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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1980)
THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1980 Local d Abused children have local help Agencies keep trying to find, help mistreated youngsters APRIL 4 MCAT I By BETH YOUNG Battalion Reporter H little girl was in her mother’s The mother stuck her under a er of scalding water, little boy kept missing the toilet His parents got a chain and g him from the ceiling, nother child wouldn’t get out of kitchen. He had a pot of hot ise thrown on him. 11 true-to-life cases of child se, a more commonplace prob- than most care to admit, erry J. Foster, pediatrician and f of the pediatric clinic at W ilford Hat Lackland Air Force Base, de- |bes child abuse as the mistreat- t or neglect of a child by parents thers resulting in injury to the Id. 1977, the U.S. Department of th, Education and Welfare esti- :ed that 1 million children are sed or neglected annually, with ie 2,000 dying. Brazos County has its share of child abuse cases as well. Glynda Franklin, child placement worker for the Department of Human Re- Iwurces in Bryan, said each worker at DHR has between 30 and 40 abused r child cases, with about 275 total v cases in August 1980. According to Franklin, the DHR is the main ser- ip approva yjge ce nter for child abuse in the 1 1° •'* toWHzos Valley. i said. |"Usuaily we get the calls or refer- sachedi;.^ directly or through the hotline in ; existinguBtin,” she said. “Police, sheriffs, . pegotiafapM doctors, neighbors, relatives or H concerned citizen in the com- it Linda!.r^ijnity will call and report child fse.” According to the Child 'eople talk and you find ings out, ” Franklin said, our best friend might t be your best friend hen it come to your kids. ” N hse Fact Sheet from the Texas partment of Public Welfare, las law makes it a misdemeanor to report child abuse, eople talk and you find things " Franklin said. “Your best d might not be your best friend n it come to your kids, hen someone calls to report abuse, Franklin said she tries to pin point all she can. “We ask what they’re concerned about and why they called, ” she said. “It could be because of an argument or out of spite. We try to get as many names of witnesses as we can to de termine the validity of the report. ” Franklin said guardians often deny any child abuse so all callers must name three other persons who see the living conditions and are familiar with the family. The varying degrees of physical (whipping, drowning, starving, beat ing, shocking), sexual (castration, molestation) and emotional (stem ming from the other two) abuse de termine how the DHR decides how to handle cases. “If the situation is life- endangering, we check on it within 24 hours,” explained Franklin. “In other cases, depending on the sever ity, we take from seven to 30 days to try and solve the problem.” Even though most reports of abuse come to DHR, a number of places in Bryan and College Station such as churches, the Twin City Mis sion, Brazos Valley Mental Health- Mental Retardation Center, Bridge House, police departments and the child abuse hotline all investigate complaints. “Counseling gets to the root of the problem,” Franklin said. “Most counseling is with the parents be cause that’s where the problem ori ginates, and it helps the kids too. “Other ways we help are by set ting up day care for the younger chil dren, getting doctor’s help for the seriously hurt or sexually abused and arranging for a possible stay in a fos ter home.” Franklin said that parents don’t al ways realize that they are abusing their children. “One man actually thought he should take another wife — his daughter,” she explained. “It took five years in prison for him to see that he was wrong.” Children in Danger, another pam phlet the Texas Department of Pub lic Welfare distributes, said that child abusers are often people who were abused as children. “Child abuse occurs in every ra cial, social and economic back ground,” Franklin said. “They are just people with problems. There is no typical child or typical parent. ” Sue McBeth, who works in the infant department at the mental atlo° If you've been out of the Service less than 30 months and join the Army Reserve, you may get your old rank back. Pay in the Army Reserve is better than ever For in stance, a staff sergeant with six years service now pulls down over $1400 a year (before deductions) That's for putting in only 16 hours a month and two weeks Annual Training. You'll continue to build points toward retirement In addition, you'lf get that old feeling of belong ing back. Remember? Check openings. See if you quality Call Army Reserve Opportunities SFC Daniel Hagedorn 1679 Briarcrest, Bryan Recruiting Station Phone: 822-5713 Part of What You Earn is Pride. An I qu.il Opportunity I mpluypr health and retardation center, said that the mental health staff at MH- MR does most of the counseling of older children and parents. They usually try to give the parent some “We have children from birth to 17 years old suffer ing from all types of abuse, ” Sebesta said. “We see that they get a doctor's help, if needed, and feed them, too.” kind of training at home and instruct them on daily scheduling so that they can spend more time with their kids. “We help them get a more positive relationship with the child and steer them away from the negative thoughts they might have,” she said. Franklin added that cases of this type usually involve neglect on be half of the parents. Joan Sebesta from Twin City Mis sion said DHR often sends children to Twin City Mission for lodging. DHR has six beds reserved for refer rals. Sebesta said that the beds are filled about three-fourths of the year. “We have children from birth to 17 years old suffering from all types of abuse,” Sebesta said. “We see that they get a doctor’s help if needed and feed them, too.” According to Foster, the goal of all people involved in child abuse is to provide the best possible circumst ances for the child to develop nor mally. According to the Social Services Handbook, a set of bylaws for DHR, the department’s goal is to protect children from harm by their parents or others responsible for their care. Success motivates the abuse work ers. 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New Year’s deadline orders: Dec. 17 AV^noP The Corps of Cadets gets its news from the Batt. ■ ■ . git ®- J 'K sail I f-l-l : : yjP -' 3 ‘|o, Mg, %*'- ■ MSC Town Hall & OPAS Student Committee presents Mary K Miller in Concert MSil 111 I - : 2 \H Danny Ward, Conducting also featuring The Singing Cadets Complimentary tickets available at MSC Ticket Office or College Station Bank. I December 11 - Rudder Auditorium Made possible by a grant from College Station Bank. N A.