roadrunner570
February 3rd, 2008, 09:02 AM
Suffer the Little Children
Hi everyone. I thought I would get back into the swing of things by blogging something that has been on my heart the past week or so. I read a blog by Paula recently where she talked about problems with the child welfare system. It made me think and I figured I’d add my thoughts here.
Many of you know that my previous job was working with troubled kids in a residential treatment facility. Many of these kids had long histories of physical and sexual abuse, abandonment issues and the list goes on. I knew kids who had been through more by the age of 10 than most adults could ever imagine going through. It was very trying working with these kids. Sometimes it was just plain frustrating. After several years, I left there to take a job in sales just to clear my head. The units I worked on were in constant chaos.
The place I worked in held around 60-70 kids and had a waiting list. There were less and less treatment centers for troubled kids. Our program there was not a strict program at all, but was a rather simple program for kids with mild issues. Problem was we were getting kids that 5 years ago were going to the department of corrections. But you see, DOC is full now, so places like ours get the really messed up kids who need much stricter and closer supervision.
With this being an election year, this is what frustrates me about what I see as all the key issues. Christians are so focused on gay marriage and abortion, which are both good issues, yet there seems to be more right under our noses. There are thousands of kids being abused right in their homes. Some of these kids may be our neighbors, or go to our child’s school. I’m not saying we should ignore abortion, but I’m saying instead of spending so much time on that issue, look at all the children who are right here, right now and suffering.
Jesus said:
Mt 18:5 “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
Mt 18:6 but if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Jesus obviously took harming children very seriously. I’m thinking we should too. This might be something to ask one of these candidates running for president, or in one of our congressional elections. What are we doing about our children? I know in this area, a child protective service is a joke. I mean, they are really good when a child is murdered in a home, to swoop in and remove the other children. Other than that, they seem to pretty much let things go as long as there is food in the fridge. Their philosophy here is retaining families, which is well and good, but when the family is destructive, I’m not sure what the point is. I always thought it was the best interest of the child that mattered, but apparently not. Though I do know there is a major shortage in foster homes, so that doesn’t make matters any easier.
None of these things will really fix things. What we need are responsible parents; people who won’t have children unless they are ready for that commitment. We need people who will be there for their kids and raise them. Just look around on MySpace. I see people I know who have kids who have pictures of themselves plastered all over their profiles at a bar, getting smashed, taking their clothes off. I wonder when I see these, where are their kids? Do the kids see mom or dad’s MySpace? If so, what do they think?
All of these are things to think about. We as a nation simply need to grow up. Life is not one big party. Our children are not some inconvenience into our lives. They are our future. Yes, abortion is a problem and I’m not condoning or excusing it in any way. However, we still have millions of children among us now who need each and every one of us.
Tim Miller 2008
Hi everyone. I thought I would get back into the swing of things by blogging something that has been on my heart the past week or so. I read a blog by Paula recently where she talked about problems with the child welfare system. It made me think and I figured I’d add my thoughts here.
Many of you know that my previous job was working with troubled kids in a residential treatment facility. Many of these kids had long histories of physical and sexual abuse, abandonment issues and the list goes on. I knew kids who had been through more by the age of 10 than most adults could ever imagine going through. It was very trying working with these kids. Sometimes it was just plain frustrating. After several years, I left there to take a job in sales just to clear my head. The units I worked on were in constant chaos.
The place I worked in held around 60-70 kids and had a waiting list. There were less and less treatment centers for troubled kids. Our program there was not a strict program at all, but was a rather simple program for kids with mild issues. Problem was we were getting kids that 5 years ago were going to the department of corrections. But you see, DOC is full now, so places like ours get the really messed up kids who need much stricter and closer supervision.
With this being an election year, this is what frustrates me about what I see as all the key issues. Christians are so focused on gay marriage and abortion, which are both good issues, yet there seems to be more right under our noses. There are thousands of kids being abused right in their homes. Some of these kids may be our neighbors, or go to our child’s school. I’m not saying we should ignore abortion, but I’m saying instead of spending so much time on that issue, look at all the children who are right here, right now and suffering.
Jesus said:
Mt 18:5 “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
Mt 18:6 but if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Jesus obviously took harming children very seriously. I’m thinking we should too. This might be something to ask one of these candidates running for president, or in one of our congressional elections. What are we doing about our children? I know in this area, a child protective service is a joke. I mean, they are really good when a child is murdered in a home, to swoop in and remove the other children. Other than that, they seem to pretty much let things go as long as there is food in the fridge. Their philosophy here is retaining families, which is well and good, but when the family is destructive, I’m not sure what the point is. I always thought it was the best interest of the child that mattered, but apparently not. Though I do know there is a major shortage in foster homes, so that doesn’t make matters any easier.
None of these things will really fix things. What we need are responsible parents; people who won’t have children unless they are ready for that commitment. We need people who will be there for their kids and raise them. Just look around on MySpace. I see people I know who have kids who have pictures of themselves plastered all over their profiles at a bar, getting smashed, taking their clothes off. I wonder when I see these, where are their kids? Do the kids see mom or dad’s MySpace? If so, what do they think?
All of these are things to think about. We as a nation simply need to grow up. Life is not one big party. Our children are not some inconvenience into our lives. They are our future. Yes, abortion is a problem and I’m not condoning or excusing it in any way. However, we still have millions of children among us now who need each and every one of us.
Tim Miller 2008