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Many new parents, or simply people who are easily frustrated and violent tend to shake babies to get them to stop crying. Because of this, doctors who diagnose children with "shaken baby syndrome" have come to the conclusion that there are three signs of abuse that are definitive proof of this syndrome- brain swelling, bleeding on the brain's surface, and bleeding behind the eyes. For years, if a doctor found any of these things in a child, the parents, nannies, or others accused of this would be arrested. However, recently, some doctors have become skeptic of this process and claim that these injuries may not be due to shaking or aggression with babies, in some cases.
Since so many doctors immediately relate these injuries in young children to aggression from the parents, there's a chance that many individuals have been arrested on false accusations. Personally, I think that doctors should have a wider range of side-effects and signs of violence to look for rather than just the three stated above. Because child abuse is such a great offense, the steps taken to prevent and to incarcerate offenders should be very thorough and make sure that the injuries are truly from parents or care-takers and not something else, in order to prevent innocent people from going to jail as well as making sure babies are not being abused.
Many new parents, or simply people who are easily frustrated and violent tend to shake babies to get them to stop crying. Because of this, doctors who diagnose children with "shaken baby syndrome" have come to the conclusion that there are three signs of abuse that are definitive proof of this syndrome- brain swelling, bleeding on the brain's surface, and bleeding behind the eyes. For years, if a doctor found any of these things in a child, the parents, nannies, or others accused of this would be arrested. However, recently, some doctors have become skeptic of this process and claim that these injuries may not be due to shaking or aggression with babies, in some cases.
Since so many doctors immediately relate these injuries in young children to aggression from the parents, there's a chance that many individuals have been arrested on false accusations. Personally, I think that doctors should have a wider range of side-effects and signs of violence to look for rather than just the three stated above. Because child abuse is such a great offense, the steps taken to prevent and to incarcerate offenders should be very thorough and make sure that the injuries are truly from parents or care-takers and not something else, in order to prevent innocent people from going to jail as well as making sure babies are not being abused.
This is so sad!!! There should seriously be more ways to indicate this deadly disease for cute, innocent babies. I would hate to be accused as a child abuser, if I wasn't the cause.
ReplyDelete-Darby mcmahon pd#9
ReplyDeleteThis is aweful! I feel so bad for babies who do get abused, but I also agree that the signs of abuse should be more extensive. I hate to think of how many parents got wrongly arrested because of these three "signs" of abuse.
I also agree. There should be more symptoms to look for with the syndrome. Its awful that there are people in the world that would do that to their children.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Having only a few signs to relate to child abuse can not only put innocent families in jail, but also creates a huge wall in expanding the medical horizons. It's like saying "if it has four paws, whiskers, and a tail, it's a cat" when it could be anything from a dog to a bear. If there's a wide range of things that can cause "Shaken baby syndrome" then they need to be discovered and prevented against.
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