out it different ways for attention. Some people do it in good ways and some do it like the people in this movie. I had a sister that acted out in the same way as the people in Streetwise but it was because we never had our father in our life and it really effected her in a way so she started using drugs, staying out late, drinking and doing other things that did not make my mother happy. But it was because she felt alone and needed the nurturing from someone but she felt as though she could only get that with her party friends because my mother was always working to make ends meet. These issues in the movie are the reality of many peoples lives and are very common. You almost have to keep both eyes on someone you know that is having issues like the people in the movie because they can act out in that way but if you see it coming, you can stop it.