crime

Local gov'ts struggling to verify child abuse info in 48 hours

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This would be a great time to partner with schools or even get local authorities to assist. Teachers are already really busy, so maybe creating a guidance counselor position at school that can also be assigned to these cases can help ease the strain of not having enough workers.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

The only way to be sure of anything is to advocate extreme government and legal over-reach into private lives, which needlessly destroy innocent families in the process. The end result of that, if there is any change, it will all be worse than when it started. Child abuse is not something you can end or reduce in the short term with new government powers. Its a long term issue and its solved with education, where the children of today are taught to be the better parents of tomorrow.

-10 ( +0 / -10 )

The 48 hour time frame is very aggressive and I would see that as being quite difficult to achieve in all cases.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The fact that child abuse is increasing very rapidly combined with a rapidly declining birth rate tells you there is trouble in Japanese families. Yes, it is partly because of more cases being reported, but that only means there are still more cases going unreported. The government is doing all this talking about child abuse awareness and prevention, but they are not providing the funds or manpower to address the issue. Meanwhile, kids are being killed by their parents.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

something tells me your moral compass is a little different from others...

Actually the problem is that most here buy into the sensationalism of the press and the government and are easy to have an episode of hyper-ventilation. Most people want to believe the worst because it gets their hearts pumping and is a welcome change from their boring lives.

Of course I believe in protecting children but that does mean I advocate helicopter parenting, helicopter government, or helicopter teachers. Stuff is going to happen no matter what is done, so best not to part with people's rights in the interest of trying to do the impossible. As Princess Leia said "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems are going to slip through your fingers." I think the key difference between my opinion and others is that most are thinking through to the end game of what they are advocating, like alcohol prohibitionists who got their way only to see alcoholism rise while they gave birth to the mafia.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

48 hours is defnintely a challenge.

The government is finally seeing that something needs to be done to stop these senseless deaths by parents. But they aren't providing funds or manpower to help the local municipalities.

There should definitely be a constant line of open communication between the school, local municipalities and the police. But again, this leads back to lack of funding and manpower...

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Educator60 Thank you. Yes I left out "not" both times. I long for an edit button.

I do NOT advocate helicopter parenting, especially from the government. I do NOT think people are thinking through to the end when they advocate stronger government measures. Its all fun and games until your kids get bruised playing, forget how exactly they got the bruises but clearly remember you scolding them that day, and then you have teachers and child welfare types scrutinizing your parenting and police whose job it is to "find" lawbreakers interviewing your very confused kid.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

It's new for these organisations to actually be expected to do something other than talk in a whisper, ask for parents to try harder. And get all involveded understanding while doing nothing. Hope for the best "gambatte".

So it's going to take a long time for those involved to work out how to actually do their job. Under these circumstances 48hrs timeframe will not only add to the already stressful job but ensure mistakes are made. I would suggest a study group who go and see how it's done in other countries, new training, police laws. And education at school about abuse and the effect it has on those abused. Not going to happen overnight. Do what you can with what you have while plan the next change.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

suggests that the facilities do not have enough human resources at their disposal

If you mean 'people' say it. Or staff/workers/employees.

Better and prompt action means more qualified staff and this takes careful planning, time and money, none of which is going to be forthcoming, so this is just yet another example of the government paying lip service to an urgent and terrible problem.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This is so sad. Some people have no business bringing children into this world. Life is hard enough as it is for children. Throw bad parenting into the mix and you have a living hell.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@alwaysspeaking wisdom

Child abuse is a global problem. You seem to be saying it’s okay for one place as long as another place has more.

Also, since you love Japan so much, you also know there is a huge difference between facts and “reported.”

As for the 700,000 annually in the US. That was an estimate based on the amount of cases that were reported which was 634,000.

People are commenting about a Japanese news article on a Japanese news site. If you want to bash America or the west, they have plenty news sites with like minded people you can go harass.

Working in schools. I have seen students abused by teachers many times. Sometimes it’s the same student almost daily. Yet, never once have I seen an investigator and it is never reported. The higher number is cases simply mean that people in other countries are more willing to get involved.

I don’t want to compare either countries. At the end of the day, children need to be protected no matter where they are.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Ask the help of police officers - there's a lot of them on desks

Use police officers who are trained to deal with child abuse cases (if none, then train some)

4 ( +4 / -0 )

expatToday wrote: "If the authorities can muster 170 cops at short notice to look for a bank robber, why can't they muster enough officers to determine whether kids' lives are in jeopardy?"

Any police officer can ride around trying to match a face in a picture with a suspect on the loose. Trying to figure out if child is being abused or not is a difficult thing to do short of moving into some family's house. Its not a man power issue. Its a matter of finding people intelligent enough and training them to do the job properly and everyone acting like its a simple "go see" issue is out of their minds.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

The 48 hour timeline is meant to intervene in the most severe cases where a child’s life is in immediate danger, such as the recent cases of very young children or babies being starved to death. Most cases will take longer to work out, but e.g. giving a starved child food is something that can be done immediately.

I have a child who was very underweight as a baby due to a digestive issue and the city did follow up with me a few times to see how she was doing. They offered services like a dietitian who helped us beyond the help we were already receiving from our pediatrician and I appreciated the help and support they offered. They did ask questions that made me think they were trying to establish whether it was an abuse situation but I don’t blame them for that; there are parents that do starve their children.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Its all fun and games until your kids get bruised playing, forget how exactly they got the bruises but clearly remember you scolding them that day, and then you have teachers and child welfare types scrutinizing your parenting and police whose job it is to "find" lawbreakers interviewing your very confused kid.

I don’t think this is a realistic situation. Bruises from falling down playing or kids hitting each other look very different from bruises left by an adult hitting a child because of the relative weight and force involved, and people who work with children can generally tell the difference. I’m not saying that it’s never happened, but it is unlikely.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There need to be safe houses created.

A place to go with your child to escape abuse,

and figure out a plan of action.

Many spouses of abusers are between a rock and a hard place, with no where to turn.

In schools, there needs to be someone there to be a child advocate,

to make sure an abused child's voice is heard, and action is taken.

More education in dealing with stress.

The photo on the top of the page is so awful.

The clenched fist of that parent looks like he's at the end of his rope,

and hits his child instead of a boxing at a gym.

No more battered children!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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