There are stories of children being abused and neglected almost every day in any newspaper. From my child sensitive point of view, this is a national tragedy.
We live in a rural area outside of a major city. The country folks out here seem to smoke a lot. I can’t tell you how much it pains me to see a mom with a cigarette in her mouth fastening a child in a car seat. Little babies are getting their lungs filled with second-hand smoke all the time. It’s hard for me not to say something, but it would not accomplish anything.
There was a day care business a couple of miles away that was run out of a double-wide mobile home. There were too many children cooped up all day in that place. Each day when I drove by, I prayed that it would go out of business. I recently got my wish.
Two stories were in the local news today on this subject. Two sisters, ages one and two, were found walking around and lost on the city streets. They were both naked and one had a minor injury to her hand. Someone saw them, put some clothes on them, and called the police.
The grandmother and mother of the girls were found sleeping at the family’s apartment. The living quarters were very dirty and a safety hazard. The girls have been taken into custody and put in a foster home pending criminal action against the mother.
Another story involves a day care center that will be shut down. The center had received numerous citations for violations in the past. These infractions were for failure to maintain a sufficient care taker-to-child ratio, failure to do criminal background checks on employees, failure to check if employees had driver’s licenses, and improper punishments involving hitting children. None of those violations resulted in sanctions against the business.
Finally, they did something that was severe enough to be closed down. A 15 passenger van belonging to the day care center was found parked with 29 children in it. No adult was in or near the van with the children. Fortunately, someone noticed the van and reported the situation to authorities.
Stories like these make me both angry and sad. I do not know of a solution to the growing problem of child neglect in this nation. Please comment with any solutions that you might have.
Related Blog:
The Child Protection System is in Trouble