tlhild ahuse
By CAROLYN BLOSSER
Special to The Battalion
Last year in Texas 101 children
edas a result of child abuse. This
Itatistic, perhaps the most startling
eported by the Brazos County De-
artment of Human Resources, con-
rnis the fear the child abuse and
eglect is a serious problem in
exas.
The Department or Human Re-
jurces, a division of the Texas De-
lartment of Public Welfare, also re
nted the following:
—In Texas during 1977 there
ivere 162,000 cases of children re-
irted as needing protection.
—Of these, 142,560 were sus-
ected of being abused and ne
glected.
too many tragedies
THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1978
Page 5
-%
Ei
J\xe Department of Human
\esources usually receives be-
wen 20 and 25 complaints of
hildren in need of supervision
lac/i month. Most reports come
'rom relatives and neighbors of
he children, not all of whom are
wessarily abused. . . Pat Ar-
nickle, child placement worker.
—Of these children, 8.700 were
ilaced in permanent adoptive
As far as can be determined, no
deaths occurred last year in Brazos
County as a result of child abuse,
TiTl ss>d Pat Arbuckle, one of the coun
ty’s five child placement workers.
Except under severe circum
stances, police do not investigate al-
2. And legatins of abuse or neglect, she
mblb sa ‘d- Any reports are referrred to
a( j Vfr the Department of Human Re-
jj_ t sources.
Arbuckle said the Department
usually receives between 20 and 25
complaints of children in need of
supervision each month. Most re
ports come from relatives and
neighbors of the children, not all of
whom are necessarily abused, she
said.
Most of the families we re deal
ing with do not harshly abuse their
children,” she said. “Most of the
children are neglected or minimally
abused.”
She said most child abuse and ne-
ill
er
he FBI
Oasis
condi
ceofthi
IcCron)
ys coil
•ameup
gleet results from a lack of knowl
edge of parenting skills, lack of
money for proper medical care, or
lack of supervision because both
Mrs. ! P^ 611 * 5 work. Many families cannot
afford to pay for day care, she said.
Stress and alcohol also frequently
’at
eup res
-
llions i
erty an
Monday
employs
testimoi
;ed wife
; Vegas il
he was
.S
lead to child abuse, Arbuckle said.
Sometimes, however,the problem is
a philosophical one.
"Some parents believe harsh
physical discipline is the best way to
bring up a child,” she said.
When a complaint is received,
the case worker must first decided if
it is an emergency situation that
needs immediate action, Arbuckle
explained. The worker tries to find a
relative or responsible neighbor to
provide supervision for the child. If
that can’t be found, the children’s
shelter is the next consideration.
The only children’s protective
shelter in Brazos County is operated
by Twin City Mission Inc. in Bryan.
Children who are picked up by the
Department of Human Resources
are sent to this shelter, which is run
by the Rev. and Mrs. Warren
Barnes. Here the children are
evaluated to find proper care, and
are usually placed in foster homes.
Twin City Mission’s shelter can
hold only 13 children at one time
and they can stay no longer than 30
days, Barnes said. Last year 38 chil
dren were placed in he shelter.
Since Sept. 1, it has housed 15 chil
dren.
The shelter houses children from
the seven counties in Region 6:
Brazos, Leon, Washington, Grimes,
Madison, Burleson and Robertson.
The child may range in age from in
fancy to 17, but Barnes said the
majority placed in the shelter are
teen-agers.
Barnes said some of the children
placed in the shelter have suffered
Some of the children placed in
the shelter have suffered from
malnutrition as a result of ne
glect, some have been physically
abused, and others have been
sexually molested by fathers and
stepfathers. . . Rev. Warren
Barnes
from malnutrition as a result of ne
glect, some have been physically
abused, and others have been sexu
ally molested by fathers and step
fathers.
However, it is the emotional
trauma, not the physical abuse, that
is most difficult to remedy, Barnes
said. Because of this many of the
children have trouble staying in
their foster homes, he said.
For example, two brother, 8 and
10, were placed in the shelter after
being picked up for passing bad
checks. One 16-year-old who has
been sexually molested by her step
father is back in the shelter after
being in and out of three foster
homes.
The Twin City Mission shelter is
funded partially by the Department
of Human Resources and partially
by private donations. Barnes said
the government funding of $2,400 a
month is soon to be cut back to
$1,400 a month. He said this will
force the shelter to rely almost com
pletely on private donations.
After taking a child out of his
home, the Department of Human
Resources acts as a temporary man
aging conservator, Arbuckle said.
The Department has custody of the
kids while the parents go through
counseling until it’s felt the children
can return to their homes.
Brazos County has not state or
community supported counseling
service for parents, such as Parents
Anonymous. The Bluebonnet
Psychiatric Center does offer pri
vate counseling, but many parents
can’t afford the fee, Arbuckle said.
By CAROLYN BLOSSER
Special to The Battalion
Wednesday afternoon. The
)ack-porch screen door of the two-
aci J 01 ^’ wo °den-frame house bangs
nut. A young, blonde-haired girl in
er slor^i re ^ j urn P su h and sandals enters
neden. She has big brown eyes and
smooth, fair complexion.
Jane (not her real name) looks like
‘ n y typical 8-year-old schoolgirl,
ut there is one difference — she is
ln abused child. She her
'•year-old sister, who is not abused,
paying at the Twin City Mission
-nildren’s shelter in Bryan while
■'ey wait for placement in a foster
orne.
rrollton.
50 seed
tryinl
her frii
>r husls
s testa
ns,
tradict)
Katheryn Barnes, who along with
hecas ,er husband runs the shelter, knows
, ec cali an ,^ background well.
She s been orally molested by
'er stepfather and uncle since she
| W as 5 years old. Her parents are al-
j 1:0 °hcs. Her mother is now drying
aa ? u h Jane goes upstairs to put up her
°ks. Sitting on top of the yellow
c est of drawers in her room is a
vis shell n i fr ame d picture of her mother,
ill 0n the wall above
,an f Prayer:
■eekshel
she oil
me® l J
ndant
;r hid
r a
■ears
nonth
OSli
id
;ea
oitfl
Intid*
miH
at sf 1
K
Abused children find
home in local shelter
bed
A r'^j >W * wa ^ e to see the light
s has kept me through the
* , night,
nd now I lift my voice to pray
at He will keep me through the
day.”
^hen she first came here she
u ,' v<) black eyes. Her body was
Wack and blue all over. She’s been
ergoing psychiatric treatment.”
jane returns to the den and sits on
irian 011 i buying on the floor amid
m ,L re ° to V s are two sisters, 10
^nths and 2 years old. Their par-
? are separated and the children
••nin.theTflnds'ajob. 1 ’'’ 1 "’" Unti ‘ ' heir
Jane picks up the older child and
BiH er ln ^ er bounces the
g P anc ^ down on her knees while
n y patting her back. The
'Unger sister wets her pants and
"e appeals to Mrs. Barnes to let
^ change the diapers,
he s too grown up. She doesn’t
*• 0w h°w to play. She gets emo-
. i na y upset and then hysterical
en things don’t go her way. You
j 6 handle her with kid gloves. ”
j, ane Picks up the baby and carries
car fi n 1 adjoining bedroom. She
anrfl . her down on the bed
egins changing her diapers.
i ne n |ght she wanted to wash
ha air w iib an empty bottle of trial
aw *hat had been thrown
ay ' She became very upset and
but anything would have set it off.
One minute she’d be that way and
the next minute she’d be perfectly
calm.”
A few minutes later the screen
door bangs shut again. Jane s sister
is home from school. The girls eat
some vanilla pudding for their after
noon snack. Jane tells her sister,
“Did you know that if you eat vanilla
pudding, you’ll grow up and marry a
handsome prince?”
“She needs somebody she feels
secure with — somebody to sit
down and love her and talk to her.
One afternoon she climbed in the
chair with me and we slept there all
afternoon.”
Pouring rain prevents the chil
dren from playing on the swing set
or in the playhouse in the backyard.
Instead, the girls settle in front of
the television set in the den.
“Mrs. Barnes, may I change the
channel please?’ Jane asks. I don t
like ‘Sesame Street.’ They only
teach a bunch of different letters
and stuff like that. I know all of that
already.”
She flips the channel and stops.
Her face lights up.
“Oh, I love ‘Leave It to Beaver.
This is so funny.”
Mrs. Barnes is optimistic that
Jane can lead a normal, well-
adjusted life in the future.
“If she gets in the right enviro-
ment and stays in it, I think she 11
eventually outgrow her emotional
problems. If people understand that
those aren’t temper tantrums, but
rather the effects of emotional
trauma, I think she’ll be O.K. But
it’s going to take a long, long time.
Jane and her sister were recently
placed in a foster home together.
They are staying there indefinitely
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crying when she couldn’t use
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She said that the Department of
Human Resources only has time for
counseling on a very limited basis.
“We don’t have the time to give
any therapeutic counseling,” Ar
buckle said. “We do try to teach
parenting skills and serve as a
sounding board for the parents.
“We have become an urban
community, but we still have rural
resources,” she added. “Urban
problems are here, but the help is
not.”
A one-hour counseling session at
the Bluebonnet Psychiatric Center
costs $35 if it’s with a social worker,
and $45 it with a psychologist, said
Felice Klein, director of social serv
ices at the Center.
She said the fees are scaled for
income. Patients pay only a per
centage of the fee, and the Brazos
Valley Mental Health and Mental
Retardation Center pays the rest.
Klein said the Center’s counsel
ing focuses not so much on the
abuse itself, but rather on symptoms
of deeper problems.
“Abuse is not an isolated thing by
itself, she said. “Parents usually
feel other stresses and tensions.
When we find a way to deal with the
multiple problems of life, the abuse
takes care of itself.
“Abuse is usually impulsive,”
Klein added. “I think all of us take
our frustrations out on our families
at times. The parents don’t intend to
hurt the child. They feel extremely
guilty and sorry for it. We try to
help the parents to gain some im
pulse control.”
Parents Anonymous is a national
self-help organization for parents
who have a tendency to abuse their
children. It was established in 1970
under the original name of
“Mothers Anonymous” by Jolly K.,
a 29-year-old mother who herself
was a child abuser. Currently there
are more than 90 Parents Anonym
ous chapters in the United States
and Canada.
Parents Anonynous describes it
self as a crisis intervention program
whose primary objective is to help
prevent damaging relationships be
tween parents and their children.”
Parents Anonymous offers its
members two basic forms of help: 1)
weekly group meeting at which par-
f
ents troubled about “losing their
cool with their children” can share
experiences and feelings and learn
to support as well as challenge each
other; and 2) personal contact
among members during periods of
crisis.
The nearest Parents Anonymous
chapter is located in Houston. A
toll-free number for Parents
Anonymous is California is 800-
421-1353.
According to “Child Abuse and
Neglect: Legislation, Reporting and
Prevention, Texas law mandates any
person who has reasonable cause to
suspect child abuse or neglect to re
port to the county welfare unit (De-
pax'tment of Human Resources), or
any local or state law enforcement
agency. However, there are no
penalties for failure to report.
The central registry is the Texas
Department of Public Welfare in
Austin.
In Austin there is a 24-hour Child
Abuse Hotline (800-252-5400). A
hotline spokesman said they receive
about 1,200 calls each month. He
estimated that between 30 and 40
percent of the calls report child
abuse and neglect.
Receiving calls 24 hours a day is
the most important aspect of the
hotline, the spokesman said. In
emergency situations during the
middle of the night the hotline can
contact welfare workers at home to
help an abused child who has been
admitted to a hospital or taken to a
police station.
The spokesman said most of the
calls come from neighbors and rela
tives of the suspected abused child.
The hotline then refers the calls to
the child welfare agency in the
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A MYTH?
JESUS
A REAL HISTORICAL FIGURE?
A “GOOD” MAN OR PROPHET?
SON OF GOD???
Either Jesus Christ is the Son of God or He is not. There is no middle ground. Eventually
every person has to make a decision regarding Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ is truly the Son of
God, and if a person arrives at that conclusion, then there is a heaven to be gained and an
eternal hell to be avoided. On the other hand, if Jesus Christ is not the Son of God, there
are a lot of people in the world who are sincerely deluded. Christianity becomes little more
than just another “religious system” among many, and the folks who are “playing” Christian
have little reason to ask that others around them investigate the Christian system.
What is the answer? A neutral position is impossible, since any attempt to remain neutral
becomes automatically synonymous with unbelief. Is Jesus the Son of God, or isn’t He?
Some say yes. Some say no. If you’re a person who has been wondering about what
to do with Jesus Christ; If you are a person who has considered becoming a Christian;
If you’re a person who is violently opposed to Christianity; If you’re a person who would
just like to see evidences for and against Jesus’ Sonship presented objectively — then
perhaps this is for you.
On Jan. 17, 1978