Post by rainbow on Sept 21, 2014 9:21:06 GMT
Hi everyone,
Just how much teeagers need support was dramatically brought home to me by another forum I belong to. Several months ago a sixteen year old girl posted on the site saying she didnt think she could cope any more. She wrote her mother was terminally ill in hospital with cancer and her father was spending most of the day there with her. Niether of them wanted the daughter to visit her mother as she looked so ill and they wanted her to remember her as she used to be. But not only did the daughter feel excluded, she felt guilty she was not there to support her mother as well. She was having to do all the housework, shopping, and cooking and was also dealing with exams at school. Her twelve year old brother was not dealing with the situation at all well although he didnt know how ill his mother was. So this poor young lady was not only trying to comfort and support him but also her father when he came home from the hospital. Her plea for help was something I could not ignore and I and eventually others spoke to this young lady over the next few weeks and she told us how much it helped her to cope. She must have read about my prostate cancer on another thread and one day wrote that if I ever needed to talk to anyone about it, she was there for me. I am not ashamed to say that as a man, I had tears in my eyes, that with all she was trying to deal with she was prepared to offer help to me. It just showed me the strenght of charachter she had.
I have since realized from hers and other post by young people, that teenagers often find it difficult to talk to family or friends about their fears and feelings and often feel they have no one to turn to. That is why I believe that forums like this are so important as it provides a place where teenagers can talk annonmously with others without fear of upsetting family or friends and they dont have to worry about others judging them. So I fully support Cancervive and congratulate them for providing this forum. Rainbow
Just how much teeagers need support was dramatically brought home to me by another forum I belong to. Several months ago a sixteen year old girl posted on the site saying she didnt think she could cope any more. She wrote her mother was terminally ill in hospital with cancer and her father was spending most of the day there with her. Niether of them wanted the daughter to visit her mother as she looked so ill and they wanted her to remember her as she used to be. But not only did the daughter feel excluded, she felt guilty she was not there to support her mother as well. She was having to do all the housework, shopping, and cooking and was also dealing with exams at school. Her twelve year old brother was not dealing with the situation at all well although he didnt know how ill his mother was. So this poor young lady was not only trying to comfort and support him but also her father when he came home from the hospital. Her plea for help was something I could not ignore and I and eventually others spoke to this young lady over the next few weeks and she told us how much it helped her to cope. She must have read about my prostate cancer on another thread and one day wrote that if I ever needed to talk to anyone about it, she was there for me. I am not ashamed to say that as a man, I had tears in my eyes, that with all she was trying to deal with she was prepared to offer help to me. It just showed me the strenght of charachter she had.
I have since realized from hers and other post by young people, that teenagers often find it difficult to talk to family or friends about their fears and feelings and often feel they have no one to turn to. That is why I believe that forums like this are so important as it provides a place where teenagers can talk annonmously with others without fear of upsetting family or friends and they dont have to worry about others judging them. So I fully support Cancervive and congratulate them for providing this forum. Rainbow