honestly i've loved kids ever since my nephew was born, and he turned 9 this year so pretty much all of my adult life has been spent knowing that i wanted to do Something for kids. his childhood has already been so difficult due to being surrounded by adults who are simply unequipped to approach him as his own human being, and that made me much more aware of how we are all socially programmed to treat children with so much immeasurable contempt. and of course that isn't to say that i only care about other kids because of my bubby but his childhood has made me much more aware of how imperative it is for little ones to have a village that loves them unconditionally. when i was in high school i wanted to be a teacher after bubby was born and seeing how much more readily kids were punished than cared for was another huge push.

i think that if you do go into a field that focuses on working with kids and teenagers, ensure that you are able to build a very solid team of contacts whom you know you can trust to help you advocate for them when they need it, whether it's against legal or policing systems, their parents, etc. helping professions in general call for wrap-around team and a strong contact network but when it comes to representing kids, there is so much resistance at every level to providing lasting security for them because it's easy to withhold resources from people who don't know exactly what they need. ANYWAY I'M RAMBLING BUT it always makes me happy when people want to work with children in a way that actually aims to meet their needs so if you do choose to pursue it, i hope it feels like the right fit. :')