Unit 5 Journal
In some families, there are certain circumstances where the parents or caregivers may
have to place their child in a more responsible role within the family structure causing the child
to mature much faster than intended. The scenario presented for this journal is from one of my
favorite TV shows: This Is Us. The scenario talks about Randall who is one of three children of
Rebecca and Jack Pearson. Randall was adopted by the Pearsons after being left at a firehouse.
The Pearsons themselves had also just lost one of their triplet infants when they saw Randall
being placed in the nursery with their other two children and decided to adopt him from there.
As the children got older, Randall was exposed to multiple different factors that could
accumulate to him maturing much faster than his two siblings. One of those factors was that he
was African American while his parents and siblings were Caucasian. Some have argued that life
in a white family does not prepare a child of color to deal with the challenges and racism they
would face in American society (Comstock, 2022). This was shown in a few episodes where
some children made it clear that Randall was not the biological sibling of Kevin and Kate.
Another factor is the fact that Randall not only has replaced a child but also a sibling that the
family has lost which he was undoubtedly aware of once he realized and understood why he
looked different from his siblings and parents. Another instance included their father, Jack
Pearson passing away when they were 14 years old. I can say from personal experience and
losing my own mother at 14, that this can definitely cause one to mature and see things
differently. From here, Randall begins to assume the role of the male caretaker for his family, and
this even carries over into his adulthood after he gets married and has three children of his own.
