A gutless ruckus over us luckless klutzes

Austin 3:16 says:

06:12pm | 08/09/12

When the parents fail - one way or the other the Government is usually the one that gets to pick up the pieces. All while being asked “how did this happen” or “why wasn’t more being done” etc.

Most child protection departments in this country are overwhelmed by their workloads which is a pretty strong testimony to the lack or ability of parents.

CD says:

08:19am | 09/09/12

@austin.
Or simply not enough staff for the numbers. Add more staff not more rules. Problem solved.
You’ve got a very weak and specious argument.  I hope you don’t have children. They’re probably padded up for safety.

Austin 3:16 says:

06:13pm | 09/09/12

Hey CD,

Rightio so parents are doing such a great super bang up job that the answer is to increase the staffing levels in child safety departments. 

How does that run against the grain of what I was saying exactly ?

If you have kids I sincerely hope that they are safe and loved.

barcoo says:

11:02am | 08/09/12

You must have been reading my mind, nihonin. There seem to be more and more committees, groups and panels sprouting their garbage, every day. What is more, the “protective measures” they come up with are just accepted and forced upon us. Who is the decider here? Who actually approves something like the above scenario?  Great read Andrew, by the way.

Don says:

04:25pm | 08/09/12

Totally agree, this is merely a manifestation of the outcomes that people can expect when everyone is continually shouting “the government has to do something about this and this and this and this…....” Government is a blunt instrument - this is what you get when you ask too much. Enjoy.

Parent of Active Kids says:

11:30am | 08/09/12

And therein lies the problem, Rose - looking for child abuse where this is none by ‘leaving no stone unturned’ in managing simple cases of kids being kids. The fact that a child turns up at A and E a certain number times per year with what are clearly accidental injuries should not be enough of a trigger to cause the stress and harm that an official record of being a possibly neglecting parent creates.
Where is the line drawn? Do we count sports injuries in these figures because we left our children in the care of coaches and referees for 40 minutes? What about injuries at school? Will schools be recorded as being potentially neglectful. Or, is a parent still neglectful because they sent their child to school where they might get bumped in the playground.
Perhaps these boffins would be better off looking at what it means to be a kid, to learn to take risks and to become resilient from experiencing life’s knocks. Perhaps they could also do with some lessons in the reality that the large majority of parents are loving and caring and doing the best they can. To assume the worst of everybody, which is what a policy as this advocates, is a sad indictment on those who create the policy and the society that tolerates it.

Cynicised says:

11:57am | 08/09/12

Nailed it, Rose.

Child abuse, including Munchausen’s by proxy, is not taken lightly by health and welfare professionals. Those same professionals (operative word) understand that accidents happen. It’s all a matter of proper assessment and judgement. Thanks goodness for education and experience, huh?

Fiona says:

12:46pm | 08/09/12

Scraped knees, bruised shins, the odd break is not necessarily going to ring alarm bells. Repeated fractures, bruises on the back, injuries inconsistent with the parents explanations have always come under suspicion. Let’s hope not a lot changes as result of this report,. Clinicians have been vigilant, maybe child safety will finally become vigilant too.

Rose says:

01:52pm | 08/09/12

I’ve just done a stint working in child mental health and am also the mother of 6, and spent my fair share of time in doctor’s offices and emergency getting my kids stitches, plaster casts etc. You clearly didn’t read what I wrote, the injury itself is not the sole thing looked at to determine abuse, and trust me, it often only takes a few minutes to clear up suspicion or to raise alarms, sometimes a bit longer. Most of your post is absolutely ridiculous and shows complete ignorance of what goes on. Injuries consistent with sports and other normal childhood activities are 99% of the time very obvious and raise no concern. Occasionally a parent may describe an accident which is not consistent with the type of injury.
I know a lot of these ‘boffins’, and suppose I could now be considered one myself and let me assure you, they know more about kids and normal behaviour than you apparently do. They have lived it, have researched it, they usually have their own children or at least have children in their lives and they meet and deal with hundreds of families every year and they become very good at what they do. There are unfortunately a minority who are ideologically driven and who aren’t in touch with reality, but the huge majority of them are right most of the time.

Pina says:

04:34pm | 08/09/12

Ordinary parents have nothing to worry about: medical staff are already aware of the non-clinical social signs that a child is in a risky situation: dysfunctional mothers, absent fathers, new ‘boyfriends’, multiple kids to the one mother all with different surnames/fathers. Then there’s the clinical stuff: recoiling behaviour, unexplained bruises, slow development, burns. It’s shocking, but we need to realise we can’t be everywhere: while you don’t need any qualifications to have a kid, there’ll always be child abuse, and there’s a limit to how much responsibility society should take for parents because the trade-off is a police state where interference in the family unit is the norm. I can’t stand the confected outrage that screams ‘child protection authorities failed….’ whenever a case of abuse is not uncovered. Firstly, the child protection authorities didn’t inflict the abuse, bad parents/relatives/boyfriends did.  Child welfare workers have an extraordinarily tough job, can’t be everywhere at once and have extremely difficult decisions to make - mistakes will always happen. We should support them, understand they won’t get it right every time, and stop beating ourselves up as long as we learn from mistakes.

pa_kelvin says:

03:54pm | 08/09/12

Cynicised…..You nailed it with your first sentence. I would prefer being over cautious than not cautious enough…......