This is one of the many reasons why marriage is so important, especially to the safety and well-being of children.
From STL Today:
A St. Louis man is in jail in Louisiana, accused of beating to death a toddler he was trying to toilet-train.
The man wasn't the father of the boy; he was just the woman's boyfriend.
Far more children suffer abuse, physical and sexual, at the hands of step-fathers and boyfriends, than they do at the hands of their biological fathers. There's a sad logic to it, since they don't have the same biological connection to the child that the actual fathers do.
We as a society must do everything we can to promote and strengthen marriage, for the most defenseless in our society if for no other reason.
2 comments:
Just as we shouldn't use Ted Klaudt and Mark Foley to paint all Republicans and social conservatives as pedophiles, we also shouldn't use stories like this to paint all such relationships as if they will lead to child abuse.
Are there cases where step-fathers and a mother's boyfriend will hurt kids? Sure. Just as there are cases were a child's biological parents will hurt them. But just because there are cases of biological parents hurting their kids, it doesn't mean that all biological parents are like that.
And there are many cases where step-parents turn out to be better than a kid's real parents.
I'm probably rambling, but I'm just trying to point out that the story you linked to is not representative of all relationships like that.
While some already jumped on the Ted Klaudt comparison bandwagon with stunning speed and venom, I'll pass on saying anything more about that for the moment.
But you're right that many step-parents do treat their step children well. However, it is well documented that the abuse rate is much higher with step-parents--and higher still with boyfriends--than with biological parents.
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