This is an excellent post @practicalthought! Mandatory reporters are like cougars, waiting to pounce at the first sign of a problem.
I was in a shelter once where the employees were mandatory reporters, and they would just stand by and watch while the kids were playing in the playroom, waiting for something to happen.
Another time we took our kids to head-start for our at the time 4 year old, before the school year started. It was some kind of open house to meet her new teachers. There were snacks and refreshments there, and my 8 year old went for the pretzels. I hastily said, "No, Naomi, you can't have those." Two women rushed up from outside of the room and stood in the doorway, all alarmed. I continued, "I have supper in the Crock-Pot, and I don't want you to spoil your appetite." It was the truth too, aside from the fact that bowl of pretzels probably was teeming with germs from all the kids that came before us. They looked at each other knowingly as if saying Ok, she's fine. Then they went away. I'm convinced they were mandatory reporters.
Yes, being poor definitely puts one at risk. They prey on the weak and vulnerable...
Kind of disappointed you won't be writing for family protection anymore. I would've liked to see what else you could dig up. I understand though. Much love. :)
That's scary to be in the position you were in, knowing exactly what you saw unfolding. Thankfully you were quick enough to recover and explain aloud to call them off (with the crockpot).
Thank you. I am really good at ferreting out information. When I came up with this idea last week, because I could draw from a personal experience, I wasn't prepared for what I was going to find as I looked into this. The mixture of anger and sadness after watching the videos tells me I am not cut out to watch hours on end of this. I am willing to see a story here and there, but saturating myself in it isn't healthy for me.
I will continue to support this cause, but no more deep immersion for me. I honestly don't know how the people who are working not only as the social workers, but the reporters as well can look at themselves in the mirror. The last straw was the video where the parents were recreational drug users, so they took their 3 year old daughter and THEIR doctor got the child hooked on drugs. Of course, I thought several of the videos before that were the last straw, and had about 6 more I collected to post but couldn't bring myself to write on this post any longer.
God bless you @practicalthought