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Trust Fund in the News
Trust
Fund in the News February 24, 2008
Trust
Fund in the News January 30, 2008
Strengthening families is all or our business, oped by Roger Sherman and James Herrmann
Strengthening Families is all of our Business
The controversy surrounding an incident
that occurred at the Fourth of July parade
in Coeur d'Alene prompted this response which was printed in the CDA Press in July.
Melissa Farrell, a 21 year old mother with three children under 3 years old, was cited
for injury to a child by a policemen based on complaints by nine witnesses. Melissa
and her husband, Rob, held a press conference where they said she had only spanked
the child. This stirred up a lot of controversy among citizens, the local and statewide
media and even Fox News nationally. Was she being cited just for spanking?
When the case went to court, the judge dismissed the fine on the condition that the
parents attend parenting classes with ICARE, a current grantee of the Trust Fund.
As the organization in the state designated to lead efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect, the Idaho Children's Trust Fund focuses primarily on how we can strengthen families so that parents have the tools they need to raise healthy, happy children and to discipline without abuse. The recent incident involving the Farrell family at the Fourth of July parade raises lots of questions about our responsibility to each other. We may never know the facts of this situation, but what we do know is that all of our families need help sometimes. This would be a good opportunity to reach out. Not just to Rob and Melissa but to our neighbors, to our friends, and the folks at church. It is stressful having kids and especially having three toddlers at once. If you don't have young children now, think back. Parental stress is responsible for most abuse. Over 80% of child abuse and neglect is committed by parents. Very few people wake up thinking that they are going to abuse their children today. Instead life happens. We lose a job. We're embarrassed about how our kids are acting in public. We're fighting with our spouse. The boss is on my case. And then, we lose it. It can happen to anyone given enough pressure. Are there many of us who can say that we never felt like wringing our kid's neck? We just didn't do it. Discipline is important; abuse and violence towards our children is completely unacceptable. So what do families need to create the best environment possible for raising their children? Research tells us that building five protective factors immunizes families against child abuse. These factors are:
1. Having an ability to bounce back from
stress or crisis.
2. Having social connections and especially
having at least one person who supports your
parenting.
3. Having knowledge of parenting and child
development. We really arent born with
complete knowledge or skills and we may not
have gotten the best training from our own
parents.
4. Having access to resources to meet basic
needs when you need them. Family stress is
often caused by financial distress and an
inability to meet the needs of the family.
5. Supporting the social and emotional
competence of your children so that they
feel loved, like they belong and that they
can get along with others. This becomes even
more important when a child has special
needs of any kind.
You can help cultivate these qualities in
your own family and you can support your
friends. Take a parenting class. Join a
support group or help form one. Have a
disciplinary plan and learn the skills to
implement it; it will go a long way towards
eliminating abuse in our homes.
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