Questionable Parenting

     There’s no wonder why Lauren wants to leave her neighborhood. Although it may be considered more “safe” and she is with her parents, I’m realizing more and more how incapable they are and how she would be better on her own. For example, Lauren’s dad gives Keith a BB gun which is both dangerous and encourages Keith to go into the outside world, not knowing what he’s going to do with the gun and who he is going to be with. Also, Lauren had to step in to her stepmother’s job and teach high school students even though she was just a few years older than them all because Cory did not want to teach. Do those actions of her parents seem responsible in any way? Her father is also a little on the questionable side because he beats Keith and has beaten Lauren once before. That does not seem to be an ideal safe situation for Lauren and it may be even more unsafe than the outside of the neighborhood, seeing how Keith escapes Lauren’s father by leaving. In Chapter 12, Lauren has to take over her parent’s responsibilities yet again as she preaches for her father when he goes missing. Did they really support her and keep her safe?