Angel Lea Hart died in February 1993 at the age of 5. Her stepfather drowned her in the bathtub in Kansas City, Mo., because she wouldn't recite the alphabet. Her last words were "Mommy, help me." Her body was found years later in southern California encased in cement. Because of Angel Lea Hart, for the past 15 years, I have been an advocate for abused children.
In mid-November, Shaniya Nicole Davis, age 5, was found dead in North Carolina. Her mother has been charged with trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. Shaniya was last seen alive with a man entering a motel. Her paternal aunt stated that Shaniya was just learning how to ride her scooter.
According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, almost five children die every day as a result of child abuse in the United States. That's more than 1,700 children a year.
These statistics are a national shame -- and there is no evidence that the numbers are diminishing.
Recently I listened closely to the lyrics of Concrete Angel by Martina McBride. I cried. You would too. No murders are worse than the murders of our children.
What can we do? How can we stop ignoring the horrific facts of child abuse in America?
Maybe we need to place statues or monuments on our interstate highways for each child killed by child abuse. In 25 years there would be a statue at every mile marker in the United States. That's how serious the problem is.
Julia Rankin Bloodworth
Augusta
(The writer is a guardian ad litem in child custody cases for the Augusta Judicial Circuit.)
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
There are too many unwanted children born due to the welfare taxpayers are forced to unjustly provide. America needs to embrace some social Darwinism and clean up the gene pool and the parasites that suck down taxpayer money because of their poor choices.
If you can't feed them, don't breed them. Stop paying the leaches extra money to have more kids and at least PART of this problem will go away. Not all, but part.
The program that paid parents more for each child they have actually went away in the mid 1990's. People receiving TANF get the same amount no matter if they have one child or 10. BUT- I worked with abused and neglected children there in Augusta for years and now work with them in an area with one of the highest median incomes in the country. The abuse is just as horrific and rampant here as it is there. Its a cancer that just needs to go away, period.
Shaniya Davis was only the second child of color covered in-depth by the AWM, since the Ramsey daughter was murdered years ago. And now "trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution" is charged (none of those other non-minority thirty or forty child death included such a charge) and ol' Julia believes that "Child-abuse stats are a national shame" well, here is some news: The prison population is a nat'l shame & disgrace, the treatment of the poor & homeless is a nat' shame, the gap between workers and CEO pay is a shame, the greed of the elite is a shame, the daily deaths by violence/guns of young men of color is a disgrace, so we have a societal problem, and truth be told, this society is well on its way to becoming a disgrace. We need leaders with a vision...
Absolutely, sw2005. Children have no protection if their parents aren't fierce protectors of them. Both parents, all of the time. Economics don't decide this attitude, parents do. Choose your mate carefully, for many reasons, but especially for the safety of your children.
GOD inspired life. the sanctity of human life was made null and void by the government of the USA. When the weakest innocent life is viewed as "Trash". What can we expect. I don't agree with Rev Wright's approach to ministry, but his statement that "the chickens have come home to roost" is dead on. Americans do not believe in "karma". Its an Indian Thing. No, it is a Biblical Principal. It is a scientific constant. For every action there is a reaction and consequences. The overwhelming majority of Americans have closed their eyes to personal responsibility in t he name of personal entertainment. Inordinate Affection is what the Bible calls our supposed love of one another in America.
JUSTUS, I thought Obama was this so called leader with vision. Isn't that what his "change" was supposed to be all about? You mean things aren't getting better with this "man of color" as president? Well, well, I wonder how Bush, the Republicans, and the "all white media" are responsible for this now? Keep posting JUSTUS...we're all getting a good laugh.
Temporary Assistance to Families and Children may be down, but SSI is through the roof. Try about $900/mth per child to raise a "government orphan" grandma. Supplemental Income has/is draining SS accounts, retirees or disabled.
OBAMA and OPRAH in 2012. Double zero, the dream team will solidify the hold on the executive branch of government just like FDR dreamed. In 1939 FDR proposed adding six Supreme Court Justices for a total of fifteen. He would have of course appointed his supporters and we would not be discussing any issues in a newspaper today.
deekster is exactly right. Once we decided it is okay to kill unborn babies we accepted a spirit of death. That spirit and sin have increased child abuse. Until we fix the spiritual root of the problem everything else is just talk. People only change from the inside out. In school we tell the child he is an animal with no creator and and he becomes what he is taught. The surprise is that there isn't more of it not that there is so much. Just signs of end times when wrong is caused right and sin is just called a choice or an alternative life style. Chirsitians are excited and sad at the same time. Christ died to fix all this but most reject the free gift He gave.
Baron and Tigger, if you think that only welfare parents abuse their children, you are sadly mistaken. Child abuse happens in all socioeconomic classes. Just about everyone knows someone who was abused as a child. It has nothing to do with socioecomic class and has everything to do with adults with serious issues that they will not confront. And child abuse is nothing new. Child abuse has NOT increased since 1973, how absurd to think it's because of legalize abortion. In the old days, unless you killed a child, you could do anything you wanted to, with them. Of course, that doesn't fit in with your sermonizing, soldout, but don't confuse you with the facts.
For one thing, missing children need to be on the cover of every magazine instead of Brad and Angie. Missing black children should get as much attention as cute little white girls. People should be aware of the numbers of missing or murdered kids in our country, and we all need to work together to put a stop to this terrible slaughter. Who would rape a 5 year old? Who could murder a child? Worse than animals.
Take them downtown and stone them to death. If that was the punishment I would bet there would only be one or two that would commit a crime.
Well corgimom...had you fully read my post you would see that I said that cutting off welfare for multiple children would solve PART of the problem. For crying out loud, I even typed "PART" in all caps in an attempt to emphasize that it wouldn't solve ALL of the problem. You may have been a little to quick to defend the leeches of society. And WHO said it had anything to do with abortion?(and extreme form of child abuse)