Tammy and False CPS reports
KATNEM@aol.com
Thu, 28 Mar 1996 13:04:58 -0500
Hi to all and especially Tammy!
Ironically today on a new T.V. show called REAL People, they highlighted a
segment on "False Child Protective Service reports, and the people they
affect". I hope some of you caught it. It shows here in Los Angeles at 9:00
a.m. on NBC. It told the story of three different families who had all been
accused of child abuse. One man, spanked his temper tantrum throwing son
while in a supermarket. The boy refused to walk out on his own, so the father
kneeded his son along from behind. He was reported, arrested and spent the
night in jail. The charge? Felony child abuse. The caller described the
incident as a man beating and kicking his small son. In another case, a
couple took their two daughters to the beach on a particularly "warm" winter
day. It was 58 degrees out and the girls, thinking "swimming", put on their
swimsuits, and over them put on pants, boots and sweaters. At the beach, the
girls stripped down to their swimsuits and ran around pretending it was
"summer". A bystander phoned the police and reported that the parents "Made
the girls run around in their swimsuits, all the while the girls cried and
shivered". The police arrested the couple for Child Endangerment, the charges
were later dropped. In the third case, a Harvard Photography Student/Mom took
photos of her young son in what she thought was an artsy style. The film
developing store called the police and reported "Child Pornography". The
Mother was put through the ringer and like Tammy, will have an
"unsubstantiated" report on her records. All three families agreed that while
a "Red Flag" might have popped up, they all deserved to be confronted
personally first, in order to explain their side of their story. While it is
a travesty that every 10 seconds, a child is "abused" in America, it is also
a travesty that parents are not first given a chance to explain before
reports are made and lives are ruined. Just my .02 cents.....
Susan (Mommy to Katrina and Emily 5/11/94)