READ this chilling account of Senate Bill 1877, which would require every adult in America to be a reporter of child abuse and neglect. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association, the bill would result in an unprecedented intrusion of state power into the private sphere and an increase in false allegations:
In conclusion, S. 1877 will lead to a massive increase in child abuse and neglect investigations upon families. The stated purpose of S. 1877’s mandatory reporting expansion, along with the education campaign and training program is to “improve reporting” of child abuse and neglect. The bill will give states new federal grants to set up “experimental, model, and demonstration programs for testing innovative approaches and techniques that may improve reporting of and response to suspected and known incidents of child abuse or neglect by adults to the State child protective service agencies or to law enforcement agencies.”
Not only will S. 1877 require every single adult to be a mandatory reporter, S. 1877 will incentivize states to create untested, “experimental” programs that will increase the number of child abuse and neglect reports to CPS agencies.
— Comments —
Art from Texas writes:
If one looks at the text of the bill one will notice not a reference to what standard of evidence for abuse and neglect is being used. What are the definitions? Is it allowing a child to play outside? Is it spanking with a paddle? Is it helping a child cook breakfast? The bill is basically a command to “do whatever they say.” It is not overstatement to say it is Orwellian.
And that is the trick. It is effectively making whatever the state agencies say into a law imposed on everyone in the state. And doing it in a way that will try to leave state Child Protection agencies
blameless. The next step would be imposing a Federal definition of abuse and neglect.
It is interesting that the CPS and many others are automatically horrified of any sort of bruise. However, that is only one aspect of child abuse. What about raging at and cursing at a child? Those can’t be detected by bruising. But they are undoubtedly abuse. And far worse than any punishment our ancestors would have tolerated or recommended.
Mrs. Z. writes:
Recently, a local 11-year-old boy was tortured to death by his father, while his grandmother was in the house. The father, along with an undisclosed multitude of children, and his mother lived together in this house. According to the children, not only was the grandmother aware of repeated abuse and torture of all the children, she would frequently offer the father money to “go easy” on them. The torture implements are heinous, including an improvised blow torch, and heated screwdrivers applied to the boy’s genitalia. Naturally, no mother has been mentioned in the case; presumably she has long since abandoned the scene. As of the last news report, both the father and the grandmother were arrested and awaiting trial. Most in the community consider them both the vilest of monsters.
I cannot help but feel a teacher, neighbor, babysitter, doctor, friend or relative should have recognized and reported some warning signs of the atrocity of this child’s treatment, as well as the treatment of his siblings. This was not a one time act of sick rage, but a pattern of behavior. How could no one notice this child’s anguish and need for attention? Perhaps someone did, but, as many teachers know, calling Child Protective Services is an utter waste of time and effort. Putting one’s career on the line for a single child is, evidently, not worth the effort.
While I could wax eloquent on the breakdown of family structure, the probable drug and alcohol abuse, even play the race and poverty card (and no, they are not Caucasian), I recognize we live in a sick and disturbed society where children are of no value, and this is true regardless of ethnic background or economic status. While flipping through the worthless local channels, I happened to see a spot done by the ASPCA, touting that people needed to learn to recognize the value of animals, so that we might stop abusing them. Scrolling across the bottom of the screen was the latest headline in the boy’s murder case. I was appalled to the point of nausea.
Events like this appear to necessitate intrusive Senate bills like S. 1877. In a society where adults beat and murder their own young, apparently the less offensive among us must be forced by law to defend them. In light of this local case, I doubt there would be many individuals aware of it who would dispute S. 1877’s legitimacy; and I live in a relatively conservative area of the country.
It’s offensive and repellent to me to live in a society where we value children so little, that our government feels the right to step in and mandate that we all report on the actions of our neighbors. We can get lost in the issues of individual rights and state’s rights – both of which I vehemently support. The real issue in this case is not the intrusion of the federal government. It is that we have neglected our families and our children for so long we’ve created a way for the federal government to easily and credibly intrude into our private lives.
Laura writes:
It would not have occurred to people in not-so-distant past to prevent such horrors with government intervention of this nature, forcing neighbors to report on each other’s activities on the pain of criminal punishment. So I guess I would disagree with your final point. The real issue is a faith in the perfectibility of government and in the ability to bring all social disorder under its rationalized, comprehensive control. The government destroys family bonds and then turns around and tries to stem the chaos with more programs. Wherever it mandates compassion, it suffocates it.
Lydia Sherman writes:
Increasingly, people are reporting their co-workers in secret, and their neighbors to agencies that do not require them to tell their own name and address. This is a bad habit that should be corrected in childhood, at home. When children learn to love their brothers and sisters, they also learn to love their neighbor when they are grown-ups, and forgive them while working things out with them. Under the spy method, no one can work anything out with a friend or neighbor. It is pure punishment without warning, and once an accusation or a report is made, it is very hard to undo the damage to the person’s reputation or business.
Stalin eventually got spies to spy on each other, and had most of his own aides, their wives, and even his own son, eliminated. Every homeschool parent should view this series starting with
this one.
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