Absolute banger of a piece - and plenty to think about here. Was once an advocate for children in the care system and got to see how little control children have over their own lives. Things are getting better for our smallest members of society and they do tend to be a bit more consulted about what they want than in the past - but there's still plenty of space to go.

Your piece made me remember (somewhat fondly) a rather heated tete-a-tete I had with a prominent writer on the platform a few years back. You can enjoy the back and forth here https://medium.com/p/86d6cb79aa11

I think it's pretty relevant to the heart of what you're arguing here. :o)