Here in the US it is actually rather common for grandparents to raise their grandchildren. I don't mean common like it happens all the time I just mean that it is not unheard of or all that unusual.

Hi, yes I agree. It is very common for the grandparents to be raising there grandkids or even great grandkids. Today we live in a society where everything is so different then when we grew up decades ago. And sometimes it is in the best interest of the child to be living with the grandparents.

Problem is that kids become parents at 15, then their kids become parents at 15 and you have a family with a 30yo grandmother and a 15 yo mother. In that case nobody is prepared for the responsibility.

In some cultures the entire family lives together, granparents and parents and kids. So I dont think it is necessarily "uncommon" elsewhere. Just in a different context.

I have the utmost respect for grandparents raising grandchildren. Not only are they taking on a huge responsibility at a time in their lives when they would prefer to wind down but they also have to acknowledge that for one reason or another their own child is incapable of this task. A lot of the grandparents I worked with who had their grandchildren in kinship care did so b/c the parents were in jail or led unsuitable lives (ie drugs) and the grandparents had to accept that as well.

If the parents are incapcitated (eg sick, in jail) or if they are abusive parent's I'd say that they should much rather have the grandparents raise the kids then some foster stranger.

Yes if a grandparent can better provide for a child than their parents I think the child will do better with their grandparent than having to be in foster agree, I agree.

We have a lot of grandparents raising their children in our town here. A lot of comes from parents that are on drugs and unable to care for the children. I give the grandparents a lot of credit for stepping up and caring for their grandchildren. It is a difficult task, but purely out of love.

I saw a Dateline episode awhile back that was looking into this growing "trend" of grandparents caring for the grandchildren. With today's foster care system being as messed up as it is in some areas, grandparents would be the better and safer option if a parent is unable to care for the child.

I sould agree with the people that have posted before that if the parents are too young/drunk/high or incapcitated in some other way, it's a lot better for the kids to be raised by their grandparents rather then the foster care system