The Ontario government is looking at a new law for child abuse
- Bill 73 is going to be re-introduced. During the current recess
of the legislature, officials of the Social Services Ministry
have been meeting with the people involved in fighting child
abuse and prosecuting abusers.
This is to reinstate the government's commitment to reintroducing
and passing the legislation. This law will require all professionals,
including lawyers, to report child abuse by their clients. It
will also shorten the time children may stay in temporary foster
care before a final discussion is made on who will take care
of them.
When children are in foster care, they float around to different
families all the time. This will cause them to have a low self-esteem
and give up on many things in life. This is because they constantly
have to make new friends, adjust to new surroundings, and different
parents and siblings.
The government is afraid that when some parents get into a
fight, their children get abused. In most cases, it isn't the
child's fault. He or she may just get in the way, or say something
that could upset one of the parents. All child abuse laws are
intended to make parents realize that child abuse is wrong, no
matter what the situation. Anger should never be taken out on
a child. The safety of the child should be put ahead of the unity
of the family.
This new law will definitely have an effect on Canada. I think
the Ontario government has finally realized that the child abuse
law had to be either reinforced or reintroduced. There were too
many stories about children getting hurt by their parents. This
new law might also have an effect on other people who aren't
hurting children; but are hurting their friends, animals, or
anything else. The parents will now realize that child abuse
is wrong and will not be tolerated by the government anymore.
Hopefully, this will lead to fewer articles in the news that
read: "Child gets Injured while Under Foster Care."
When children are abused physically, they don't only get scrapes
and bruises, but get hurt mentally too. The children's futures
depend on how they are brought up. If they are abused repeatedly,
they will begin to think that violence is okay. Their parents
are the people they look up to, to judge what is right and wrong.
I believe if children understand that violence is good, that
idea will stay in their minds when they get older. This is the
reason behind some cases of murder or other crimes.
I hope child abuse will stop because of this new law. It must
stop. Just think. How you would feel if you were beat up and
harassed and then your parents were taken away? Parents can't
continuously hurt children around the world. This law will help
stop child abuse from foster parents and maybe the biological
parents will stop abusing too. |