“My biggest worry, just like many other parents, would be the uncertainty that the world brings when you’re not there,” said Christopher Cuzul, a sales manager at O’Reilly Auto Parts in Bakersfield, California. His five-year-old, Christopher Jr, is starting kindergarten this year. “You know your child more than anyone else. Not everyone understands how they act or what they need,” Cuzul said.
Christopher is one of 10 parents who joined a WhatsApp group to chat with Guardian journalists about how it feels to raise kids now – at a time of heightened political polarization and when social services are perennially on the chopping block.
