[Ms. Jackie]

I have been a member of all of the categories listed below and I have heard about everything. I know that these are true in some cases, but were not in mine.

Little kids -
They are all like little orphan Annie. - Not even close.
They look too thin and their clothes are all ratty. - I talked one foster mom into shopping at Target, but she wanted to get all of my clothes at Dillards or JCPenney.
They were all born drug-affected. - Not even.
Their parents beat them and/or molested them. - Nope, mom was just disabled.
They have a half dozen or more siblings. - Only child.

Teens -
They are all juvenile delinquents who caused themselves to be placed in care by their own actions. - Nope, disabled mom.
If they were not trouble makers, someone would have adopted them by now. - Could not abandon my mom, so I chose not to be adopted.
They all have serious emotional baggage and are thus unadoptable. - Nope, just the typical teenage stuff.
They are all sexually active. - No, I never had sex until I was an adult.
They never respect their foster parents or their property. - I was more respectful than a lot of my peers.

Adults who were foster kids -
They are all high school drop-outs. - I was in the top 10% of my high school class and have a bachelor's degree from a respected university.
They all do drugs and or are alcoholics. - I only drink socially and do not do drugs.
They cannot be trusted. - After all I have been through, I have made it a point to be a better person. I do not take advantage of people.
They were all teenage parents. - I am 24 and still never been pregnant.
They are all still angry at the system. - The system made some mistakes, but overall I am a better person for having been raised in care.
They were all adopted. - I aged out and while I have strong ties to my foster family, I was never adopted.