Wrongs about Constitutional Rights at Home

While working in a daycare, my job is to be a reporter for all of the students under the care of the daycare center. When anything is suspected such as; physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and  neglect it is to be reported. In one case, a group of us staff at the center noticed that a child had teeth that were beginning to rot at the root. We then documented if any sign of treatment was being taken; however, the problem continued to worsen. When the suspicion deemed to not be taken care of at the child’s home, the director of the center called the hotline number to report the issue. The case was then taken further and the issue was deemed as neglect. With this, procedures were then taken to deem a closer look to ensure the child was cared for at home from that point on. Social workers were brought into the house for random checks, and to ensure appointments with a dentist and  a pediatric were appointed for on a regular basis to ensure the child was receiving the correct care.

Constitutional rights at home between parents and kids have deemed that kids are not protected from their parents. This is unjust to the kids because they are vulnerable and are unable to protect themselves from their parents.

Some states have differed their laws to extend protection at home. According to childwelfare.gov, the State Statutes Series published, “Child Witnesses to Domestic Violence” in 2016. This extended protection to kids by giving legal consequences to those who commit a domestic violence act; such as, penalties and fines. However, this does not allow the child to be isolated from the person who abused them.

The trial DeShaney v. Winnebago County Social Services in 1989 shows how the Constitution does not protect children from their parents. Four-year-old Joshua DeShaney was abused by his father leaving the child paralyzed and mentally disabled. After the trial, it was declared that the child would be brought back to live with his father who beat him due to the Constitution not protecting the four-year-old at home.

Instead of not protecting kids at home at all, the Constitution should find a mix between allowing a parent to hit their kid to show them wrong from right, and protecting kids whom are beat until in serious danger like becoming paralyzed and mentally disabled.

Works Cited

“Washington, DC, and the Local Child Welfare Professional Podcast.” Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights – Child Welfare Information Gateway, www.childwelfare.gov/topics/.

Greenhouse, Linda. “The Supreme Court and a Life Barely Lived.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Jan. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/opinion/the-supreme-court-and-a-life-barely-lived.html.