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missroseroseAm at the library, temporarily taking over the front desk because we're shorthanded. Looking around at the various middle-school-and-younger kids on the computers and whatnot, mostly Inupiaq, it suddenly strikes me exactly how many of them have signs of fetal alcohol syndrome - usually characterized most obviously by a flattened area between the eyes, as well as slower mental and physical development.
It's suddenly a bit clearer to me why so many of these kids are hard to manage...it's honestly not their fault. It's partly their parents' fault, but not as much as, say, a white person whose kid had FAS...alcohol was introduced to this culture less than, what, five generations ago? And now alcoholism has spread rampantly throughout a set of people with no genetic resistance, destroying their culture through the means of damaging their brains and disabling their offspring.
While I'm usually of the mindset that if people can't drink responsibly, they shouldn't drink, I'm not blaming the Inupiaq for this, because it's honestly not their fault.
It's times like this I hate being caucasian...
It's suddenly a bit clearer to me why so many of these kids are hard to manage...it's honestly not their fault. It's partly their parents' fault, but not as much as, say, a white person whose kid had FAS...alcohol was introduced to this culture less than, what, five generations ago? And now alcoholism has spread rampantly throughout a set of people with no genetic resistance, destroying their culture through the means of damaging their brains and disabling their offspring.
While I'm usually of the mindset that if people can't drink responsibly, they shouldn't drink, I'm not blaming the Inupiaq for this, because it's honestly not their fault.
It's times like this I hate being caucasian...
