My First and Saddest Post Yet.

[purpion]

Last night, I received a phone call from a friend in Texas. She called me in tears about how a couple that she knew personally had killed their own infant son of three months. Sadly, this abuse had been going on for a while and hidden in a half truth by calling them accidents. This senseless tragedy should not go unnoticed. I am saddened and

Comments

[smithsassistant]

Thank you for posting this entry. As someone who has experienced neglect and abuse as a child, I feel that this issue needs to be addressed to the fullest extent and sadly not enough is being done. I will light a candle tonight. I have a big, white one in my room and I will light it when I get home from Grocery shopping for those infants. My mom saved me from my situation and I thank her from the bottom of my heart but there are those that have not been. Lets hope that something will be done for them and see if we can help in whatever way we can.

[purpion]

You're welcome. I am the process of writing a letter to my local law makers for something to be done and eventually I will post another to my congressman.

I have not been an abused child myself and it hurts me to see so many children damaged because of these hurtful people that were allowed to breed.

[smithsassistant]

I am glad that you will be writing to your congress and local law makers. I wish I could sign it with you. I would also let them know that something needs to be done with the violence in our youth as well. A 15 year old boy was set on fire because he told on another youth. The violence with adults as well as children is getting out of hand these days and it really needs to be put to an end.

[purpion]

I've read that and I am going to post that entry soon considering that bullying is another issue that should not be ignored.

Violence as a whole is an issue that has caused the push and pull of two extremes.

Now we have to ask ourselves, if this is something that we allow to happen how can we stop it? The main structure of discipline and values have been dramatically decreased since the separation of church and state.

Granted that there is a freedom to choose our religion but the core values were there to support and guide the young into adulthood as contributing citizens.

[smithsassistant]

I just wonder if the parents are doing all they can to raise their children correctly and also how are we as a society responsible for this happening. We have so many shows that have violence in them and also underage sex that they never had in shows when I was growing up. They have more curse words being used in shows that were censored in the shows I watched when I was a kid. Have we as a society gone down such a road that we have given kids the signal that this behavior is ok?

[purpion]

I think the more important question to ask is, "Have we digressed beyond the point of understanding the human condition?" If there is a point where we forget how to empathize, I think we have reached it as a whole. Sadly, the road that we have gone down as a society isn't helping us in our understanding

[smithsassistant]

Good question. I do not think we really truly do reach out fully without fear. We fear the unknown and we fear getting hurt. That still should not stop us from doing what we can to help out humanity because to help out humanity is to help ourselves as well as our loved ones.

[purpion]

I think you have the right reasons though reaching out to a stranger is far more difficult than reaching out to a loved one or to someone that you know which is why I think that the incidents in 9-11 and Hurricane's Katrina and Rita were important milestones in our society as a whole. Reaching out to a loved one is a bit more localized

[smithsassistant]

I volunteered at a food pantry one time and I gave blood too. I need to take my iron and donate more blood. I have 0- which is sorely needed. I will do that again sometime.

[purpion]

Oh good! Now, from your volunteer work, what have gained in that experience besides the fact that the people that you helped were people in need? What did you discover about yourself that you didn't know about until you had put that foot forward and stepped through the door?

My experiences are of little consequence and that's not what this entry is about so I will refrain from any discussions about myself. This is about helping out those that are in need of shelter when a young life is in need. It's about stepping through a door that we are uncertain what lies beyond it.

It's about hope and it's about helping children.

[smithsassistant]

Well what I learned about myself is that I can be more helpful then I thought and that it really is not hard to help others. The people at the pantry were very nice and I am glad that I helped them.

[purpion]

That's very thoughtful though a bit short of a response than I had anticipated though it did seem that you had learned something.

Now understanding the human condition of poverty and abuse, the question I have for you is, do you think that income and demographic location has anything to do with the severity and number of abuse and neglect cases among children? If so, why and what do you think should be done besides the obvious answer of monetary importance?

[smithsassistant]

I believe that it plays a big part. The reason is that it seems that education is low around poverty and that children are born to those that are too young to have children. Young people are not mature enough to handle children and get frustrated easier and take it out on the child. I believe that if we had a better education system not just for those in poverty but for every kid that would help. It seems that in some cities that schools are overcrowded and improper tools are being used to teach children.

[purpion]

Ahh, that's not necessarily true when you said, "The reason is that it seems that education is low around poverty and that children are born to those that are too young to have children. Young people are not mature enough to handle children and get frustrated easier and take it out on the child. I believe that if we had a better education system not just for those in poverty but for every kid that would help" If that were the case that you claim this to be true, I will most certainly disagree

[smithsassistant]

I am talking about teenagers having children. I think one reason that people including myself might think that poverty and demographics have to do with it is possibly due to media and money can help cover things up. Also I can see why race and social status have to do with it as well especially race. More crimes committed by blacks are reported but few crimes by white are reported.

[purpion]

I don't recall race being a part of the issue though since the subject has come up, I want to make myself perfectly clear that we are not discussing race. We are discussing abuse and the deaths of infants through that abuse.

Teenagers that do commit acts to begin a family before they are ready are generally from families that neglect them as teens. There is a psychological reason to fill the void which do cause teen girls to look for something to fill it.

I retract my previous statement where I had said that it wasn't the poverty level and low income level social class that didn't suffer the greatest abuse but you were right to make your claim. I don't have recent data to conform what I had said so for now, I'm rescinding my statement and giving you credit for making the right statement. The data I did find was dated back to 2007 and the newest release of data had not been found yet