What Sort Of Country Do We Live In

[Kathyw]

Ray always buys the sun newsrag to read(?) while I am walking the dogs, yes it does occupy him for an hour or so, please don't ask me how.

He keeps them for me as I love Suduko and do any I get my hands on, anyway I finished the sudukos and was just looking through the rag and saw on page 9 something that made me angry and upset.

Front page was the world shattering 'tina quits corrie' and 'wife bugs soccer boss', almost hidden away on page 9 was the story of a sub-human who faked a car crash to hide injuries inflicted on a baby.

He drove into a tree, then torched the car and dangled the baby in the flames to scorched her little body.

The charade was exposed when the baby was found to have old injuries including broken ribs and cigarette burns on her hands.

 

remember it says 'old' injuries. How old is this little girl?

 

Four Months old.

 

It should have been front page with his name and photo prominant for all the world to see and maybe identify, instead useless information is on the front page.

Ray now buys another paper and I have written to the sun complaining, no doubt that email will be binned.

 

But what does it also say about this country, that we tolerate this, that we accept child abuse not being front page. Is it happening too often so we become ummune to it? Well I am not a great lover of children but I am not immune, I am disgusted and tired because this baby was on my mind all night.

Where was her mother? what has happened to her mother?, who is taking care of this tiny child now?

That is what should have been reported.

 

 

Rant over.

[DanishPastry]

That poor poor baby :(

[murtle]

Kathyw I agree - and for that reason don't buy any papers now as the news that they sensationalise does desensitise people to these things. I don't trust anything I read in the papers and don't understand how we can accept shoddy reports on things that the reporters often have no idea about.

 

The Sun isn't the only culprit though, but we seem to accept it as normal

 

[pboae]

At least 1 child dies every week at the hands of their carer in this country. Most of those deaths won't even get a paragraph buried deep in the national papers. The sad fact is that child abuse is so common that it isn't even news anymore unless there some extra salacious or unusual details. Most people don't want to hear about it, and they don't want to read about it, so the papers don't cover it. Yet the handful of murders by strangers (10 or less a year) are national or even international news.

 

I don't understand that. To me, a carer killing a child is much more horrifying and tragic than when it's a stranger. I can only assume it is something to do with feeling that it could have been *your* child when a stranger kills them, whereas most people obviously know there child is not at risk from them.

[BillyMalc]

OMFG!!! :angry:

 

I'm not at all child friendly, but all I want to do now is gently hug this little baby girl and tell her that everything's gonna be alright now - which I hope it will be.

 

The scum that did this to her, I wish the same upon as any animal abuser of the worst kind. And that's being lenient.

[Sherlock Bones]

I would think, quite rightly, the reason details aren't listed (ie name, location) is to protect the child's identity.

 

No idea why it isn't more headline news though, even if details aren't listed, though of course the lack of identity could mean it is "uninteresting" in news terms.

[Kats inc]

Most of,actually all but 2 of the deaths I've known have been barely reported on.Only 2 have made headline news and they were only in local papers.

 

Key facts and figues from the NSPCC make for shocking reading NSPCC link As Pboae says one to two childen per week in England & Wales die as a result of cruelty.Some of the things I have seen done to children are beyond belief.The cruelty some people are able to inflict to either children or animals is beyond my level of reasoning.Sometimes it's down to sheer stupidity or lack of insight/common sense/ability to cope but sometimes it is sheer evil and utter vindictiveness and deliberate cruelty.

 

But celebrity is what today's society is obsessed with so the media know that's what sells papers.Some child murders hit the headlines but others just fade into obscurity like the children didn't matter or even exist.Cos of course Posh & Beck's new hair cuts are soooo much more important aren't they

 

They won't publish details of the child if she is under 16 yrs of age.

Edited April 6, 2007 by Kats inc

[BilRed]

It's horrific, just unbelievable. I have had exactly the same thoughts about trivial stories taking up the front pages while these terrible stories take up a few lines elsewhere. On the other hand I have many times got really upset about a story only to find that it was blown out of all proportion by the use of emotive language, distorted facts and straight-out lies which also makes me really angry. Between the two things I wonder if any of us really have a very accurate view of the society we live in, I think I have to conclude we probably don't.

 

At least 1 child dies every week at the hands of their carer in this country. Most of those deaths won't even get a paragraph buried deep in the national papers. The sad fact is that child abuse is so common that it isn't even news anymore unless there some extra salacious or unusual details. Most people don't want to hear about it, and they don't want to read about it, so the papers don't cover it. Yet the handful of murders by strangers (10 or less a year) are national or even international news.

 

I don't understand that. To me, a carer killing a child is much more horrifying and tragic than when it's a stranger. I can only assume it is something to do with feeling that it could have been *your* child when a stranger kills them, whereas most people obviously know there child is not at risk from them.

 

I think you have probably hit the nail on the head with that explanation.

[ailsas mum]

There's an article in to days Daily Mail about a Paedophile asylum seeker being allowed to stay in Scotland because his country loathes child abusers. He arrived in Britain in 1991 was jailed in 1996 for indecency towards a nine year old and was to be deported at the end of his sentence. He has been facing deportation ever since but 3 appeal court judges have ruled that the Asylum and immigration tribunal must reconsider his case to stay in Britain.

Sorry but this country imho is f@cked when they allow things like this to happen, I am very glad that I have lived most of my life and won't be around to see what it's like in 30/40 years.

 

Terri

[elricc]

Pboae totally true, the amount of cruelty and neglect is shocking. I think we have as a country have become obsessed with celebrity and non entities demanding the nations attention. I also think people want to believe that abusedoesn't exist. Talk to anyone who works with children or young people and they will tell you what the witness commonly.

[murtle]

ailsas mum that is such a true statement, unformately there is a good chance I will be around but what makes society today is certainly making me think twice (or more) about having a family that is more then me, OH and some animals.

 

This country has lost its way in so many ways I am thankfully so out of touch with it because it can't be my reality

 

x x

[ReikiAnge]

I read about this the other day on one of the news sites. It's just shocking beyond belief. I *thought* the man's name was released on what I read and I *think* his partner had also been charged with something. I wasn't even sure from how the article was written that the baby had lived, but it sounds as though she has? Poor, poor child. I really hope there is something better in store for her now.

 

Edit - found the article I read. Yes he was named, and has received a seven year sentence. His partner got 12 months, suspended. I wondered from the way the article reads about it being "a baby" rather than "his baby" if she wasn't theirs, was being fostered or something. Not that makes it any better of course. It says they won't be allowed to work with children again. I have no words for someone who can do something like that to a child. I have no idea how anyone could even think to harm a child or animal deliberately.

[Kats inc]

You'd get a longer sentence if you robbed a bank with a gun

[snow]

Laura you've hit the nail on the head - people do not want to think about child abuse, they don't want to be reminded that not only does it happen but can happen to any ones child. I know I've said this many many times before but the Stranger Danger Campaign did far more to place children in danger than keeping them safe.

 

If you look at the way the mass media and local media reports on child abuse it will either give high profile coverage to a "stranger" incident or to cases where the families can be portrayed as some how fitting the stereotype of "dysfunctional", or to either some form of institutional abuse, or where there have been multiple victims over a period of many years.

 

Now partially it is to protect the victims and the families - children below the age of 16 cannot be identified and since the vast majority of cases involve familial abuse often identifying the carer (father/mother) will in turn identify the child - it's a risky area and some editors will publish and some won't - I've had to deal with many cases where a child's identity has become known because the paper named their father. In the case of a school age child this can be devastating and often leads to even more victimisation of that child by it's peers. So sometimes the paper is acting responsibly by not publishing the story or the details of the offender - yes sadly that protects the offender BUT the price the victim and families pay if they are named is far far greater.

 

Personally I don't think we need to have these cases in the newspapers, they are very private tragedies and they always leave behind many victims who have to live with the consequences for the rest of their lives - I've lost count of the times I have had to try and put someone back together emotionally after they have been innocently sitting in a cafe having a coffee only to hear the people at the next table discussing them and their case which has just been in the papers... it's not pleasant and people aren't pleasant when discussing cases like this because they do NOT want to believe it could happen to them or to anyone they know so often will scapegoat the victim in some way little realising that the victim or mother of the victim is sat next to them....

 

I beleive the papers and media need to publish the FACTS about abuse and do a LOT more to educate the public and dispell the many myths about abuse and you do not need to publish the individual case details to accomplish that.

 

*takes deep breath and steps off soapbox*

[Kaos]

I beleive the papers and media need to publish the FACTS about abuse and do a LOT more to educate the public and dispell the many myths about abuse and you do not need to publish the individual case details to accomplish that.

 

But that wouldn't be so 'entertaining', and sell newspapers