My girlfriends and I used to sit around at girls' day talking about all the bad parents out there. One friend is a labor/delivery nurse, another was a social worker, and I'm a teacher. We used to joke that we helped abused children every step of the way, from birth, to placement in foster care, to trying to get them to learn. One time we came up with the idea that parents should be required to get a license before being allowed to procreate. Some way to ensure the parents are mentally, physically, and emotionally able to raise a child. Not that it will happen in time to save so many children's lives, but something's gotta change! This sounds high-handed and all, but the news is full of stupid, abusive parents. I also think that stupid abusive parents shouldn't be allowed to procreate after they've been abusive. What government would allow a known abuser to continue to have and care for their children? There are so many couples in the US alone dealing with infertility who would welcome a child into their family. Don't these people know that!
The Powell abuse case recently came into the news. What kind of parent can possibly ever plan and chose to kill their children? Those kids are the future! I know parenting is tough, and single parents have the worst of it, but there are so many avenues to help parents out there! Murder should never be an option!
I have the most difficult time hearing about abuse cases with babies; probably because I have young children. Right now this story is the one keeping me up at night. I remember the sleepless nights and the frustration of a new baby crying, but it takes a sick person to starve, beat, and then sexually molest their newborn baby. It's so sad that the crappy parents took so long to seek medical help and the little boy died. It takes work to break a newborn's ribs and legs! I can only know this baby is without pain, which he must have been in since he was born.
Another one that hit close to home is this one. The baby is the cousin of a classmate of Colten's. The baby's father was deployed overseas last February and wasn't even aware of the pregnancy until the family realized he was dating the mom at the time. Who in their right mind would throw their baby away! Even if the child was unwanted, all that was needed was to leave it at the emergency room, and they would adopt the child out, no questions asked! It takes an especially cruel person to do such a thing. The mom's trial is coming up soon and I hope she gets what she deserves!
A story that hit me the worst is this one, it came out when Colten was six months old and to this day still makes me think. You have to be really depressed to stay drunk for so long that two of your kids starve to death in their cribs. I'm happy the two year old was at least able to scrounge food to survive. What make me so mad is that the mother won't even stand trial because she's not mentally able to stand trial and that she had all sorts of resources available, and all it would have taken was a call to save the lives of these kids!
Why do people do this? Why can't people see that there are resources to help them, and put their children first before something detrimental happens? I know the CPS system is overburdened and underpaid, just like schools, but children are the future. If we don't invest time, money, and understanding in that, then cases likes these will become more common, and as a society we will need to examine what the value of a child's life is.
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