Making Sense of Statistics

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just released its annual report of state child protective services (CPS) statistics, showing that the number of reported child abuse victims has dropped for the fifth year in a row – there were an estimated 681,000 reported victims of child abuse in 2011, down from 695,000 in 2010 and 723,000 in 2007. Child deaths caused by abuse were also the lowest in five years. However, what these statistics mean exactly is not clear.

One child welfare expert, Richard Gelles with the University of Pennsylvania, noted that the decline in reported child abuse is consistent with the decline in violent crime, homicide, and violence against women. Gelles also believes that the decline is due, in part, to more adults delaying marriage and child-bearing, reducing high-risk situations where young people raise children they cannot afford.

Another expert, David Finkelhor with the University of New Hampshire, expressed frustration over the lack of analysis of the trends, saying "it does appear remarkable that overall child maltreatment has declined given that unemployment has been so high, the housing and mortgage crisis has continued, and state and local budgets for family and child services have been cut."

And other child-protection advocates contend that the drop in reports simply reflects a tendency by CPS to investigate fewer cases because of tight budgets.

George Sheldon, HHS acting assistant secretary for children and families summed it up this way:  "We have made excellent progress over the past five years. But what this report tells me is that we still have 681,000 children out there who need our help.”

Wild Wild Web

A convicted child sex offender in Ireland, identified only as "XY," was released from jail after serving half of his sentence for 15 sexual offenses committed in the 1980s. Upon his release, he discovered his photograph and threatening comments on the Facebook page "Keeping our kids safe from predators."  One of the posts said, "Put him down like an animal."

XY sued Facebook for harassment, breach of privacy, and breach of human rights, claiming that, "By publishing this material about me, the defendants are providing a vehicle for others who may have criminal intent to gain information about where I live and to stir up hatred against me."

Facebook's attorney argued that Facebook was "walking a fine line" between the rights of its users and the privacy of others. He asked, "Will it give the plaintiff any benefit to shut down this site and deprive 4,000 users of their freedom of expression, the vast amount of which is legitimate debate on sex offenders?"

While the U.K.'s High Court acknowledged that the man's name, physical appearance, criminal record, and whereabouts were already public information, the ruling "simply requires certain modest steps to be taken by the operator of a social networking site to ensure that, pending the substantive trial of this action, the plaintiff is not exposed to further conduct which I consider, to a high level of arguability, to be unlawful."

Within hours after Facebook complied with the order, a page with a similar name appeared. 

In the U.S., state laws banning sex offenders from using social networking sites are getting mixed reviews. The federal court in Nebraska struck down a state law that made it a crime for certain registered sex offenders to use social networking sites or chat rooms, and allowed monitoring of their computers and Internet usage.

But an Indiana federal court upheld a state ban on convicted sex offenders accessing social networking sites used by children because the law was narrowly drawn so that certain sex offenders are "only precluded from using web sites where online predators have easy access to a nearly limitless pool of potential victims."

One thing is clear: we have not heard the last from the courts on balancing rights of privacy against free speech, especially when dealing with the emotionally-charged issue of child abuse.

Talented Youth: Bullied and Awarded

This post has good news and bad news for gifted and talented youth.

First, the bad news. A study by the U.K.-based Anti-Bullying Alliance found that:

• More than 90 percent of British children have been bullied or saw others being bullied because they are gifted and talented.
• More than a quarter of the 11-16-year-olds surveyed said they quit an activity for fear of being bullied, and half downplayed a talent for the same reason.
• One in ten children hid their science ability, and one in five girls (and one in ten boys) deliberately underachieved in math to avoid being bullied.

This U.K. study's findings are consistent with a previous U.S. study that found high-achieving students' (especially African-Americans and Latinos) grades dropped as a result of bullying. And a University of Virginia study also found a link between bullying and high school dropout rates.

Now, the good news for talented youth. First Lady Michelle Obama presented Oakland's Youth Radio with the 2012 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the highest honor for after-school arts and humanities programs. Among the awarded programs were a New York debate league, an African culture group, and a mariachi apprentice program honoring the Mexican-American experience in Los Angeles.

At the White House awards ceremony, the First Lady said, "In spite of all the challenges and obstacles our young people face, in spite of all their fears and doubts, you teach them art anyway. You teach them that no matter what life throws their way, if they draw back on their own talent, creativity and courage; if they're persistent and tenacious and bold, then they can truly make something extraordinary out of their lives."

Principal Sentenced to Teach

In the second "failure to report" case in two decades brought by Santa Clara County prosecutors, O.B. Whaley Elementary School's former principal, Lyn Vijayendran, was convicted of failing to report suspected sexual abuse of a student by one of her teachers.

The judge told Vijayendran "you made a very bad judgment that day," then sentenced her to pay $602 in criminal fines, two years of probation, and 100 hours of community service, which will include helping teach other school officials about their legal duty to report suspected child abuse.

The jury forewoman said Vijayendran "dropped the ball." Another juror said the principal "stuck her head in the sand rather than pull the alarm. I think she didn't want this ugly thing to be true."

The eight-year-old girl's mother told Vijayendran that second-grade teacher Craig Chandler had acted "strangely" with her daughter, and showed the principal a suspicious stain on her daughter's jacket.  Vijayendran then interviewed the girl who provided vivid details of her strange encounter with Mr. Chandler.

Vijayendran testified that Mr. Chandler "appeared forthright" when he told her that blindfolding a second-grade girl, telling her to lie on the floor, and putting a salty liquid in her mouth while they were alone in the classroom was part of a lesson plan about Helen Keller.

Vijayendran's decision to conduct her own investigation, instead of reporting the incident to authorities as the law requires of mandatory reporters, resulted in her criminal conviction and allowed Mr. Chandler to molest another student a few months later.

Under California law, school districts are required to train their educators how to recognize and report suspected child abuse. While the law provides an exception — a school district may simply write a letter explaining why training was not provided — jurors said the Evergreen School District shared some responsibility in this case.

"I think there were comments made that over a 20-year period, that people from the teachers all the way up to the principals all the way up to HR that they've received no training on mandatory reporting," said juror Kathy Ericksen. Juror Susan LaGassa agreed, "Educators need to know that this is unacceptable."

"The bigger picture," said prosecutor Alison Filo, "is we want mandated reporters to understand to always err on the side of caution and report, never investigate."

Suspicious Minds

What do the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, and Penn State University have in common with the Horace Mann School in New York City and Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles?  They all had trusted members of their organizations who were involved in child sex abuse scandals.

Now, "The BBC's reputation is on the line," says Chris Patten, the chairman of the BBC Trust.  Police are describing disc jockey and BBC television host Jimmy Savile (who died last year at age 84) as "one of the worst sex offenders in recent history." Given recent history, that's a pretty big claim.

This latest BBC scandal began when a television documentary aired in October in which several women claimed that they were sexually abused by Savile when they were in their early teens. Hundreds of potential victims have since come forward with similar claims.

In connection with the Savile investigation, police arrested musician and convicted sex offender Gary Glitter (known for his shiny jumpsuits and whose real name is Paul Gadd).  Glitter served a U.K. prison term in 1999 for possession of child pornography. After moving to Vietnam, he was convicted of child abuse in 2006 and deported back to Britain in 2008. Glitter is best known for the crowd-pleasing hit "Rock & Roll (Part 2)" which, in 2006, the National Football League advised teams not to use at games.

Questions are now being raised about whether the BBC was involved in a cover-up, and whether Savile was at the center of a broader pedophile ring. All of this leaves some of us wondering, who can you trust?

"As a society, we've just got to somehow get over this notion that some men, some women, some institutions, are 100 percent pristine and trustworthy," said David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "We've got to look at actual behavior, not reputation."

Doctor Near-Death

Pediatrician Melvin Morse and his wife were arrested this week at their home in Georgetown, Delaware, on charges of child endangerment.

According to police, Dr. Morse used waterboarding – a simulated drowning technique typically considered to be torture – to punish his 11-year-old daughter four times over the last two years while the girl's mother looked on and did not try to stop it.

Dr. Morse's excessive discipline came to light when the girl ran to a neighbor's house after her father dragged her by the ankles over a gravel driveway because she wouldn't get out of the car for reasons unknown.  When a concerned citizen called police, the girl was questioned by authorities and told them that her father had also used waterboarding to discipline her.

Dr. Morse heads the Institute for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, and has appeared on "Oprah," "Good Morning America," and "Larry King Live." He has written about his research on near-death experiences, particularly those involving children.

Kentucky CPS Files Are Public Records

A Kentucky judge has ruled that the files of that state’s child-protection system are public records, allowing the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper access to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ (CHFS) case files of children who were killed or critically injured as a result of abuse and neglect in 2009 and 2010.

One of those files revealed the tragic story of two-year-old Kayla Mosley who found her parents' stash of pills. She ate enough pills for an acute drug overdose and had been dead several hours when she was found by her "drug-addled" parents.

Another case file describes how four-year-old Nathaniel Knox arrived at the hospital with a skull fracture, bruises all over his body, and an adult-sized bite mark on his arm. Nathaniel's mother told doctors that he had fallen off a low deck and hit his head. But his mother's story did not square with Nathaniel's injuries. One doctor said that it would have taken "tremendous force" to crack the toddler's skull, and lesions on his retinas indicated previous beatings. Nathaniel died on August 1, 2009.

The Herald-Leader's analysis of the CHFS files released so far found that: 

• children age 4 and younger accounted for 37 of the 41 deaths 
• toddler boys are killed more often than girls
• men are more likely to be the perpetrators
• at least one adult was a high-school dropout in homes where a child died from abuse or neglect