Dateline Dayton – This week’s essay should be a continuation of our Florida vacation. However, it is necessary to comment of events negatively affecting children in recent weeks.

As you probably know, I am a proponent of requiring a license/certification in order to have and raise children. A license may sound harsh. But training is required to raise children, as evidenced by the following:

A four-year-girl was pushed down a flight of stairs by her mother’s boyfriend. Can you imagine what was going through the child’s mind as she was tumbling down the flight of stairs? This incident happened in Piqua, Ohio, my hometown. The child died of her injuries and the boyfriend is in jail. It was reported that the child may have been thrown against a wall prior to being pushed down the stairs. Authorities don’t know if she was alive going down the stairs.

I realize this isn’t a very Christian attitude, but I believe the guy, if found guilty, should be treated in the same manner, pushed down a set of stairs. Since he is older, the stairs should be metal and long, like a fire escape. If he survives – jerks like him usually do –force him to work with handicapped children for the rest of his life.

Go to Your Room?

Then there was the grandma who was taking care of her granddaughter, if you want to call it that, as she kept the child locked in the bathroom when she was not in school. The child was too scared to tell anyone. A neighbor became suspicious, though, and called police. Grandma is in jail. The child is being cared for by Children’s Services.

I’ll Be Back Sometime

A mother left her five-year-old child alone for three hours so she could attend class. Found in the furnace room by a maintenance worker, the child was wrapped in a blanket. No one knows whether she wandered into the furnace room on her own or was placed there. The family apartment was cluttered to the point of being hazardous. No food was in the refrigerator.

This 41-year-old mother with no common sense is studying biomedical engineering at a local university. She will have plenty of time to do her homework. She is in jail. Neither age nor education has any bearing on the ability of individuals to properly care for a child. Everyone should be trained and certified.

Signs Often the Same

A five-month-old infant was removed from a home after police found it littered with cigarette butts, general decay and nonfunctioning plumbing. The mother and her boyfriend were arrested on suspicion of child endangering. Both have been jailed. Since Child Services could not locate relatives, the child is in their care.

This is just what I ran across the last couple weeks in the newspaper or on the internet, a mere sampling of the the neglect children seem to routinely encounter. Multiply these outtakes across the country and you will see an epidemic.

Child Services should be pro-active, rather than reactive.

Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net