A
Philosophical Perspective by LK.
April is
known by the Child Protective Industry as National Child Abuse Prevention
Month. According to them, it's a month
designated to raising awareness about the problem of child abuse, and educating
the public on ways to prevent child abuse and promote strong healthy families.
This particular month also tends to be my busiest time of year. My news-reader fills up with this crap. In fact, I would guestimate a 150% increase in the number of pro-CPS articles over any other month, except November which is National Adoption month and a whole different sales pitch.
In years
past, I would skim through a few, delete most as to the uneducated mind, they
seemed all the same and are enough to make you vomit. Then a couple years ago I noticed a trend
where they were using the wrong set of data as a symbolic visual representation
of the number of children who were
abused or neglected, for example, the number of pinwheels planted in the ground
equaling the number of calls to the child abuse hotline, which appears to trick
the public into believing that the problem of child abuse is worse than it
actually is, when in fact approximately85% of such cases remain unsubstantiated or do not even rise to the level wherean investigation is warranted.
"Roper says last year alone, there were 64,000 calls
made to SRS to report abuse and neglect, with little more than 10,000 coming
from the Wichita and Sedgwick County area." - http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Advocates-work-to-strengthen-families-during/8goUVMdNSEmFzp-5AZb1mg.cspx
This
year, upon taking a closer look at these articles, collecting about 100 so far,
and reading through the first 25 this morning, I came to realize that the
System Sucks will base the number of pinwheels on practically anything. In Tennessee, for example...
"Each
pinwheel represents one of the 95,000 babies that will be born in Tennessee
this year." -
And
why pinwheels?
"Pinwheels are a symbol of a happy, carefree childhood
and the belief that getting it right for kids early on is less costly than
trying to fix problems after things have gone wrong. Doesn’t every child
deserve this opportunity?" - http://www.pcat.org/child-abuse-prevention-month/april-is-child-abuse-prevention-month/
So
I thought: The word symbol here is interesting to me. If the blue pinwheel is supposed to represent
child abuse awareness, then using visual that also represents a happy, carefree
childhood is somewhat disturbing. Then
basing it on the number of babies being born in the state in hopes for a happy
childhood for all, which would certainly put a lot of these agencies out of
business, is a deception that must be stated.
Then again the actions and views of the system sucks have often proven
to be concerning if not confusing. But
then as similar patterns began to emerge, I stumbled onto another interesting
detail.
"Community members can sponsor a pinwheel for $10.
Donors can specify a program their donation will support or let the center
choose the area of greatest need."
- http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_20307692/about-garden-pinwheels-planted-york-draw-attention-child
So I thought, hmm… There is a method behind the
madness. As there seems to be money
involved. This pattern emerged more and
more. The deeper I looked into it. In fact, out of the 25 articles that I read,
13 of them specifically mentioned some fundraising activities. The pinwheels are apparently going for
between $1.00 and $10.00
dollars a piece, and all the proceeds go to some agency or nonprofit
organization which deals with abused or neglected children.
Then
I came to notice that these fundraising activities of these agencies didn't
stop with selling pinwheels, and that many agencies are getting in on this
interesting little funding stream. One
of the most well known, which seems to be very active in fundraising during
this time of year is CASA, otherwise known as the Court Appointed Special
Advocates. In fact, the number of CASA
related articles has jumped significantly over the last week, according to my
newsreader, and they're coming up with a few creative ways of their own to cash
in on Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Now before I forget, I should mention that the government is
considering completely eliminating funding for CASA, http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6a45adb6fa71aca01f7c6bb20&id=d24294f386&e=f9d0250090 so how are they going to deal
with it?
Advocates for child abuse victims raise
awareness, funding in Longview - http://www.cbs19.tv/story/17304060/advocates-for-child-abuse-victims-raise-awareness-funding-in-longview
Ride raises $30K for child abuse
prevention - ( which will be split with CASA
and maybe even recruit a few more, mind you) - “We need volunteers to go
through our screening and training process to become a CASA. We also need
community members to help with fundraising events and to spread the word about
CASA. In addition, we welcome opportunities to speak to business and civic
organizations about CASA and the children we serve. - http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=65314
And you can even dine out in support of CASA, where a
portion of your bill will be donated to CASA.
Dine Out in April in Support of
Child Abuse Prevention Month - http://www.casappr.org/news/dine-out-in-april-in-support-of-child-abuse-prevention-month/
Of course,
it wouldn't be fair to pick on CASA alone as the soul agency using Child Abuse
Propaganda month as an excuse to hold a fundraiser. Nor is there any lack of creativity or work
put into such fundraisers, I mean awareness campaigns, as it appears that
practically any agency that deals works with CPS is able to cash in. And a few of these events are quite
sophisticated in their organization.
For
example, in Ocala Florida, there is a - Race Against Child Abuse set for April 14 - with a $25 dollar entry fee http://www.ocala.com/article/20120331/ARTICLES/120339951
In West
Virginia, there is going to be a walk-a-thon against child abuse, which last
year raised $14,000, and is expanding to include more events this year. "This year’s walk-a-thon event has been
expanded to include a 5-kilometer run and a bike-a-thon for children, starting
at Hancock’s Widmeyer Park on April 28. The event’s proceeds will benefit Safe
Place, at 24 N. Walnut St. in Hagerstown, and Safe Haven, a child advocacy
center in Morgan County, W.Va". - http://www.herald-mail.com/news/hm-blue-ribbon-event-designed-to-raise-awareness-of-child-abuse-20120401,0,2012487.story
So as you
can see, those of you who are out there crying about Medicaid fraud and Title IV funding, we
have an interesting little funding stream which has gotten far too little
attention. How much do they rake
in? We many never know as a whole, but
I'm sure it's way up there and all of this money is made under the guise of Raising Awareness About Child Abuse.
To
conclude this little escalade, I earlier mentioned that similar patterns began
to emerge. And so begins a month long
series. No it won't be a daily thing. Just a few throughout the month. But it will enlighten you as to the beliefs
and behaviors of the System Sucks.
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