By Katherine Kalinowski
I often ask myself which is more challenging — swimming the choppy waters of adolescence toward adulthood or parenting said adolescent. As the parent of a clever, creative and sometimes exasperating teenager, I’m constantly challenged to keep calm and parent on. I do my best to remember the drama of my own youth and now recognize the profound influence that my parents and other grown-ups had in guiding me toward adulthood.
I am acutely aware that my teenager is making this journey equipped with good health, a home and a solid community of support while there are hundreds of youth in Hamilton who are not so privileged. They are unquestionably as talented and brimming with potential as my child and they possess a repertoire of survival skills enabling them to scratch out a life on the margins of our community while coping with homelessness, poverty, family breakdown and mental illness.
Article and image source: The Hamilton Spectator
