Okay, I must say this. I have cried a lot this year, much more than I had expected. Researching child abuse and neglect is hard for me. There are so many stories that social work doesn't help the client. It's hard not to get attached. A man sexually abusing his 16 month old son. A woman declaring that her daughters are spawn of the devil and beats them and lets their stepfather sexually abuse them. The Child Called It, Precious. A feral child rescued by the system. A child from the past that helps us in the future.
 |
| Danielle "Dani" Lierow |
The Girl in the Window, this is the most recent case of a feral child. In 2008, a couple in Plant City, Florida saw a little girl's face by broken glass where they thought no child lived there. She was malnourished,dirty and broken. Social services has helped her find a new home, a new family, a brand new start. You can check her story here if you want to know more.
 |
| Sylvia Linkens |
There also cases like Sylvia Linkens. Her parents left her and her sister, Jenny, with Gertrude Baniszewski. This woman and a group of children tortured, abused and finally killed this 16 year old in the 1960s. There are some books and films you can read about this crime and you can make a correlation with The Lord of the Flies. This is a case where no one was aware what to do when they saw signs of child abuse and how to report it. This case haunts us. You can read about this case here. It's a strong, explicit case. Don't read it if you can't handle torture, humiliation and so on.
This case helped the push of getting everyone informed of child abuse and neglect and how to talk about and report it to the authorities. Witnesses saw her and saw the abuse and no one spoke up. If one person said a word, just one to the right person she would have lived. She helps us remember that this is unjust and that we don't want children to go through this. She left her legacy with her death. Let's make a difference in her honor. I hope to get a fundraiser going to give money to abused and neglected children the items they need in school.
Hopefully doing this will help me move on from my past and help people know the signs of child abuse and neglect and the multiple ways to report it. Learning about this cases has helped me looked for ways to help. Let's see how my mentorship goes.Sorry I got carried away.
Content: The purpose of the second interview is justify your mentor as an expert in the field. Thus, you will be asking at least 5 questions about their background and/or the background of the organization or company where they work.1. Who is your mentor and where do they work?
I'm looking for a new mentor who works with abused children. I hope it's with the House of Ruth. 2. What five questions will ask them about their background?
- Why did you choose to work in this field?
- What did you study in college?
- What was one of the hardest cases you helped?
- How long have you worked in this field?
- Did you think before that you were going into social work?
