Originally posted by junglejake
I'm sure some of you just watched the O'Reilly factor and know where I'm going with this since reading this sentance. That was the source that clued me into the information, now I want to present it to y'all to explain what caused America to value these people as second class property while at the same time protecting other minorities so much so that you can't even say anything against someone who happens to be part of that group without being evicerated by anyone nearby, if not sued.

I'm talking about children. This isn't an abortion thread, I'm talking about kids who have been born, and are under the age of 17. There are far too many cases where severe child abuse, if not murder, take place, and no one is charged, or if they are, they're getting probation. Bill O'Reilly talked about 3 examples. In looking on the web for those examples, I've come across many, many more. I was hoping it was another of those O'Reilly attacks on a minor problem by making it seem like the norm, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

In New York, a 13 year old mother couldn't get her infant to stop crying, so she threw the baby out her window into an ally and went to school. She has not been charged with any crime.

In San Diego, a couple were charged with locking their son in the trunk of their car when they would go bar hopping at night. They would also keep the kid in there for 5 or 6 hours straight on several other occasions. They would smoke pot in front of the child as well. 7 counts of felony abuse were leveled at these parents, along with several other charges. They were found guilty. The charge? Probation.

I don't remember the third example from O'Reilly, but here are a few of the ones I've found since searching.

Tiffany Fairris got herself a divorce from her hubby and went to live with some other fellah. She got custody of their children, and would call her Ex, Eric Horridge, and, as this article in the United Press puts it, taunt him by slamming his 19 month old baby boy into walls and bash him in the head with the phone. There is no allegedly in this, it's gone to court and the case is done. Horridge made more than a dozen calls to the county's child protective services filing complaints against the child's mother. The caseworker finally told him to stop calling, saying he was a disgruntled ex-boyfriend.

Finally, he was going to kidnap his children. He set up a time where he would get his son for the day, and had no intention of ever bringing him back. That was the plan, but unfortunately, that night Colin, his son, was killed. The county coroner said it was a homicide. Their daughter, Erica, detailed for cops the beating that her little brother underwent, though she was only 3. Fairris and Fowkes (the boyfriend) were charged with child abuse and murder. Fowkes was acquitted; the charges against Fairris were dropped. No one has been charged for Collin's death, which the medical examiner ruled a homicide.

(don't feel like paraphrasing the next one )

In 1997, national media attention focused on an apartment in the tiny suburban community of Germantown, Md., where Montgomery County police opened the bedroom door to discover a severely malnourished kindergartener Richard Holmes, chained to his bed. The boy had been confined to the room for up to 23 hours a day, fed a diet of hot peppers and whiskey by his father, Alan, a volunteer firefighter, and his father's girlfriend, Alba Scarpelli. Richard's legs and arms had been bound with duct tape for so long he couldn't walk.

In Richard's case, administrators and teachers at Lake Seneca Elementary School, which he attended, filed more than a dozen complaints detailing their suspicions. The boy was fishing food out of garbage cans. His nails had been cut so short they bled. He was black and blue with bruises and ligature marks. Finally, he stopped coming to school.

This is horrible. Absloutly horrible. So what is causing this? What in our culture is allowing this to happen to children and, despite mountains of evidence, no one is held accountable? I'd like to hear some of your opinions before stating mine, because currently mine is very dark and pessimistic, and I'm hoping someone here can convince me I'm wrong. It seems kids today are being treated as property, where the parents can do with them as they please. I know there are many cases where people are charged, but the fact that there were over 114 cases in 2003 of obvious child abuse where no one was charged and the children, despite multiple calls to DCFS, were never removed from their families. That's 114 too many. I can't find statistics for 2004, but I suspect they'll come out if there's much of an outcry over O'Reilly's segment. However, I don't typically watch him and it looked like it may have been a recuring segment. What a horrible, horrible shame...
I just found this On the web ,, I'm Eric Horridge and Collin was my son,, the world has gone crazy, my little boy was murderd the and the STATE OF MARYLAND LET HIS KILLERS GO, WILL ANYONE HELP BRING JUSTICE TO LITTLE COLLIN ....DOES ANYONE CARE??????????
[edit on 1-26-2005 by junglejake]

I just found this On the web, I"m Eric Horridge, Collin was my son. The state of (((Maryland))) LET THE KILLERS OF MY SON GO, IS THEIR ANYONE OUT THERE THAT WILL HELP BRING JUSTICE TO COLLIN, Is there any justice in the world for children.

[edit on 3-2-2005 by Horridge]

Horridge, OMG, Eric, I feel so broken hearted for you... I wish there was something I could do. Your right, there is no Justice done for your Son, your innocent 3 year old could not protect himself, and whats a real crime are those So Called protective Child services are as guilty as was his Mother, They all need to be in prison. Your in my Prayers Eric... Take care of yourself. I trust Justice will come soon.

You Know, I scroll through all of the threads here on ATS, I fine at times a ignore aspect of certain topics by most... There is no more important subject then what this tread brings to mind... Its worse then anything that is wrong,! With such High IQ that exist amoung all of us, how is it we don't protect our own Where Children are Concern?

So Sad, this topic tends to reside on the back side of importance... Sorry Mods for the one liner, I'm left with no energy to express my thoughts further...

I think you need to get some facts straight.first Tiffany Fairris has never been married. second this Eric who claims to just want justice sure wasn't seeking it when he wanted to get back together with ms. fairris. when she turned him down then he got mean. next tiffany isn't a violent person. she lives with the tragedy of her sons death. she doesn't deserve to have forums like this one posting crap from people who are ether so self serving that the seek to harm her thru slander and libel or whoever wrote this not having the decency to try to get the facts straight.

Three pages and only a couple stars on such an important issue is a real problem.

Violence, as in "spare the rod" nonsense is a breakdown of civilization it is bullying abuse and needs to stop completely. You talk to your children, you make family plans, ie certain behaviors being worked on, with alot of understanding, you create life plans and help them to problem solve more and more. For little guys who are physical, you divide and keep apart. You demonstrate Love and Peace and Respect. You don't dictate but teach and learn at the same time.

In my eyes, it's quite simple how this ends up happening. Parents were once abused by their parents and the cycle continues. Their parents told them it was within their right to do what they wanted since they, the children, are THEIRS and that is the only alibi they need as it seems to work for every other facet of the child's life.

Ex..: "Dad, can I go out with Timmy today?"
"No!"
"But why not, I did all my homework already."
"Because I said so and I'm your dad! That's why!"

The child grows up, has children of their own and a situation comes up when they have to exert some form of assertive parenting. As much as the new parent wants to take another route because they have the terrible imprints their parents left on them, they simply cannot cope because instead of their parents providing them with good parenting skills, they resort to the only thing they do know and were provided with, violence.

And the cycle continues. At this point, they take on their parent's excuse of, because I'm older or because I'm your dad/mom, because it is easier, and hey, everyone else seems to get away with it. You can even call the cops on that child when he finally decides that he's had enough and either run aways or fights back, and you'll still be in the "right" because you're the parent.

Any of you that have been hit by your parents for ridiculous things, ask them why they do it. The only responses I ever got was, "Because that's what happened when I was your age." Or the best one, "Because I'm your dad/mom."

It is up to you to break the cycle. It's a shame that it is like that. I know in my family, I'm fully expecting my two siblings to take similar roles to that of my parents. I've heard it from them countless times, "It's not like he hit us that bad."

I beg to differ and I won't be continuing the cycle within my own family when I do have my own. In fact, because of my upbringing I've had the greatest desire to have children of my own. I'd like to give them everything I didn't have. Not materially but parentally, the things that matter. Good advice, real love and actual caring, not because you have to, but because you want to. I only hope my siblings choose to take another route.