Child Abuse in Pennsylvania

Whenever I can I pick up news items that are relevant to the families I am privileged to deal with. This article comes in today’s (Friday the 13th) N.Y. Times.

Two judges, in the Scranton area of Pennsylvania, have been arrested for, what else, greed. They shuttled teenagers with minor (really minor) offenses to a juvenile detention center who, in turn, offered kickbacks (over 2 million dollars) to them.

We may not register this as child abuse. But these youngsters, first offenders all, were treated with the same level of disrespect that is evident in any child abuse case. They were used by the judges for their personal profit.

Why write about it? Well we all would do well to look around us and notice how the youth in our communities are treated. Adolescence is a very vulnerable time. Lots of experimentation going on, lots of niavete, lots of pranksterism. They do not deserve jail time for being teenagers, what they do deserve and need is our conscious attention and as adults and mentors our consideration of their real needs.

Healthy families concern themselves not only with the safety and well being of their own children but also act as guardians of the children in their community. Check out the article, “Judges Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youth for Profit” and send us your comments. We’ll post them. In doing so we’ll contribute something to the well being of youth everywhere.