The political correctness that says hands off anything that portrays women, particularly mothers, in a bad light is being shunned and for good reason. This is not a gender issue but does provide an example of why children need both parents, especially fathers.
An Indianapolis mother is under arrest for alleged felony neglect of her daughter. The girl, age 11, was found in the home by the father of a friend of the girl. According to a story published in the Indianapolis Star the mother the mother chained her daughter to the bed because she had behavior issues while the mother went to work. This was based upon a statement by Lt. Jeff Duhamell, a spokesman for IMPD.
Unfortunately, for many children this is not an isolated incident. Most situations are not to this extreme but are as equally neglectful. Children living in single-parent homes were more likely to experience health problems, such as accidents, injuries, and poisonings.[fn1] There are millions of children who are not receiving the attention, discipline and guidance that they need as divorces affect one million children a year.[fn2]
A major problem for adolescent girls is that they do not receive effective discipline or have proper supervision. An underlying factor in this case is reportedly a discipline issue with the child. Statistical analysis of the behavior of children reared by a divorced or never-married mother revealed "significant detrimental effects" of living in a female-headed household. Growing up in a female-headed household remained a statistical predictor of behavior problems even after adjusting for differences in family income.[fn3]
Current research tells us that children raised without substantial father involvement have much higher incidents of juvenile delinquency, dropping out of school, sexual assaults against them, drug abuse, suicide and neglect.
Fathers who avoid providing the necessary care, companionship and support to their children should be held accountable for the actions and inaction. More often though it is the laws and courts which are based upon an archaic principle that children do not need fathers intimately involved in their lives that is forcing children into these harmful situations.
Regardless of what has led to the situation with this mother and her daughter the mother should have never taken the action of chaining her child in the home. I have lived in an apartment complex where a careless tenant started a fire which nearly spread to my unit. Had a fire occurred in this complex this child could have certainly died.
The amount of money that will be lost by lawyers, court personnel, mental health providers, law enforcement, drug companies and judges by placing children in custodial situations that are in the best interest of the children should not guide public policy. It is time to start placing the needs of children first.
footnotes
1. Dawson, D. (1991, June). Family Structure and Children’s Health: United States, 1988. Series 10: Data from the National Health Survey No. 178. Washington, DC: Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
2. Amato, P. (2000). The consequences of divorce for adults and children. Journal of Marriage and the Family 62(4), 1269-1287.
3. Greg L. Duncan, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and Pamela Kato Klebanov, "Economic Deprivation and Early Childhood Development," Child Development 65 (1994).
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