{"id":303080,"date":"2023-12-09T09:07:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T15:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=303080"},"modified":"2023-12-07T12:51:02","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T18:51:02","slug":"suspended-student-principal-adopted-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/suspended-student-principal-adopted-her\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspended student thought principal was the ‘bad guy’ until he and his wife adopted her"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jason Smith, a school principal in Kentucky, was working another day on the job when he met his future daughter, a then 11-year-old who was sitting outside his office.<\/span><\/p>\n

Raven Whitaker-Smith, now 20, described herself as \u201can angry, troubled child.\u201d She recounted the trauma of her early years in a <\/span>recently published essay<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first 11 years of my life were very traumatic. Not every day was bad, but most days were bad. My biological parents were just kids when they had me and my siblings. They were drug addicts, and my home life was a very dark place. I was not safe, I did not feel love, I was neglected and abused. Being the oldest of three siblings, I often got the brunt of the trauma. I tried my best to shield my siblings from the daily abuse and neglect. I was a child though, so I could only do so much.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n