Someone told me once that children are our most valued resources and we should treat them with love and kindness. Gently guide them thru life. I believe that. I think most sane people do but I wonder why we allow our children to be treated so horrendously?
I opened the newspaper today and read this story. I cried. http://www.butlereagle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060227/NEWS03/602270386
Ricky Holland's decomposed body was recovered from a roadside ditch in late January, his adoptive parents, the ones chosen by the foster care agency in their area are accused of his murder. Apparently they beat him to death with a hammer.
I could not have children and when I read about people like this having a child, whether it is thru adoption or natural, I want to scream out to God, "Why?" Why in hell do they have kids or are even allowed near them without being struck dead? I am pro life in all issues but when I read stuff Iike this, I can see how people can reach out and kill someone over such an act for just a second.
I just broke down and cried to the point where my husband told me he would take me out to dinner. Of course it was snowing so bad by the time we got ready, we just decided to order out but it has been such a horrible thought to me that anyone can do things to a child like that. I know I should not go off the deep end but part of the writing showed how he went to neighbors and asked them for food because he was hungry and he asked one neighbor if he could live with her cause she gave him a peanut butter sandwich.
Why do we allow this to happen? Why are the foster care systems in this country run so poorly then they are so secretive about many of their cases? They should be held accountable for this boys death just as those parents are.
8 comments:
Yes, it is sad. Life certainly isn't fair.
a.c......I have seen both sides of the foster care system in this country and let mt tell you it sucks. I will not denegrate all foster parents cause there are some great ones out there but something is wrong when these kind of things happen as much as they do. It is out and out neglect on the side of the agency in whose care this child was placed in the first place.
I feel like sometimes too many people try to do things for the wrong reasons ... i.e.: foster parenting -- I knew someone who did it ONLY because she got some money for it -- that was supposed to go to taking care of the child. She wasn't in it because she loved that child, or children in general. I think people like that - in it for the wrong reasons - (and there are far too many of them) are why we see so many horrible stories like this. I am not going to go read the link ... I just can't. He died a horrible, cold, sad, frightened death - at the hands of someone who was supposed to care for him. That's all I need to know. It breaks my heart. There are too many similar stories like this out there. I don't understand people. AND - as for the agencies who are supposed to be overseeing these foster parents, they drop the ball too. They're too busy doing other things and no one wants to be accountable. It's a sad shame. I just don't have a clue what to do about it.
Hi Dee, well I'm trying to foster here, as a single man, apparently they need people to place children with who come from a single parent background - emergency fostering. The checks seem quite rigorous, but we all know that wicked people can be quite adept liars too.
This sort of story nauseates us, it just seems that nobody, ever, accepts blame so we never move on. It's always a tragedy and never a mistake?
fish, I hope you get to be one. I was one and enjoyed it and the foster care system in our county is very rigorous.
Our caseworkers would often drop in unexpentantly to us or to just take the kids out for ice cream or a ride so the kids could tell them if there was any thing wrong here. Only one of my kids threatened to tell the caseworker I was starving him to death. I said, go ahead but you are going to have problems explaining that twenty pound weight gain since coming here. Later we both laughed about it.
I loved the kids but did not love the idea that they always belonged with the parents who gave birth too. I had one that was 15 and had been in eleven foster homes between the age of three and when he got there. Some wanted to adopt him but the state said he belonged with his mom.........11 times.
Wendy...I don't know what we can do about it either.
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I am lost for words. Almost daily I hear about little children being physically or emotionally abused. Anger and revulsion consume me when I hear of such stories but the frustrating thing is there is nothing we can do to prevent it. But I think there are two things we can do: Support organizations that take care of abused children and - for those who believe in God - pray to keep children prone to abuse from harm's way.
Thank you pradeep. I appreciate your thoughts on this and I totally agree with you.
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