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I "know" this family as last school year I had the little boy on my bus. I remember getting a phone call from the mom of another student on my bus saying that her child was concerned that this little boy was being abused and wanting his address. I legally could not give it to her according to my transportation secretary. I also did not see any signs of abuse - his mom was always at the door of the trailer to see him off. She was very concerned about how he was doing on the bus - being as little as he was he had trouble staying seated complicated by the fact that he had some common health issues. I always found her very supportive whenever I contacted her. And I knew that she stayed in contact with the school as I often saw her at the school. I knew there were some cleanliness issues - clothes not clean, face not clean, etc. but I put it down to just the fact that I had gathered that the family was very poor. So to hear on the news that he had been living in such atrocious conditions and that his parents had been arrested for child neglect just breaks my heart. I feel a bit guilty for not following up more on him when the other student's parent approached me. And I ache for the turmoil the boy has got to be going through - being removed from his home and parents and thrown into a completely new situation. I also hurt for the parents as I am sure they are grieving. I don't understand how or why a parent can neglect a child's living conditions that severely - one would think they would ask for help somewhere.
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3 comments:
Edith,
So sad. When I was in nursing, I can't tell you how many times I wondered about families and tried to determine, "Should I call?" Abuse is easy... neglect not so much. Obviously, in this case a line was crossed, but some people just live differently from us. It is sometimes hard to determine where the line is for neglect.
I called once. The mother was very mad at the hospital and said she was never coming back. I don't know what happened to the kids.
Yeah, that's a really difficult situation, especially if there's uncertainty about the kid's well being... Being trained in social work doesn't help me in this regard, because I've been extra-sensitized to signs of potential abuse; so I'm always aware of the possibility, but don't know how to tell when the situation really does call for action on my part. :(
Mom,
I told you something wasn't right. My mom told you. I'm not blaming you, but I knew there was something not right. Zach even went to Mr. Hangey, but of course he didn't care.
~Gina
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