Drawing The Line: Finding The Balance In Child Services

In recent years, children around the world have faced numerous cases of child abuse and neglect, even at the hands of their parents. Children often face these episodes when they are with a guardian or a relative. For example, due to parents’ busy schedules, they may leave their kids in care of a relative. In other cases, when parents pass away, children are often left in the care of guardians or relatives. In these cases, there is a high tendency of child abuse and neglect compared to when children live with their biological parents. Now, this is where child services come in. In many countries, there are organizations dedicated to protecting children from harm and abuse. They also look to provide for neglected children. However, this system, although it is present in my country, is not effective compared to European countries. For today’s Hive Learner’s topic, we are asked to discuss child services. What are the effects of child services in your country?

I grew up in an African country and one of the ways Africa is different from other European countries is how they discipline their kids. Growing up, I was an easygoing kid, always doing what my parents wanted and rarely disobeying them. On the other hand, my brother was a totally different person. If not because he looks slightly like my dad, I would have said he was adopted. My brother would go out to play every day and come back very late at night, knowing well that it was against my mom’s rule. And every day he did that, my mom would flog him with canes and belts—she had special “weapons” for him. I remember the day he did something really bad, and my mom kept pouncing on him for more than 30 minutes till the neighbors came to his aid. This is how most children are raised in Africa, and we see nothing wrong with it. When we were younger, we would always think our parents were sent to torture us, but as we grow older, we realize everything they did was for our benefit.

Unlike my country, child services (known as child protection services (CPS) in California is very effective. They are responsible for child protection and welfare. I don’t know how it works over there, but I think children can report their parents to the authorities. According to what I have heard, parents are not allowed to beat their children as it is considered abuse. Children can sometimes be difficult to handle. I have lived with kids for some time and I know how stubborn they can be. Imagine your kid writing with ink on a freshly painted wall. Merely talking to the kid might not make them stop.

As I mentioned above, although my country has frameworks for protecting children, they are not as effective as the systems in European countries. In Nigeria, we have the Child Rights Act 2003 which protects children from all forms of abuse and harm. However, they are like mere words on paper. Many cases of child abuse in Nigeria go unreported. Firstly, our cultural perspective on what constitutes “abuse” is a totally different thing. Nigeria, like other African countries, takes the saying “spare the rod and spoil the child” seriously. If parents beat their kids and the kids report them to the police, I'm sure the police would be tempted to give that kid another round of beating. Secondly, if the cases of child abuse are severe, the country is too corrupt to take a look into it. Such cases are most likely to be waved off.

Do you think child services end up breaking homes? Child services are like a double-edged sword. On one hand, they protect children from harm, neglect, and abuse. On the other hand, they can give children too much freedom. For example, if a kid knows they won't face consequences for their actions, they might keep going extra lengths to step on their parent’s toes. In my opinion, child services should still be in place, but they should have clear guidelines on when to intervene in family matters.

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Thanks for reading.