Parents have a responsibility to take care of their children
Shaniya Nicole Davis was a lovable five-year-old who looked even more adorable when she smiled.
She had eyes that crinkled to compliment her puffy, rose-colored cheeks.
Last week, the little girl just learning how to ride a scooter was found dead in the woods.
The North Carolina child must have looked differently to the 29-year-old man accused of kidnapping Shaniya, and to her mother charged with child abuse and human trafficking.
Shaniya’s father is mourning from the news about his little girl. So am I, along with many others who have heard this horrible, yet familiar story of child abuse and neglect.
This story is especially heinous and heartbreaking because that little girl was at home, in a space supposed to be safe and nurturing. This was the very space where she was supposed to grow up, learn about life, love and, of course, boys.
Yet this space was one where death would not escape the little girl who was shy to strangers at first, yet friendly if one just got to know her.
But no one ever will.
This story still being worked out in the courts is a classic case of when a parent neglects their child. Shaniya’s father loved her. Her mother may have,, too, but I’ll wait for the evidence and her prior actions to tell me her motives.
As parents, they are the protectors, teachers and nurturers of their offspring. Children are supposed to learn by the examples set and grow from their mothers and fathers, who guide them in a tough world.
Unfortunately, child abuse and neglect affect millions of children every day in the world, with even more children unnoticed in cases not even reported. These children grow up and raise their own family, and there can be a cyclical effect on the most vulnerable victims — our kids.
As college students, many of us would like to start a family, and some of us already have our own. We are the generation preparing ourselves to have children who are our future.
But are they safe with us? Of course, you may say yes but, according to the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline statistics, one in four children die because of child abuse and neglect. According to Centers for Disease Control, one in four girls will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18. The same statistics can be said for boys.
Will our children really be safe with us in the future? I don’t know. With many future parents, their children will be cared for and properly loved.
But for the others who choose to neglect, abuse and put their children at risk with death, there will be a place for them.
And judgment will be calling.
