Adam's Apple
Senior Member
- Apr 25, 2004
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Examples of children's deaths like those cited in this article appear in our daily newspaper every single week. It's a real tragedy.
Child Tragedies: Missing Marriage
By W. Bradford Wilcox
Printed in the New York Post, February 8, 2006
Seven shocking child deaths in the last four months: Liyah Atkinson, Quachaun Browne, Nixzmary Brown, Josiah Bunch, Dahquay Gillians, Sierra Roberts, Michael Segarra. This staggering death toll from abuse or neglect has focused justifiable attention on malfeasance at the city's Administration for Children's Services. But another thread tragically links these kids: All were living outside of an intact, married family.
Four-year-old Quachaun Browne died at the hands of his mother's controlling, 18-year-old live-in boyfriend. One-year-old baby Josiah Bunch also appears to have died at the hands of a mother's boyfriend. Nixzmary Brown, 7, was beaten to death by her domineering step-father. Three infants, Liyah Atkinson, Dahquay Gillians, and Michael Segarra, died in the custody of their unmarried mothers, apparently by accident. Sierra Roberts, 7, was killed when her single father lost his temper. And so it goes.
For all the heartbreaking media coverage, almost no stories have mentioned that children are much more likely to die outside of an intact, married home than they are to die inside an intact, married home.
Consider the empirical evidence. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics found that preschool children in homes with an unrelated adult were nearly 50 times as likely to die because of physical abuse, compared to children in intact, married homes.
In a recent report, "Why Marriage Matters: 26 Conclusions from the Social Sciences," an interdisciplinary team of 16 family scholars that I chaired found that children in single-parent homes are almost twice as likely to be sexually abused, compared to children in intact, married families.
for full article:
http://www.americanvalues.org/html/child_tragedies.htm
Child Tragedies: Missing Marriage
By W. Bradford Wilcox
Printed in the New York Post, February 8, 2006
Seven shocking child deaths in the last four months: Liyah Atkinson, Quachaun Browne, Nixzmary Brown, Josiah Bunch, Dahquay Gillians, Sierra Roberts, Michael Segarra. This staggering death toll from abuse or neglect has focused justifiable attention on malfeasance at the city's Administration for Children's Services. But another thread tragically links these kids: All were living outside of an intact, married family.
Four-year-old Quachaun Browne died at the hands of his mother's controlling, 18-year-old live-in boyfriend. One-year-old baby Josiah Bunch also appears to have died at the hands of a mother's boyfriend. Nixzmary Brown, 7, was beaten to death by her domineering step-father. Three infants, Liyah Atkinson, Dahquay Gillians, and Michael Segarra, died in the custody of their unmarried mothers, apparently by accident. Sierra Roberts, 7, was killed when her single father lost his temper. And so it goes.
For all the heartbreaking media coverage, almost no stories have mentioned that children are much more likely to die outside of an intact, married home than they are to die inside an intact, married home.
Consider the empirical evidence. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics found that preschool children in homes with an unrelated adult were nearly 50 times as likely to die because of physical abuse, compared to children in intact, married homes.
In a recent report, "Why Marriage Matters: 26 Conclusions from the Social Sciences," an interdisciplinary team of 16 family scholars that I chaired found that children in single-parent homes are almost twice as likely to be sexually abused, compared to children in intact, married families.
for full article:
http://www.americanvalues.org/html/child_tragedies.htm
