• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Battling child abuse requires a lot more than images of cartoon figures

There is another meme on Facebook in support of a trigger. There are pictures of cartoon figures replacing profile photos left and right. Cartoons from the 80's and toons from the 90's are proving most popular. This move of profile images is intended for "awareness." It's also to "fight child abuse.? Resource for this article - Childhood cartoons on Facebook - Child abuse needs more than thiss by Money Blog Newz.



Facebook: change your profile to a cartoon character



When you have a Facebook page you've probably seen the following message the last couple of days, "Change your FB profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood. The goal? To not see a human face on FB. Join the fight against child abuse. Copy & paste to your status to invite your friends to do the same." Many people are taking their friends up on this movement, using childhood cartoons from the 80's and childhood cartoons from the 90's as their picture. Some that are used a lot are Pinky and also the Brain, Strawberry Shortcake, and Might Mouse.



Cartoons making more aware of child abuse



People have used Facebook pictures and profiles for awareness issues numerous times before. There is usually a certain topic that somebody is trying to make others aware of. Taking action is just as essential as being aware, and status updates typically don?t include these instructions. There isn?t any data on just how lots of people are changing their profile picture to take part in this cause, but from appearances, thousands if not millions are taking part in this cause.



What more to do


The issue of child abuse is a lot bigger and takes a lot more than memories of our own childhoods. There is a huge difference between being aware of something and taking action on something. If you post your picture of a cartoon but don?t make a change beyond that, all you are really doing is spreading awareness and making yourself feel good; which is good also. Spreading awareness to all is a good start, but there's more you need to do to actually be considered taking action. If you feel inclined to you are able to always donate to child abuse centers, but a free easy way to take more action is to include the National Child Abuse Hotline phone number as part of your status so people know where to call for help, 1-800-4-A-CHILD. Until you take real action, a childhood cartoon is just a picture, not advocacy.

Comments

You are absolutely right. Every year the local country station sponsors a Roof Sit for Kids to raise money for child abuse. But raising money alone won't solve the problem. People need to get involved.

The sad thing is that in my area, Child Protective Services won't get involved unless the person calling them has actually witnessed the abuse. I don't know how many times I have heard second-hand stories that are absolutely heart-breaking. But I can't do anything, because I didn't witness. When I ask the people who tell me these stories, did you go to Child Protective Services and tell them what you have told me, they say, "No." They don't want to get involved. But by repeating these stories, you are involved. Do the right thing. If you have first-hand knowledge of a child abuse situation, go to the appropriate authorities. Don't tell your friends, don't tell your neighbors, tell someone who can do something about it. Otherwise you are condoning the abuse, regardless of all your protests to the contrary.

The other side of the coin is even when people do the right thing, the authorities don't always. We had a sad case here in Michigan where a teenage girl named Callista Springer died in a house fire because she was chained to her bed with a dog chain. The details will turn your stomach. Callista had a lot of problems and may have been ASD. Her parents yanked her out of school because her teachers had contacted Child Protective Services several times on her behalf. So did her classmates and so did her neighbors. Child Protective Services came to the home, saw how she was chained, saw what the situation was and did nothing. Because her parents claimed to be homeschooling her, the state truancy laws didn't apply. It came out in the trial that Michigan has one of the most lenient homeschooling laws in the US. Anybody and I mean anybody can home school their child, they do not have to have a curriculum, they do not have to have inspections, there is practically no regulation whatsoever. This makes it convenient for parents who want to hide child abuse. (Of course all of the homeschool associations were up in arms at the thought of being regulated.) Callista's parents were found guilty and are now serving time. But that won't bring her back.
 

Blog entry information

Author
robertK
Read time
2 min read
Views
1,203
Comments
2
Last update

More entries in General

Share this entry

Top Bottom