Children have a way of surprising us.
Sometimes, we tell ourselves that they won't understand certain conversations we have, or some situations will go over their heads and will be forgotten the next day.
Only to discover that they, in fact, take far more in than we realize, and understand all too well what's going on.
Eventually saying things to us which tug at our heartstrings, and result in tears.
Sharing something about themselves which we somehow missed, all the while teaching us a thing or two on how to be open with them.
All we want to do at the moment is give them a hug, even though we know all too well that a hug won't solve the deep-rooted problems they've revealed, intentionally or not, about their lives.
Redditor Apprehensive_Air8374 was curious to hear the most heartbreaking things they've ever heard come out of a child's mouth, leading them to ask:
"What's the most depressing thing you have heard a child say?"
Even Just For A Quick Hello
“'I wish my dad cared to visit more often, I really miss him'.”- Odd-Mango-3083
Unsafe In Her Own Home
"A young girl said:"
"'All my parents do is fight. I have to hide in my room not to get hit when they start throwing things'."- Back2Bach
Only A Few Words Can Make All The Difference
"A teenager I helped in a dental atmosphere I could tell was struggling with her mental health."
"I gave her words of encouragement and as she left she said, 'Thank you for actually caring'."
"I had to fight back tears and think about her all the time and hope she's well."- invisiblegirl_8
Even Children Can Hide Their Unhappiness
"A 9 year old walking to school, a class-mate of my son and always so cheerful."
"'I wished that car had run me over'."
"I followed up with a probing question and she was indeed serious."
"That one really hit home."
"That the kid down the street was having a nightmare which she hid behind her pleasant facade."
"Just to alleviate concerns, I had a chat with the school the same day, and they were already aware of problems and this further underlined them."
"Last I heard she and her family were getting support from social services."- winter_limelight
Stability Makes A Difference
"My brother once told me he missed his old school through tears. he was only 7/8 at the time."
"For context, we’ve always moved around."
"I’ve gone to about 5 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 3 high schools."
"I know for a fact that I was messed up from it."
"I don’t like letting people in because i don’t trust people to be a permanent figure in my life and i have big abandonment issues."
"To see my brother go down that same exact path, struggling to really fit in somewhere, and constantly having to leave your friends."
"It breaks my heart."- a_reneel
Never Take The Simple Things For Granted
"My brother brought his friend to a family dinner once and the friend brought his little brother along."
"He was like 12ish."
"The little brother was hanging out with my mom and I in the kitchen while we cooked and once he realized what we were doing, he got so excited and fascinated."
"He wanted to see every step of everything we were doing and asked tons of questions."
"Then he goes 'it's so cool that you guys can cook, I've never seen anyone cook before'."
"His home life is absolute sh*t and turns out his dad doesn't cook, the closest he'll get is making ramen or boxed macaroni."- MotherOfBorzoi
It's Easy To See Why He Felt This Way
"My cousin overheard his parents fighting and once it was over he just approached his mom and went 'some things are evident, dad doesn’t love mom'."
"Not exactly that cuz it was in Spanish but that was basically what he meant."- chicken_wings_delux
Their Own Mother...
"'My mum and I have our own lives, she's out living hers and im here living mine'."
"A 9 year old me paraphrased of course but no less tragic."- manymanylegs
Children Are Easily Influenced
"'I can't go to jail'."
"'I have to be home to give my mom narcan if she needs it'."
"Very depressing shoplifting interview that turned into a CPS case'."- Sanguiniutron
Do I Know You?
"What if you haven't seen your father in so long that when he shows up and he says he's your dad, how do you know that's him?"- notthisagain0088
It's devastating to hear when children reveal they're in an unhappy or unsafe situation.
Especially when they don't even realize it.
It leaves us wondering, what we can do, and how can we help?
No matter the situation, the first and most helpful thing we can do is listen.
Sometimes, all they need is a pair of ears who actually hears what they're saying.
And through listening to them, steps toward finding a solution might become more apparent.
@PokerPolitics/X
@discogorilla/Bluesky
@SenSchumer/X
@WUTangKids/X