Published: April 24, 2009 03:44 pm         

Marriage is essential for protecting children

Do you ever hear something that just breaks your heart? I’m willing to bet that for most of us, stories of child abuse certainly do.

Unfortunately, news reports are never short of heartbreaking examples: An eight-year-old boy has to find food for his little sisters because his mom’s drug addiction makes her unable to function. A two-month-old infant dies from head trauma after being shaken violently by his mother’s boyfriend. A ten-year-old runaway is lured into prostitution and rented to men who abuse her repeatedly.

The month of April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. It’s a time to reflect on the all-too-present reality that thousands of kids in Georgia and across the country are victims of neglect or some form of physical, sexual or emotional maltreatment. It’s also a time to focus on what is being done to address this problem.

As I think about the tragedy of child abuse, I cannot help but be reminded of the simple, yet incontrovertible, truth that the safest place for children is in a home with their happily married mom and dad.

Of course I’m aware that child abuse takes place in two-parent homes too, but research shows that the chances of it happening there are not nearly as high as they are in single-parent or cohabiting households. Common sense tells us (and research clearly reflects) that a meaningful way to reduce the mistreatment of children is to be sure that more kids grow up in a stable two-parent home.

Nearly one million children in the United States are the victims of child abuse each year. According to the Georgia Department of Human Resources, more than 37,000 substantiated cases of child abuse occurred in Georgia in 2006. Half of these kids were below the age of seven, a critically formative time in their lives.

Of the 22,000 children in Georgia’s foster care system in 2007, 85 percent were victims of severe neglect, while the rest were victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse or both. Authorities say these numbers are likely higher because many cases of abuse go unreported.

These innocent young lives are damaged and distorted - often for a lifetime. Many enter lives of addiction, battle with self-esteem issues, or turn to violence and crime. Some even continue the cycle by becoming abusers themselves.

Over the past several decades, governments and advocacy organizations have implemented a variety of approaches such as parent education classes, school-based programs and public awareness campaigns to address the problem. More recently, the focus has wisely shifted to try and address conditions that can lead to abuse, instead of just dealing with the aftermath. But conspicuously absent from the materials I read was any mention of promoting healthy marriage as the foremost way to protect kids.

Marriage, after all, is the ultimate protector of children. It is an institution built on the love of a man and women committed to one another. Marriage most directly connects men and women to their children and it allows them to share the responsibility of parenting. Plus, it creates an environment for children to live in close contact with the two people most vested in their well-being.

On the other hand, children in families that break down or fail to form live in circumstances where they are more likely (though certainly not destined) to suffer abuse. Sometimes it’s at the hand of a parent’s boyfriend or cohabiting lover. Sometimes it’s at the hand of an overstressed parent. Sometimes it’s because of the violence-prone neighborhoods they grow up in.

Research has found that children in single-parent homes are twice as likely to experience abuse as children living with both parents. A study in the journal Pediatrics found that children who live in a household with one or more unrelated adults are nearly 50 times more likely to die from an inflicted injury than kids who live with both biological parents.

Let me state clearly that the majority of single parents never become abusers, nor do they put their child in harm’s way. Conversely, marriage alone does not guarantee that a child will not be abused. The circumstances and reasons for abuse are often complex and do not always fit neatly into a category.

My point is to emphasize that when we address child abuse, we must not ignore a fundamental reason for why it exists in the first place - the breakdown of the family.

Government can only do so much to prevent child abuse. Real change must occur at the community level, where families, churches and local institutions can nurture healthy relationships leading to healthy marriages and therefore safer kids.

And it’s going to require a cultural shift away from the acceptance of family structures other than the married two-parent home. Until we as a culture discourage cohabitation and out-of-wedlock childbirth, we must accept the increased risk of child abuse that comes from ongoing family fragmentation. Child abuse will decrease when healthy marriages increase.



Georgia Family Council is a non-profit research and education organization committed to fostering conditions in which individuals, families and communities thrive. For more information, go to www.georgiafamily.org, (770) 242-0001, [email protected].

     

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