According to an article by Richard Walton in the Indianapolis Star, Indiana children die from abuse and neglect at a rate more than twice the national average.
A study shows 77 Indiana children died in federal fiscal year 2004, which ran from Oct. 1, 2003 through Sept. 30, 2004. The state’s rate was 4.81 deaths per 100,000 children, more than double the national rate of 2.03 deaths.. . .
Based on data, 81 percent of children who died during the survey period were younger than 4 years old. Three-quarters of the deaths were caused by one or more parents.
So maybe gay marriage isn’t the biggest challenge to “family values” in Indiana.
The story also contains some data about abuse:
[I]t was once thought that people with mental illness were “parentally challenged” — that is, that children of such parents were at higher risk of abuse. That’s now known not to be true, Holton said. According to the new study, the overall rate of child mistreatment has declined nationally. Since 2001, the number of children mistreated fell from 908,000 to 872,000.
Nearly 18 percent of the children mistreated in 2004 were physically abused, 9.7 percent were sexually abused and 7 percent were emotionally or psychologically mistreated. Children 3 years old or younger had the highest rate of victimization; girls were slightly more likely than boys to be mistreated.
That is so sad. Why aren’t the legislature and our governor giving more attention to this issue?
You put it just right, Doug: “So maybe gay marriage isn’t the biggest challenge to ‘family values’ in Indiana.”
I hope your post shows up on http://www.Bilerico.com.
This is truly shocking news. I’m glad the Indianapolis Star put it on top of the front page. You never know, they might have pumped up the Johnny Unitas flap (see the “Just 1 Minute” item on Page B-1.)