Health Care and Child Abuse Prevention Month

The Cypress Times ^ | 4/22/2010 | Mark Roberts

[Patriot1259]

hild abuse. The mere thought of it sends chills down your spine and makes your hair stand on end. For those who suffer it, the nightmare continues for a lifetime, or until death at an early age. For those who are guilty of perpetrating the crime, the punishment cannot be severe enough or the shame of it great enough. Forgiveness of the incident is hard to provide, and treatment of the psychological effects is long term. Some victims never recover, even as adults. Others who have been scarred emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally carry the memories forever. Those who are abusers are in many cases those who have been abused as children and act out those violent actions in behavior as older children, adolescents, or adults.

[Spudx7]

What's scary to me is what social services does/does not define as abuse. A few years ago my cousin (troubled girl) was married to a pig of a man. Her sister-in-law (school guidance counselor) turned them in for smoking pot in front of the kids, husband holding knife to wife's throat in front of kids, etc. Didn't meet the criteria for investigation! He later dangled the toddlers over the balcony railing for the sheer joy of hearing them and my cousin sob and scream. He was laughing the whole time. Again, no investigation.

However, a local Mennonite family with 8 children is facing termination of parental rights because of excessive spanking. They are accused only of spanking on the bottom. That's it...no slapping the face or hitting anywhere else on the body and no marks or bruises. Just spanking on the bottom. We have friends who know the family well and yes, they used spanking as their only form of discipline, but to forever lose your children over this? The police came to the hospital and took their newborn son from the mother's arms shortly after delivery.

I guess if you are a cruel, unemployed pothead you are no danger to your children. But if you have a large family and believe that children should learn to obey, you should lose your children forever.