First and foremost, I have to apologize for not posting in the past few days. I have been under the weather. We have the Swine Flu going around. Oh, don’t worry, I don’t have it but it did feel like a “Pig Cold” for the first few days. Enough fun, back to my topic.
“Love me or hate me, but spare me your indifference” Libbie Fudim
For those of you that don’t know Kelsey Briggs I want you to take the time to watch this video first. I’ll wait while you check this out; it’s worth your time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWow42TCwzg
Now we live in a world where information is “King.” Anything that you want to know or learn about is all but at your fingertips. If you want to know the capital of New Zealand (Wellington) you just hit your favorite search engine and ride it to the answer. So riddle me this Batman, how can we not know that this child, this angel amongst us was being abused? Without knowing much of the case, just following the timeline of abuse would point to the boyfriend and Mother. I’m not a detective, but I play one on TV.
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” Elie Wiesel
Who do we blame? Do we blame the ones that are in prison? The Mother got 27 years for allowing the abuse to happen. The Step-Father got 30 years for his crime. But I guess my point is could this, or should this have been prevented somewhere down the line so that this child could still be here with her Father. (Who, by the way, was off fighting for our country) Does the court system or Department of Human Services have any blood on their hands? I don’t want to blame anybody; I simply want this to stop with her death. I know that this is a small blog and I only have a few readers, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask for. OK, so here’s what I think. I happen to know a few people who work for the Department of Human Services; one of them is my daughter. I know for a fact that they are over-worked and over burdened by the lack of funds and lack of caseworkers and no apparent lack of cases. We know of hundreds of cases where this lack of workers have led to missed abuses and later resulted in the deaths of innocent children. So if we know there are shortages there, let’s increase those budgets. We can cut back on a few crates of guns or another plane of wheat going to some country that we want to “stabilize”, and spend it here at home. Let’s take things to their simplest form. Let’s quit trying to over think things. There are thousands of these types of tributes on YouTube. This is not a small problem, but it can be solved.
“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Elie Wiesel
Obviously, in this case the legal system did not protect the welfare of this child. They, in a sense, sentenced her to death. I know that sounds harsh, but I can’t think of another way to put it. There had been abuse when Kelsey was in the custody of her Mother and Step-Father and now the court in all their wisdom is placing the child back with them. They cited that the abuser was yet unknown. Yet unknown? This is where the legal system in all it’s glory lets us down, let that Father down, and let that child down. It’s is designed to protect us. I understand the “innocent until proven guilty” part. I can see where there needs to be proof that the Mother and Step-Father are the abuser, but then again, we are talking about child that could not tell us her story. That is until her death. Now her story is told and it is up to us to make it stop.
“The superior man is the providence of the inferior. He is eyes for the blind, strength for the weak, and a shield for the defenseless. He stands erect by bending above the fallen. He rises by lifting others.” Robert Green Ingersoll.
As much as we would like to think that “this doesn’t happen to you.” It does. Your neighbor could be an abuser. Your boss or co-worker at work could be an abuser. You could be an abuser. I could be an abuser. The important person in this picture is the one who notices the abuse. It’s you! If you know or suspect abuse it’s up to you to report it. Even if your not sure, even if you may embarrass the party in question. That minor embarrassment is nothing compared to the guilt of not doing anything. This problem has been overlooked too long. The time is right now. If you know anybody who may have someone abusing them, contact the authorities. Then contact your congressman and let him know how you feel about child abuse. It will take no longer than the time you took watching the video. And for those of you that didn’t watch the video, I lost you at the first paragraph and if you can’t take the time to watch that, then you won’t help anyway.
“The opposite of love is not hate, its indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, its indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, its indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, its indifference.” Elie Wiesel