Parens Patriae

Unfortunately, there are many children who are brought into this world in unfortunate circumstances. There are many who aren’t blessed with loving parents who would do anything to protect them. In those instances, the state needs to step in and provide a sense of safety for these innocent children. The Parens patriae doctrine is in place in our country for that reason.

Parens patriae, which means father of the people in Latin, is an idea that came from English common law. The idea was that the King was the father of the land and he was responsible for all of those who either weren’t capable of being responsible for themselves or don’t have anyone responsible for them. In the United States, this is most commonly applied to children. The state steps in and acts as the parent when the actual parents or legal guardian can no longer be entrusted with their care. The best interest of the child is the first priority for the courts.

With approximately 896,000 children a year falling victim to abuse or neglect, which makes an average of more than 2,450 children per day, is the state doing a good enough job protecting these children? The state has a responsibility to put more resources and effort into finding a way to do do this more effectively. There are warning signs to look for in an abused child and mandated reporters need to be held responsible if incidents go unreported. Also, there are too many cases that involve repeat offenders. Why are they given the opportunity to commit these horrific crimes again? Better monitoring needs to be placed on these offenders to make sure there are no children living with them or spending time with these offenders.

In conclusion, crimes against children are some of the most difficult to read or hear about. These children can’t look after themselves and very often have parents who won’t look after them either. The state must do whatever they can to make sure the children are given every opportunity to have a normal and safe childhood, because they deserve it.

Child Molestation

Child molestation, one of the most unfathomable crimes I can think of, can be extremely damaging to the victim both physically and emotionally. The median age of the victims of convicted sex offenders was less than 13 years old. These children grow up not knowing what appropriate sexual behavior is. As with physical abuse, the likelihood of a victim growing up to commit the same type of crime is very high.

With the growing popularity of the internet, pornography is now at the fingertips of these child molesters. Statistics show that 90 percent of the predators who molest children have had some type of involvement with pornography which shows us that pornography does play a role in molestation. We need to prosecute the people who are running child pornography websites. If we make an example out of these people we can help alleviate some of the problems that come along with child pornography.

When a child is sexually abused, it’s common that they keep quiet about it and if they do tell someone, they usually have to tell multiple people before the authorities are called. It’s estimated that only 35% of sexual abuse is reported. Children are afraid and confused when they are sexually abused. In some instances, children don’t know it okay to tell somebody about the molestation. One-third of the convicted offenders had committed a crime against their own child and about half of the convicted offenders had a relationship with the child, either through friends or family. A child should be able to confide in their parents when they are being sexually abused, but it complicates it when the parent or someone close to the parent is the abuser. More education needs to be given to children at a young age regarding what is inappropriate behavior and how to talk to an adult about it.

Physical Child Abuse

As mentioned earlier, a child’s family plays an extremely large role in determining what kind of person they become. A vicious cycle is likely to begin when a child is brought up in a home where abuse is present and the likelihood of that child entering the criminal justice system increases dramatically.

According to the Prevent Future Abuse website, there are 140,000 injuries to children due to abuse each year and 1,500 children die each year from abuse. The graph shows that parents are overwhelmingly responsible for the abuse of their child. It’s a frightening thought to think that the people who are supposed to love a child the most, can actually intentionally, physically harm them. However, it is reality and the state has to do whatever it can to help prevent abuse.

All 50 states have established some type of child abuse reporting law which is a start. Professionals working in a line of work that gives them access to children who may be abused, need to make sure they’re held accountable if they don’t step in when there is suspected abuse. There are too many instances when people turn the other cheek and consequently injuries and even deaths could have been avoided.

Also, closer tabs need to be kept on people who are convicted of child abuse. The article below is a recent case that takes place in the nearby city of Tracy, CA. A woman, who had previously been convicted of felony child abuse only a year ago, had the opportunity to do it again. She was living in a different county and in a house with multiple children. It was too easy for her to commit the crime she is suspected of committing: kidnapping and torturing a juvenile for months.


http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11123834?nclick_check=1