Not Just Another Case of Parental Negligence

 

Not all parents are protective of their children. Some of them are even the reason why their children are hurt and abused today.

It is a natural dictum that parents love and care for their children. It is a conviction that people have confidence in. Of course, who would not believe in that? They are the reason why the basic unit of the community exists. The father is known to be the stronger person in the family; he is the guide, inspiration and disciplinarian of the basic unit of the community. The mother conceives their child for nine months, gives birth to it and nurtures it into adulthood. Without them, a family will never be called and considered complete.

In the contemporary times, however, this statement is a failure in proving its essence. Cases of child abuse, sexual assaults and physical and emotional brutality are rampant in the society today. The alarming part in all these is that some of the cases involve the parents of the victims, not as complainants, but as culprits.

Negligence is defined in the Oxford dictionary as the failure to give somebody or something enough care or attention. Put it together with the word parental and it could be inferred from here that it is the failure of a parent to give his/her child enough care and attention. Nowadays, plenty of children around the world are harassed and abused by their parents. This is not just a case of simple parental negligence. It depicts an even bigger conflict in the society today.

In a survey conducted by Child Protection Unit Network posted in childprotection.org.ph last 2007, the largest part of the pie of the child abuse cases in the Philippines is comprised of the 77% Sexual Abuse element. Other parts of the graph were Physical Abuse (16%), UVA (4%), Physical with Sexual Abuse (2%) and Neglect (1%). The age group with the most number of victims belonged to those aged 13-15. The more perturbing part here was that 306 of the victims were aged 0-3 years old. Infants, innocent little newborns, were victims, and in some cases, fatalities in the crime. The 2007 UNICEF report on child abuse declared that the probability of a child being injured or killed is because of parental drug or alcohol abuse, weak family ties, single-parenthood, low maternal education, low maternal age at birth, poverty, and poor housing. In most cases, the young father or stepfather was the perpetrator.

The norms and beliefs of the people define and control the society. But when these standards fail to prove themselves, it creates an atmosphere of confusion and disorganization in the society. Child abuse is one example of standards that continue to disprove themselves. It must not be ignored. It is a case to give attention to and not an issue, like the children, to neglect.