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Vera Snyder of Highlands Ranch writes:

We should be committed to track the at-risk (read doomed) children/infants from before birth, through infancy and beyond using information from every available source; hospital, doctor and police records; neighbors, family members. We should not tout any success in present efforts in child protective services or reforms until we make inroads in solving the unconscionable and obscene environments in which these precious children are placed.

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

How Orwellian.

Who is this 'we' of whom you speak.

Of course it's sad to see a child who may be doomed from birth, but I think it would be sadder to live our lives under the watchful eye of those who think they know better than the rest of us.

All children are doomed. It's just a matter of when.

Unless Vera is immortal and just not telling us.

"We should be committed"

You'll get no argument from me.

Wouldn't have to keep track if child neglect were a felony.

Here is a novel idea. How about people who have children be physically, morally, economically, and emotionally responsible for them. Accountability is a good thing.

You are all a bunch of morons. Individual responsibility is a myth perpetuated by the neocons. Only society can hold people responsible.

drew we as a logical society do hold you as a moron and a total idiot. go turn yourself into hillbillarys village so she can control you.
how is that?

Breeze-the government will oppose you most vigorously....they pretty much follow Drew's thinking and are working hard to get the individual out of the accountability biz.

"Wouldn't have to keep track if child neglect were a felony.
Posted by Jimminy on October 12, 2007 10:14 PM"

Jimminy is right. After all, that's how we got rid of murder, robbery, assault, larceny, etc. in this country. It's well known that parents who neglect their children nearly always check the statutes to see what the penalty is.

As if ignorance of the law were an excuse.

"As if ignorance of the law were an excuse.
Posted by Jimminy on October 14, 2007 09:11 AM"

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse, it is a fact. We are not talking about not holding people responsible for their actions, we're talking about trying to get them to refrain from those actions. Education and public opinion are our best weapons, not more prisons.

If child neglect were a felony, would the problem would go away, as Jimminy claims?

Well, the fact is that particularly serious child abuse is a felony. Has the problem gone away, or are those people who claim it would being, not only wrong, but also naive?

This idea that we can solve these problems with more prisons has not worked but has given us the largest documented prison population in the world, according to many sources.

But it's a way of turning the problem over to someone else rather than realizing it is a societal problem.

Here are some excepts from l8-6-401 of the Colorado Criminal Code, dealing with child abuse. That law is quite complex but these excerpt reflect that very serious child neglect is indeed a felony:

(7) (a) Where death or injury results, the following shall apply:
(I) When a person acts knowingly or recklessly and the child abuse results in death to the child, it is a class 2 felony except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection (7).
(II) When a person acts with criminal negligence and the child abuse results in death to the child, it is a class 3 felony.
(III) When a person acts knowingly or recklessly and the child abuse results in serious bodily injury to the child, it is a class 3 felony.
(IV) When a person acts with criminal negligence and the child abuse results in serious bodily injury to the child, it is a class 4 felony.
(V) When a person acts knowingly or recklessly and the child abuse results in any injury other than serious bodily injury, it is a class 1 misdemeanor;

You can view the entire statute at http://www.law.du.edu/library/ref/tutorial/finding_a_colorado_statute.htm

NOTE: it is so easy for a poster to make statements like this when he has no idea of what the hell he is talking about. It takes some time and effort, and intelligence, to do as I did and come up with the facts rather than the fiction.

Indeed so,Truth.Just like you,any sophomore can do research.If child abuse were not purchased wholesale by your government,if it were not looked at with the same wink-and-a-nod with which we regard,oh let's say,illegal immigration,or perhaps Hizzoner's employment of a cop-killer wetback;if felony child abuse were actually prosecuted with the zeal that is applied to driving drunk,or male pedophilia(female pedophilia still gets a pass),that would certainly meet my definition of sensible action to solve a societal problem.

Here's a suggestion for another sensible action to solve a societal problem in the making.Anyone notice that the educated folks that cause the most disruption are mostly Liberal Arts majors? Their instruction lies in the area of how to argue fast,loud, and complicated,with a lot of sloganeering which eventually finds its way into the mouths of the self-dispossessed,who then use all that uncritical thinking to justify their own malfeasances,like killing their children.
How about this: Let's impose a 100% college tuition surcharge on anyone majoring in Liberal Arts,with an additional 100% surcharge on Social Science majors.

Okay Jimminy, now I know that was satire at 3:46.

Oh wait, I get it. Throwing pots, throwing children.

Studying history and beating a child, why yes it all makes sense.

Look at the low life's who hurt children, many have the I. q, of a quail and less ability to raise children. Not too many college degrees in this crowd.

Unless we sterilize them or poison their food to get rid of them, they will reproduce. We had better have some government programs to at least try to care for the little ones.

In the past the extended family looked out for kids, but families are scattered now. This rampant abuse is well hidden in the nuclear family.

More people need to report suspected abuse. Silence can kill.

Satirical? You bet! And as likely to happen as spending the Iraq war money on the homeless. Too bad.

I'm not clear on how Vera thinks we should identify which babies are "at risk" before they are born. Does the term "at risk" mean at risk for heart disease, at risk for alcoholism, at risk for becoming a juvenile delinquent, or what? Vera seems to advocate sweeping intervention without identifying a specific problem.

I think she meant at risk from their parents or where they will live.

I recall (pre-Roe) we were told over and over that having reproductive choice meant that child abuse would be a disease of the past.

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