Opinion Desk: Guilty Until proven Otherwise

The above topic underlines the hypocrisy behind the majority of child separations by child protection workers. There is a proverb that says “Only the evil make haste when the sun’s up” and that quite accurately describes this scenario.

DFCS worked are often quick to act on the flimsiest suspicions – which may be a good thing in the case of extreme happenings like child torture or actual abuse, but instead is used on grounds of neglect that sometimes cannot be quantified.

Major for instance was taken away from his parents because someone called in that he was playing basketball unsupervised for about 90 minutes. Given both his parents were away due to work commitments; but a kid playing basketball at 12 wasn’t exactly an extreme scenario that warranted separation for his parents for over a month.

A lot of cases are quite similar to this, where childcare workers act before actual investigations take place. The major consequences for this strategy is of course evident on the children and parents whose lives are interrupted..