Essay: The Effects of the Media on Child Abuse and Neglect

There is a need to bring more public awareness and knowledge about child abuse and neglect, as well as more attention from government policy makers to protect children from abuse. The media has the power to increase awareness and knowledge on prevention, causes, and the consequences of child maltreatment. However, the way the media covers stories about child maltreatment can make a difference in how people respond to this serious social problem.
In 2015, the Chicago Sun Times covered a story about a study that directly blamed the federal government for its failure to protect children and called “government’s lack of action a national disgrace” (Morh and Burke, 2015). The reporters revealed that the major flaws in the child protection system were attributed to budget problems, shortage of workers, a non-systematic data collection system and judges who made wrong decisions because of a lack of adequate knowledge of risk factors for abuse (Mohr et al.,2015). Mohr and Burke inform the reader that children in the system die from beatings, starvation, or intentional drowning as a result of a flawed system (2015). Throughout the article, the authors attempt to persuade the reader to feel outrage towards a system whose main goal is to protect children by revealing the results of the study. The story suggest to mandate the Department of Health and Human Services to get more involved when states do not follow federal laws (Mohr et al., 2015), but this does not appear to be a solution to the problem nor is providing a solution the intention of the story. Instead, the reporters’ goal was to provide the reader with evidence that supports their stance that reform in all levels of government must happen in order to protect vulnerable children from abuse and neglect.
In the state of Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reported on a war veteran with PTSD and a history of arrests who was not identified by social services as a high risk. This decision may have subsequently lead to the tragic death of his baby boy. Reporter, Jeniffer B. McKim explained that social workers categorized the family as “lower risk”, meaning child was not in any immediate danger only in need of social services and no investigation for potential abuse was recommended (2015). McKim indicated there is a steady increase in the number of deaths related to child maltreatment to prove there is a serious problem with the system (2015). She went on to say that the majority were children under 3 years of age died in the hands of abusive caretakers (McKim, 2015). Despite intervention from social services, these children died from beatings, starvation, or from being smothered (McKim, 2015). In a further attempt to persuade the reader to react, McKim continues to emphasize the problem is with the system by recanting some of the “mistakes that occur at all levels of the child welfare process” (2015). The author goes in depth about the two tier system where cases are immediately assigned to a low risk or high risk group. She points out that low risk groups are assigned to less experienced workers who may miss important high risk indicators (McKim, 2015). Additionally, retrieving reports on criminal history is typically skipped, such a step could have saved the infant child as well as other children, McKim argues (2015). In this lengthy article, McKim provided proof that the system is putting vulnerable children in serious danger. The message that children die because mistakes are made is compelling enough to get political and public attention and support.
Like the previous story, Los Angeles Times reporter, Garrett Therolf gets the readers’ attention by first addressing a police report about an intoxicated mother in Long Beach who picked up her 1 ½ year old boy. He died six months later beaten to death by the her boyfriend (Therolf, 2015). This again transforms into a story about a defective system and how this death could have been prevented. Therolf found that the responding officer did not check the E-SCARS cross-reporting system for past reports, nor did the officer report the call to the child abuse hotline (2015). The reporter’s message once again appears to be a call for change in the system. Simple steps were skipped and may have contributed in the child’s death. The author concludes the mandated reporting act was established to have all mandated reporters cross-report any allegations, but not every jurisdiction has the same interpretation such as Long Beach (Therolf, 2015). Evidence remained in files as the responding officer walked away from a child at high risk for abuse (Therolf, 2015). The reporter expressed his frustration as he points out how something so tragic as the violent death of a child can happen despite regulations that are already in place to intervene were ignored (2015). Therolf’s appeal to the reader is reminiscent of other reporters, awareness and change are needed in order to protect children from tragedy. The reporter’s plight for change can be felt and his call to the public is to send a message to local and federal government.
USA Today took a different approach in two of their their stories that focused on the individuals. Dan Horn reported the story of a young Cincinnati woman who beheaded her 3 month old child. Horn goes in detail to help the reader understand how painful childhood experiences and mental illness lead to an abusive and violent parent. By telling her story the reader may be able to feel some empathy and understand that help could have been provided at some level. Debbie Yetter took a look at another individual, a social worker who was in danger of losing her job because she went over and above the call of duty. Yetter conveys her support for the dedicated social workers who went out of her way to protect a child. This positive view on social services appears to be rare in the media. However, this perspective is important because there are many hard working, caring social workers where morale may be low due to the stresses of work and the constant negative media coverage. Both reporters want the reader to know that behind every tragic story, there are more stories vital in solving the problem of abuse and neglect.
It appears the media tends to cover stories that reflect the system’s failures to protect children. This perspective allows the reporter to focus on the problem, however it only addresses the problem after a tragedy. There also needs to be more awareness on preventing the problem and why many abused and neglected children are left unidentified. If news stories focused on the less obvious signs of maltreatment and informed on what one can do to help, it would have more impact on children. Nevertheless, the media is essential in increasing awareness and its influence on public opinion can create political pressure to change policies that are more effective in protecting children.