| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Tuesday, February 14 2006 |
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| The squeaky noise emanating from a black plastic bag floating on the Pampulha Lagoon in the Brazilian town of Belo Horizonte caught the attention of a couple of villagers. They thought it was a cat meowing, and managed to pull the bag out of the water. To their surprise, it was not a screaming feline they found, but a 2-month-old baby girl.
How she ended up in the lake is still being investigated; the mother said she gave the baby away to some homeless people because she couldn't afford to keep her. Immediately, thousands of people offered to adopt the child. She was one of the lucky ones. At least she survived the ordeal.
There has been an alarming surge of stories in the news about children who have been neglected, abused, tortured or even killed. Yet even more alarming is the fact that in the majority of the cases, these children are victims of those who are not only supposed to be giving them love and attention but be protecting them from danger: adults, caretakers, their own parents.
Some of the most notorious cases have come out of the New York City area. Within a two-month period, five children died in their homes, among them 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown, who was allegedly beaten to death by her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, on Jan. 11 for eating a forbidden yogurt.
Like Nixzmary, dozens of kids have died at the hands of a stepfather or their mother's boyfriend, too often with the mother too weak to do anything to prevent it. Also in New York City, 4-year-old Quachon Brown died of fractures to the skull and severe lacerations to the liver. He was allegedly beaten by Jose Calderon, his mother's boyfriend, because he knocked down the TV set. In Indianapolis, 4-year-old Andrea Gonzales died of massive trauma to the head after her stepfather allegedly banged her head against the floor for having soiled her pants.
Two other cases of child abuse sent shockwaves through Nevada. In Las Vegas, police are still trying to identify a little girl of Hispanic origin whose beaten body was found in a trash can. In nearby Carson City, a 16-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother were kept locked in a bathroom. When they were discovered, she weighed 40 pounds, and her brother weighed 30; apparently neither had been to school for the past five years.
It was severe depression after learning that her husband wanted a divorce that apparently led Eleazar Paula Mendez to suffocate her three children in De Queen, Ark. She tried to kill herself by swallowing ant poison. She claims her children -- an 8-year-old boy and 6-year-old twins -- begged her to take their lives, too.
Of course, in her case there is no way anyone could have known that her despair would lead her to commit such an unspeakable crime. She has been described, even by her husband, as an extraordinary mother. But in too many cases, the warning signs are there and are ignored by other family members, social workers, school administrators and neighbors, who either don't take them seriously or don't want to get involved.
In New York City, the rise in children's deaths has led authorities to take a close look into the effectiveness of the city's Children's Services. In all of the recent cases, the child-welfare agency had been investigating reports of abuse and neglect, yet the children were left in a dangerous environment that eventually took their lives.
Within a week after the death of Nixzmary, the city's child-welfare office received more than 2,000 reports of abused children. At least 200 of them were taken away from their parents and put into foster care. The state Senate approved a bill that calls for a mandatory life sentence without parole for those who intentionally cause the death of a minor under 14. It's too late for five young victims.
But even though the system failed these children, leaving them under the care of unfit parents or caretakers, it is not a bureaucrat who takes the life of a child. Some people are just not fit to be parents, and some single mothers are not mindful enough to put the safety of their kids above their love interests. There are thousands of responsible adults, many of whom cannot have children of their own, who can care for unwanted children through adoption. Somebody has to start minding the kids. |
