horrifying news!

[winterbadger]

A chilling national poll of U.S. children ages 3 through 12 estimated that nearly 75 million youngsters suffer both physical and psychological abuse at the hands of their parents on a daily basis.

The poll, whose findings are part of a 700-page report released Tuesday by a coalition of child abuse monitoring and prevention organizations, indicts nearly 95 percent of American parents. It documents abuses ranging from less severe offenses, such as children being denied snacks just before dinner, to more egregious, long-term cases of neglect, such as never ever getting what they want, ever.

After seeing the way my friends treat their children, this really rang true. And one passage reminded me of some recovered abuse memories I recall hearing from a friend:

"And a 6-year-old girl from Wisconsin was forced to sit at a dining room table for nearly two hours until she finished her canned green beans, a food widely considered by poll respondents to be disgusting and suitable only for adults."

redactrice, it never changes, does it? Teh Horror!

Comments

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I love the final line of the piece ;0)

[winterbadger]

Indeed! The correspondent was sent to his room without dinner...

[snolan.livejournal.com]

My dad used to tell us we could call 1-800-child-abuse if wee felt we were being treated unfairly when he made us eat sprouts or (the horror) potato salad... :-)

[winterbadger]

I recall at one point drafting a constitution for our family that would ensure free and democratic decision making. It was rejected by the self-appointed ruling council (my parents) after a first reading and without a public comment period...

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

I didn't notice the site you were linking to and started to read it, only to think WTF?! That's not abuse!

Then I caught on. I'm dumb sometimes ;)

[winterbadger]

Heee! :-) It happens to us all....

[wolfette]

yanno, sad thing is, some people actually would call this "abuse".

[winterbadger]

I know; I would never post this as a joke to the 'office chat' version of my editing list, as there are a significant number of po-faced readers who never find *anything* funny. :-(

[janewilliams20.livejournal.com]

I started reading it, started laughing, then thought: "hang on, this is in America - it is a joke, isn't it?" It was quite a relief to find it was from the Onion.

[shy-kat.livejournal.com]

Canned green beans ARE pretty awful. I say no one should have to eat them...

(yay, farmer's market!)

[winterbadger]

Have Chris or I ever mentioned the time one of our reenacting friends had us to dinner and served tinned peas? It was a scary experience.

[redactrice.livejournal.com]

The Horror is right! I have image of those cold, slimy lima beans burned into my soul.

And having to miss the Harlem Globetrotters on TV while I stared at those increasibly inedible legumes. Now that's abuse!

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

You know what's sad?

At first I didn't realize you were linking to the Onion, and I thought it sounded reasonable. Then I noticed what constituted "abuse".