In the hallways of our high school, where laughter echoes and kids roam the halls, there are many remarkable teens. These are the teens who care for their sick or disabled parents while having to still deal with school.

Caregiving can be stressful and exhausting, especially while keeping up in school. Some also have to work to help provide money for their families. Some kids find happiness in such important roles, as it makes them more mature and closer to their parents, while for others it affects their mental and physical well being, isolating them from friends and social activities.

My mom, who is fighting a chronic kidney disease, had Covid and RSV in March. She also had her left foot amputated. It’s just me and my mom, so I had to stay quarantined with her for the ten days she was in the hospital.  

Trying to balance school with caregiving and/or working can be challenging at times. Teens might have to miss classes to drive parents to appointments, or stay home for the day to help care for parents with a disability, or go straight to work after school and work long hours to make sure they have money to provide for their families.  

Not all teens skip class just to skip. So the next time you see a teen helping out an adult and they’re not in class, know that they might not just be skipping class; they’re learning valuable life lessons on taking on such a big role and learning responsibility and helping out their parents.

Keeping up in school or certain classes can be hard, but it helps to reach out to a guidance counselor who can figure out ways to help and create an academic plan.