Support Needed….

If you don’t know why I do this please read the About Lesley page….

The basis for this post it is a feature story on the BBC News website this week – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15288865. I state up front that this is not a pop at the Americans but it is a follow-up to my last post on poverty. Please also read the Expert Analysis section of the story. Michael Petit has provided the information on the conditions and fiscal policies that have allowed this situation to come about, it is compelling reading.

For me, this is a difficult post. I struggle with cruelty and violence towards those who can’t defend themselves. There have been some cases over the years that remain with me and give me nightmares. I, perhaps selfishly, don’t often post on the topic but the facts need to be talked about. Poverty, poor education and a lack of support often leads to neglect and cruelty. There are many who raise their children well in difficult circumstances and make great sacrifices to do so. I applaud them.

This is the bald truth – in the last 10 years over 20,000 children in the US have been killed in their homes. Imagine a short, pain-filled life. No joy, no happiness. Imagine that just for one minute. The minute will tick by slowly. It is difficult to make yourself think of unpleasant things but sometimes you just should. This happens everywhere, in the UK, in the US and all other ‘developed’ countries. It isn’t right is it?

We need to provide support for struggling families. It is easy to give social workers, health visitors, charities, the caring professions a hard time. We see the cases in the news when they fail but we should remember all those cases where it works, there are no headlines when it works.

It is hard to be a parent but children should be a joy not a burden. Please think about donating to a charity that will help parents learn and children grow up. The alternative is too much to bear.

I close, as always, with this:-

• Donate to a valid children’s charity of your choice.

• Visit this blog and comment about your donation. Please also tell me what you wanted to be when you were 8. I still want to collect those tales and hope that some child will read about your words and deeds and want to do the same when they are old enough.

I will:-

• Add your donation to the Totals page on this blog, totals are updated weekly.

• I will also write some words about the current donations and the charity

• Store all comments so that everyone can read them.

Thank you for reading.

Lesley