Drugs and stuff

Personally, I believe that there is a difference between abuse/neglect, and dicipline. But, today those lines are blurring, some people may not agree taht sometimes a kid needs a nice smack to the back of the head to teach them to not do something. Do I condone drug or alcahol use during pregnancy, no. That is a stupid idea and if you do that you do not deserve to have a child, providing it survives birth. "If you drink alcohol, it can hurt your baby’s growth. Your baby may have physical and behavioral problems that can last for the rest of his or her life" ("Drinking and your," 2006). So no there is not a difference between them they are both horrible ideas and can have permanent or leathal effects on a baby, and yes they should both be considered abuse.

Not wearing you seatbelt or feeding your child to the point of obeasity though should not be considered abuse. Not wearing a seatbelt is a stupid idea no matter what so you should do it anyway but if you are in an accident a seatbelt may not fully protect your baby anyway. You can not stop whiplash from occuring which could be fatal or atleast harmful to a baby. "Car crashes present a number of risks. The more serious types can include: pre-term labor, miscarriage, internal bleeding, hemorrhaging, birth defects, and creating a high-risk pregnancy that did not exist before the crash" (Keller). And really it is the childs responsabillity as much as yours to ensure that they are eating the right foods and the right amounts. If you have a overweight child then yes you have a problem but you did not abuse them, you just gave them food. Finally, if the child will be worse of because of a treatment then what parent morally would choose that option, it just makes no sense so no thats not abuse. Some one would have to have made a call on the subject and would only consider it abuse or neglect if the decision was made in the view against their own.


National Institute of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2011). Drug abuse among pregnant women in the u.s. Retrieved from website: http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/topics-in-brief/prenatal-exposure-to-drugs-abuse

Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. (2006). Drinking and your pregnancy (96-4101). Retrieved from website: http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/DrinkingPregnancy_HTML/pregnancy.htm

Keller, J. (n.d.). Pregnant women, car accidents, and the unborn baby. Retrieved from http://www.2keller.com/library/pregnant-women-car-accidents-and-the-unborn-baby.cfm

Great post Matt! I agree with you when you talk about not condoning drug and alcohol use during pregnancy, and how you say it's stupid. That to me is 100% child abuse because that person is prioritizing the wrong things. Their "substance" intake, at the time is more important then their child. A mother is the living source of their fetus, and putting harmful substances into their body is deadly to their child. That is not putting the child first and that to me is neglect, and abuse. They are physically harming the child and like your resource said, it can harm the child mentally as well. Well that sounds like child abuse to me! I like that you mentioned about giving a child a smack for discipline. I feel that it brought up a very argumentative point. If a child is given a little tap (not necessarily a smack) to be taught a lesson, that should not be abuse. If a child is beaten, to the point of bruises and bad behavior, that is child abuse. Parents should not have to physically harm or mentally harm their child in any way, that is not what having a child is for. Parents should have children when they are good and ready. In my opinion parents should only have children when they are finically ready and mentally ready. If a parent has anger issues are depression that is not being taken care of, then they should not have a child.

I Also liked when you talked about obesity. I read and article that talked about how a morbidly obese 9-year old girl was between her home and a foster home for four years, unless her parents gave her proper diet and exercise. They did not do so...so she was sent away (Caplan, 2011). Then it talked about how her mother was 430 pounds (Caplan, 2011). So in that case, was her mother a good influence on her daughter's diet? Her parents did not do the task that they were supposed to do, so is that taking care of your child? Is that putting your child first? To me that sounds like a case that could be child abuse, because that parent is neglecting that important needs of their child. I don't feel that obese children should be taken away from their home, if all a parent can afford is junk (healthy food is pricy) and if the child has a high metabolism. If a child ( like Hunter said in his post) is force feed then it is child abuse. I mean what do people think when they look a child who is to skinny? Then it's different because it looks like a child is underfed? No it's not different, a parent should be providing their child with a balanced diet. Once again it comes to metabolism, some people can eat and eat and never gain a pound where as some people can eat the same amount and gain 10 pounds (that's a bit of exaggeration but it still applies). Child abuse to me is a parent not making a child their first priority and not taking care of their needs. So is this a case where that is true? Yes it is!


Resources:
Caplan, A. (2011, July 14). Obesity alone is no reason to remove kids from their homes. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43727876/ns/health-health_care/

Matt, I loved that you included discipline verses abuse. There's a vast difference between the two situations, but at times it is hard to clearly define that line. That line is also hard to define surrounding abuse situations. In certain cases, the evidence is clearly laid out and irrefutable. However, others provide difficult circumstantial evidence.

Along with what you mentioned about the harmful effects of the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy, a fetus can develop fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). According to PubMed Health, the effects of FAS include: harmed or slow development, decreased muscle tone, poor coordination, and delayed development in thinking, speech, movement, and/or social skills, as well as physical defects (David Zieve, 2012).

Also, when defining obesity as abuse, it's important to consider other factors such as metabolism and body build. Individuals with a slower metabolism or larger built frame may naturally weight more than other individuals their same age. That factor can't directly be traced back to the parent, nor altered by the parent. Also, the age and stage of development of the child can also greatly affect weight. For example, a child who is approximately 9 months old may weight more than the recommended percentile. However, 5 years from then, that may not be the case. As the child continues to grow and develop and increase physical activity, the weight may be lost or even out in the recommended percentile for their age.


David Zieve, D. R. E. (2012, August 08). Pubmed health. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001909/