Friday, July 22, 2011

"Children's well-being is one of the civil rights issues of our time." Bill Bentley, President and CEO, Voices for America's Children

"Children's well-being is one of the civil rights issues of our time. The purpose of this movement is to give people who care about children a way to make their voices heard – we hope to make citizens care as much about all of America's children as they care about their own. There are millions of us who believe that investing in children today is an investment in their future – and ours." Bill Bentley, President and CEO, Voices for America's Children

1 comment:

Marie Brown said...

Children have no rights, that needs to change. Whether it is for their well-being because of potential safety issues, physically and/or emotionally, or just for them to have the right to remain in their loving, caring "family unit" they lived in their whole life. I "know" children are chattel, the mere property of their parents. Preventing abuse is a catchphrase to seemingly settle our country into thinking the children are protected from abuse. UNTIL, and only until children are seriously injured, suffered so, or are repeatedly, brutally bruised are children protected. And then the question is , really? The protection yes is to keep them safe, but geared more towards the parent. It is one excuse after another as to why the parent hurt their child, what parenting class will help them, or what measure will help them keep their child safe. The laws make prevention impossible it seems, because the majority of them state how severe a child must be hurt before they MAY end up being truly safe. I have a granddauhter we tried to protect, no one listened, know one stepped in until she had 68= bruises on her 23 month old little body, a grade 4 liver laceration and kidney tube injury. She came close to being beaten to death. Yet, her mother again has children in foster care (she is safe) because of more abuse allegations. We tried to keep those unrelated children safe, but no, it is about the parents. Same thing with a grandson who lived with his mother and I all his life until she died in a car accident. Two and a half years after her death a judge forces him to go live with his father, even after a CHIPS petition and a pattern of minor abuse and neglect issues within only weekend placement with his father. He came to my home two weeks ago with father's hand bruised into his arm. But it is ok, not abuse.Children have absolutely, positively NO RIGHTS in this country, and that needs to end. Children DESERVE to live in safe, loving, caring and permanent homes.Unfortunately it will never happen, they will have no rights, they will suffer severe abuse before helped, that is how our country handles it. Children are chattel.