pre reading- the orphan train

Read the attached article titled "Orphan Trains."  Orphan trains brought orphans to the United States and stopped periodically for individuals to "adopt" the children.  After reading the article, write a blog describing what it would be like to be an orphan on an orphan train.

“Orphan trains” is an article that tells you how life was like for the orphans and the process they had to go through if they didn’t have a loving family to care for them and provide a child’s basic necessities.

As I was reading the “Orphan train” I imagined myself as an orphan and on that train. I would’ve been scared, nervous, upset, and tired. If you were on a orphan train they would stop at all these towns so that every orphan would have the opportunity to be adopted. Being on that train and knowing you're leaving your family for a new one would make me feel scared and upset, because you don't have a choice of who you get to live with anymore. So what if you end up with a family that makes you work and abuses you? The children's aid society (an organization that provided a new home and families for orphans) had one job after all the kids were adopted, and that was to check up on them once a year to see if they were doing alright and remove children from bad situations. “This system failed sometimes” the article said, so if you were in a abusive family you had the options of running away or hopefully being saved by the society. Another feeling I would express is to be extremely upset because I would miss my old family, even if they weren't around enough, and it still takes time to adapt and cope with your new family to where you can at least say comfortable in your new environment. It says in the article that the train rides transport you to new families would last around a day to a week. The reason it would last that long is if you weren't picked by a family along the towns it stops at. It stated that in the article a child would stay on the train until it got picked by the right family. Now think what if you didn’t get by a family in a week, all that time you’re seeing people get picked except you? With this happening would you develop ideas or feelings that no one wants to adopt you?

    These are the effects that I think I would have if I was in an orphans position and went through that process of being adopted.