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Jewish World Review Nov. 2, 2000 / 4 Mar-Cheshvan 5761

Bob Greene

Bob Greene
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Consumer Reports


If you have been asking yourself what you can do ...


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- COLUMBUS, Ohio | These reports have made readers angry and upset.

The killing of 3-year-old P.J. Bourgeois by his father and his father's girlfriend -- and the subsequent early release from prison of his killers by Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Nodine Miller, without objection by Franklin County prosecutors -- has caused people to say: "What can we do to stop this kind of thing?"

Nothing can bring P.J. Bourgeois back. But there are several ways you can help children who are being hurt by the adults who are supposed to be nurturing them, or by the courts that are supposed to be protecting them.

- One of the finest programs in the United States to help abused and neglected children from being forgotten in busy courtrooms is the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) organization.

CASA volunteers are carefully trained, and then are appointed by judges to follow a specific child's case through the court, and to speak to the court on that child's behalf. This is not a job to take on a whim; it requires hard work and true dedication. If you are assigned to represent a child, and you become lazy or distracted, you can be every bit as harmful to that child as a callous judge or an unsympathetic prosecutor. But if you put your heart into it, you can literally save a child's life.

There are CASA programs in every state except Vermont. If you would like to inquire about joining, the telephone number is 1-800-628-3233.

- If you believe a child is being abused, there are hotlines in most states, set up by child protective agencies. If you aren't certain whether you should make the call, make the call. The person on the other end will listen.

If your directory assistance operator does not know the number of your local child abuse hotline, call 1-800-4-A-CHILD. The person who answers will be able to put you in touch with the right officials in the place where you live.

- If you'd like to learn more about how you can help children who are being hurt, an excellent resource is the organization Prevent Child Abuse America. Whatever questions you have, they are likely to know the answers -- and if they don't, they can find out.

You can learn about this organization by using your computer (www.preventchildabuse.org), or you can contact the group at 1-800-CHILDREN.

- We have all heard and read stories about child protective services workers who go to a home where a child is being hurt, who leave without doing anything . . . and before long the child is found dead.

After the fact, there is always criticism: Why did the workers not save the child by removing the child from the home?

Removing a child from his or her home is not an easy process -- nor should it be. It is a profoundly serious step that should never be undertaken lightly -- with good reason.

But there is another way to protect a child who is being hurt. If the child is not removed, the person who is hurting the child can be.

What is often overlooked in these cases is that a crime -- a felony -- is being committed against a victim: a child. Someone has the authority to get the person committing the crime out of the house.

That is the police department. If you know that a crime is being committed against a child, you can call 911 and report it. In some cities, the police are enlightened and alert about the abuse and torture of children, and will react quickly and professionally. In others, unfortunately, the police still believe that these cases are none of their business -- that they are the business only of the protective agencies.

If you are convinced that a crime against a child is being committed, don't allow the person who answers the 911 call to tell you to go somewhere else. Get that person's name -- and demand to speak to his or her supervising officer. Don't hang up until you know someone is looking into what you have called about. At that moment, you are all the child has -- and your persistence may, in some cases, be the child's only hope.

In the end, though, telephone numbers and child-advocacy organizations can go only so far. There is a connective thread that ties all of these cases together -- the killing of P.J. Bourgeois, and all of the other cases that break our hearts. Understanding that common thread is the key to finally making things better -- as we will explain on Sunday, as this series of reports concludes.



JWR contributor Bob Greene is a novelist and columnist. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

Up

11/01/00: 'He will never know what it is like to ride a bicycle'
10/31/00: 'It makes you feel that you are absolutely powerless'
10/30/00: THE KILLER LEARNS 'ANGER MANAGEMENT' AND IS FREED
10/26/00: `I'm not going to go up there and yell and scream'
10/25/00: With prosecutors silent, the other killer is released
10/24/00: The boy's killer: 'I've served my time, and I'm out'
10/23/00: Blaming the boy for bringing on his own killing
10/20/00: The child's killer is released -- to care for other children
10/19/00: Words that the judge would not allow to be spoken
10/18/00: A courthouse game in which the boy was not included
10/17/00: The killers get 7 to 25 years ... with a wink
10/13/00: While the killers maneuver, the boy goes unburied
10/13/00: The killers demand a concession -- and they get it
10/12/00: The prosecutors decide it doesn't qualify as murder
10/11/00: 'He wouldn't eat his eggs, and we put him to bed'
10/10/00: The autopsy leaves no questions: 'It was a homicide'
10/06/00: 'Had they shot him in the head, he would have suffered less'
10/05/00: 'I remember the moment that I first saw the human bite marks'
10/04/00: They killed a 3-year-old boy -- and they are free
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04/06/00: Through the eyes of Norman Rockwell
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03/02/00: This report card deserves an 'A' in every subject
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02/23/00: Of paste pots, Denver sandwiches and finding Dr. Sam
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02/01/00: An awesome idea to make you sound better
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01/21/00: Watching the pot that always boils
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01/11/00: The oh-so-sweet sound of modems in the morning
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12/31/99: A lesson -- and a memory -- to last a millennium
12/29/99: Racing the clock, even when it's running backwards
12/13/99: The right to bear coffee
12/08/99: From teen idol to ink-stained wretch: Can you Dig it?
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11/18/99: "From bad things, good can come"
11/16/99: The man who didn't know the meaning of 'whatever'
11/12/99: Is this progress? We have made the weekend obsolete
11/09/99: Today he would probably be called Kyle Kramden
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10/29/99: The tissue-thin decisions that define who we are
10/26/99: One way to cut road rage down to size
10/22/99: Asking all the right questions takes a special pitch
10/18/99: The signs are talking to you; Are you listening?
10/12/99: Even Capone would be disgusted
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10/06/99: Land of the free and marketplace of the brave
10/04/99: German warplanes in American skies
09/30/99: While you fret, something is sneaking up on you
09/28/99: In these busy times, why not bring back a certain buzz?
09/24/99: The storms whose paths no one can track
09/21/99: Who's minding the store? Oh . . . never mind
09/17/99:Here's another place where you can't smoke
09/14/99: As certainly as `lovely Rita' follows `when I'm 64' . . .
09/09/99: Why is patience no longer a virtue?
09/07/99: Once upon a time, in an airport close to you . . .
09/03/99: The answers? They are right in front of us
09/01/99: Up the creek with a paddle--and cussing up a storm
08/30/99: $1 Million Question: How'd we get to be so stup-d?
08/27/99: Fun and games at Camp Umbilical Cord
08/25/99: How life has been changed by the woodpecker effect
08/23/99: If you don't like this story, blame the robot who wrote it
08/20/99: A four-letter word that has helped both Bob and Rhonda
08/18/99: They have picked the wrong country
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07/23/99: Some cream and sugar with your turbulence?
07/21/99: When your name is JFK jr., how do you choose to use it?
07/19/99: The real world is declared not real enough
07/15/99: The real victims of cruel and unusual punishment
07/13/99: A 21st Century idea for schools: log off and learn
07/09/99: Are life's sweetest mysteries still around the bend?
07/07/99: Of great minds, cream cheese and Freddy Cannon
07/02/99: The perfect spokesman for the American way
06/30/99: 'He's 9 years old . . . he trusts people'
06/28/99: A $581 million jackpot in the courthouse casino
06/25/99: A nighttime walk to a House that feels like a cage
06/23/99: At least give men credit for being more morose
06/18/99: On Father's Day, a few words about mothers
06/16/99: If work is a dance, how's your partner doing?
06/14/99: Should a dictionary ever tell you to keep quiet?
06/10/99: A story of Sex, the SuperBowl and your wife
06/07/99: Take a guess where "California Sun" is from
06/03/99: Of summer days, summer nights and pebbles in a jar
06/01/99: Putting your money where their mouths are
05/27/99: Pressed between wooden covers, the summer of her life
05/25/99:The lingering song of a certain summer
05/24/99:We could all use a return to the Buddy system
05/20/99: Now, this is enough to make James Bond double-0 depressed 05/17/99: It's midnight -- do you know where your parents are?
05/13/99: And now even saying "thank you" creates a problem
05/11/99: The answer was standing at the front door

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