Today NPR ran a story titled "Rethinking Shaken Baby Syndrome" which was reminiscent of February's New York Times Magazine article "Has a Flawed Diagnosis Put Innocent People Behind Bars?" Given this, we thought we would re-run our post from February 17th where we shared our thoughts on that article.###
In response to the recent New York Times Magazine article regarding Shaken Baby Syndrome by Emily Bazelon, “Has a Flawed Diagnosis Put Innocent People Behind Bars?”, Prevent Child Abuse America would like to offer the following thoughts.
Prevent Child Abuse America advocates for promoting a shared societal responsibility for the healthy development of children and providing all families with the support and resources they need.
Any time there is evidence a child has been injured, the cause of the injury should be evaluated appropriately by a medical professional.
When evidence of shaken baby syndrome is present, we believe the following questions should be asked:
Prevent Child Abuse America advocates for promoting a shared societal responsibility for the healthy development of children and providing all families with the support and resources they need.
Any time there is evidence a child has been injured, the cause of the injury should be evaluated appropriately by a medical professional.
When evidence of shaken baby syndrome is present, we believe the following questions should be asked:
- What role did stress or other emotional issues like frustration play in this situation and how do we as a community and as a nation ensure that adequate services, information and help are available to parents and/or caregivers when they are needed and as long as they are needed?
- What opportunities exist to change the culture and norms of our nation to reflect the real value we all should place on children having loving, healthy and stable experiences?
1 comment:
My daughter was a victim of shaken baby syndrome when she was four months old, not as a result of her father and I, but from a babysitter. As a result both of our children were placed in child protective services care for almost 2 years. All of the evidence that could have been used against this person was lost because they swore I had Post Partum Depression. After numerous polygraph's, psychological testing, family counseling and child care classes they finally came to the conclussion I was not the one who had hurt my daughter (not to mention the fact I was at work when it happened). Not a day goes by I am not angry over the injustice, and the toll it has taken on my family. My daughter is 2 years old now and is a happy well adjusted toddler, but her older sister has quite a lot of issues over this trauma. I don't know what could be done to help prevent this from happening to another family but something does.
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