[This is the last topic in the world I want to write about, but I have to say something]
The poor little thing probably didn't even know what hit her. No I haven't read the story and neither should you.
I don't mind a bit of blood and guts but I am finding the Nia story really hard to take. Violence and crime is bad enough but child abuse so bad that it results in death is beyond my tolerance level. It makes me feel physically sick. I have not read a single story about the case, nor watched a TV segment, but I have been unable to avoid seeing headlines over the past few weeks. They have been lurid enough.
So here is a plea from me and all the other wimps out there who weren't brought up in an abusive environment and managed to survive our childhoods: please keep the details in the story. A headline of 'More Nia Stuff' is enough to warn us away.
Don't think by this that I have any time for child abusers. But in my view much of the problem is created by people having children they don't really want, and that comes back to welfare (DBP et al).
For mothers and fathers: children should not routinely be exposed to strangers - the new boyfriend should at least be on probation for a while before he gets to be alone with the kids. Even your own children can drive you nuts at times - think what they might do to someone who doesn't really care about them that much. This is an issue of parental responsibility, which goes beyond who the latest boyfriend / girlfriend happens to be. It is no excuse to say 'I didn't know s/he would abuse my children'. It is your job to know. Maybe you haven't been out with the girls for 6 months and the new boyfriend seems lovely and offers to babysit. Give it another month. None of this relates directly to the Nia case, but let's face it, there are plenty of other cases.
Worse than private failure is that government policies create an environment where abuse thrives. We try to find out about it at the hospitals, with the result that parents bringing children in with common injuries are subjected to the third degree. Far better to look at welfare policies which encourage people to have unwanted children.
And finally, I don''t like sarcasm, but cheers, Sue Bradford. Your 'child abuse' law has been magic.
Comments