Read on Twitter
Thread on LE of poverty as a kid. My parents were both addicted to heroin. I’ve lived in B&Bs, slept on cold floors, eaten from bins... stole food, stole clothes, been coerced into committing crimes
Bullied at school, excluded from school, had illnesses dismissed by doctors and never had any trauma experiences addresses. I had free school meals. Wore third hand uniforms. Had professionals dismiss child safe guarding concerns for 16yrs
I lived to survive, in a world that everyone knew about but did nothing to help three kids in direct harm. Please and thank you weren’t words I used often, cause begging and crying and pleading for safety were ignored
I had no1 to thank, and even if I did, having the means to do so were not there. Pushing a narrative of failed kids to be polite and thankful is harmful. And polite kids that are thankful certainly isn’t an indicator of being “well brought up” when you live on the poverty line
Kids shouldn’t have to be polite or have to have gratitude or have to show thanks. Imagine actually thinking that starving and freezing kids using food banks should be thankful for what they have 
I wonder if kids sending thank you cards to the food banks and to @MarcusRashford is an indicator of a “well brought up” kid....
There is something very worrying about people in social and criminal justice spaces not having the sociopolitical awareness of how damaging, exclusionary and misguided this is for kids in spaces of state and parental abuse and neglect
Things I was thankful for as a kid - not deserving of a thank you card:
Gas and electric
Shampoo and conditioner
Not wetting the bed
Mum getting mental health support after. 5 years of begging
Mum coming home from prison
Nans weekly food bag on a Sunday
Gas and electric
Shampoo and conditioner
Not wetting the bed
Mum getting mental health support after. 5 years of begging
Mum coming home from prison
Nans weekly food bag on a Sunday
When I slept through the night without a house party hosted by mum
When I didn’t wake up to the sound of the gate and being left alone all night
When I had a day at school without people taking the piss out of me for living in a council flat
When I didn’t wake up to the sound of the gate and being left alone all night
When I had a day at school without people taking the piss out of me for living in a council flat
