Would any kid really want to go back to an abusive parent? Well, actually, the kid does not have a choice. In 1984, a four-year-old boy, Joshua DeShaney, was physically beaten by his father, Randy. Joshua fell into a coma, suffered from severe brain damage and was left permanently paralyzed and mentally retarded all due to his father.
Randy had very few consequences, causing the mother of Joshua, Melody, to file suit against DSS, or Defense Security Service, for not taking Joshua way from his father after they caught Joshua being beaten multiple times before the final incident. Melody charged that the Winnebago County had violated Joshua’s rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In summary, the court said that the Fourteenth Amendment only applies to states, not individual citizens, therefore the county was not held responsible for Joshua’s injuries.
If any child is being treated wrongly in the safety of their own home, the state should definitely take the child away from the home; especially if the child has been abused multiple times. According to the National Children’s Alliance, 2015, “National Statistics on Child Abuse”, says that nearly 700,000 children are abused in the U.S annually. Instead of returning the child home, the state should find a new home for the child; whether it’s another relative, or maybe a foster home. It should be a priority to keep children safe, no matter what the Constitution may refer to.
But, yes, The Constitution does not say specifically that a child can be taken away by the state from their parents. Therefore, it is clear to see why they would have given the child back to his father. In other circumstances, a child could have no one else to take care of him/her, causing the child to have to go back to the abusive parent. Also, maybe the child would want to go back because he loves his family, and maybe the abusive parent is open to changing their ways and fixing themselves. But, overall, a child who is being abused does not deserve to be in that situation, no matter what the Constitution may or may not say.