Kids, One By One

Every day in the newspaper we read about another kid or two or three who has been lost to society. Sometimes the stories are horrific. The children were smothered by a parent who grew tired of the crying that interrupted video games, or just threw the baby out of the car, or starved and hurt their child. Or other things too sad to think about. These are the worst cases.

I wonder if the hospitals where kids are born could make a quick assessment of the families where kids go home to. Doesn't seem difficult to see some red flags, and make follow up on these. It would take a bunch of social workers, maybe expanded with volunteer home visit people. The home visitors could offer help, make some suggestions about child care, and if they saw dire difficulties, get immediate help. Yes, there is always the mind set of "we can't do this because.." But the lives of kids are at stake.

As a society, the politicians are always looking to the next election. Seems that in Florida we care very little about kids. The legislature makes sure that kids' welfare is always at the bottom of the list - they don't vote. It is a political must that politicians here vote to protect the fetus. But beyond that, they see no need to protect the kids that are already here and needing so much. Don't expand Medicare etc.

What I see in my volunteer work in an impoverished elementary school is a kind of subtle neglect a lot of parents have for their kids. I know these parents work hard and long hours to keep food on the table (or for fast food). I know these parents have few resources of energy or aspirations. And I know these parents love their kids.

But it makes me crazy that a parent cannot do the minimum to help their kid go to a free week of a wonderful camp next summer. We want that gifted and interested child to go to camp that she desperately wants to attend, but, so far, no one in her family will help on this. Hard to know what to do?

I will go to my grave knowing that I could have done better if I knew what to do. Perhaps I should be content that I have done my best child by child.