Actual caged bed
On J. K. Rowling’s website (you know, the author of that little known book series, Harry Potter), I came across an entry about the use of caged beds for mentally handicapped children, which are used to lock them almost continually. The original article that made her get involved on this matter came from The Times Online:
The screaming starts at 11am sharp each day in the basement of the Raby care home near Prague. That is when a little boy called Vasek Knotek is locked in his cage.
For a brief period each morning Vasek, who is about five, is let out to be fed and washed. But once his cage has been cleaned he is forced back inside.
Vasek shakes the iron frame with all the force he can muster and tears at the wire mesh that confines him. His screams of anger ring through the building. In an adjacent cage his friend Michal puts his hands over his ears to shut out the noise and bursts into tears.
There is nothing in the children’s cages to comfort or console them — no teddy bears or toys and certainly no gifts from home. Vasek’s parents live less than a mile away, but according to staff they have not visited once since they brought him in as a baby with beautiful blond curls. He has a sister who does not even know he exists, they say.
Nor do the nurses show Vasek any warmth: they refer to him by his surname and cannot say whether he is four, five or six. The human contact in his daily routine consists mainly of a quick wash, nappy changes and perhaps a head shave.
The article goes on to describe a culture of silence an neglect on this issue from government officials and health workers.
On Rowling’s website there’s more information about this matter and initiatives against the use of caged beds.
This is only a symptom of our lack of compassion and love for ourselves and each other.
This is no different than the existing prison systems for teens and adults. The only difference is that a child knows that he/she doesn’t want to be caged. We are born with a principal and a “feeling” of wanting to be free.
Without proper care and undestanding of our exsiting issues (mental illnes etc) how we ever can claim to be civilized?
Rosebush
i second that.
So when is this going to blamed on Bush and the Republicans like everything else is
#3 – Now that you mention it….
3,
Well, since Cheney is vested in Europe, he’s probably directly funding such conditions as my American compatriots are funding terrorist by buying gas.
Mental health is always on the bottom of the list. The same child in another country could be on chemical restraints. Haldol is probably a luxury in this institution.
This reminds me of the images we saw on tv after the fall of the Ceauşescu regime in Romania. All those poor souls stuck in orphanages with no proper care.
Every thread turns into a hack thread around here.
I can’t begin to tell you how having kids changes you (or should change you). In college, I would have made some snarky ass comment that I would have thought was hilariously funny and witty.
Now…having a 4 and a 3 year old, I am damn near depressed after reading this article. When my kids TRULY don’t want to do something because they are scared or unsure (the first day of pre-school comes to mind) and they cry and call for you, it rips your heart out.
I can’t imagine the kind of mental hell these kids are going through, nor can imagine being a soulless monster working in this place.
#8 James Hill
Wow, you like to point out hackiness. In fact, almost everything you post seems to use the word. Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
Try it yourself. Google the following:
"Comment by James Hill" hack site:dvorak.orgState-funded daycare, your tax dollars at work 🙂
Thats a veil bed we use those in neuro rehab units of the hospital I work in. They are used for the serious head injury patients who would otherwise have soft limb restaints put on.
This is spankless child care, European Style.
We have progressed so far in our compassion to others. This article only points out that we still have some ways to go.
I am bothered less by the fact that it happens then I am by the excuse that they have to for the safety of the patient.
On another note, where are all the holy roller “pro lifers” coming to the rescue to adopt these poor unfortunate children. C’mon all those who tell us how precious every life is. There is no need to complain how difficult it is to find children to adopt, Czechoslovakia would love for you to come take them. You might even find another Einstein, Newton, or Hawkins among these poor children.
We scoff at this but look at how many “sane” parents put their kids BEHIND BARS! A crib is a fucking mini jail cell for crying out loud!
My kid never slept a night in a freakin’ crib. Yeah, I had one for show but I never imprisoned my child. He was never in a crib crying for his freedom only waiting for someone else to grant freedom to him. My kid slept on a mattress on the floor. You people call yourselves good parents but all you do is prepare your child for imprisonment in the Matrix of life. All of you are sick folk for listening to a Dr. Spock. hahahah, hilarious if weren’t so tragic.
Sounds like the life of an iPod assembly worker.
Mr. Fusion,
Rather than shifting the blame to the “holy roller ‘pro lifers,” shouldn’t we be focusing on what actions we can take to combat this kind of heartless control method? Perhaps there is little or nothing we can do to unlock these particular cage doors, but there are thousands upon thousands in our cities and near our homes who go hungry every day, but rather than taking the two minutes needed to buy a sandwich, we rationalize our way out of it, “he probably wasted all his money on drugs.” He may have, in fact, wasted all his money on drugs, but your shortcomings in life are no less than his, only different. The sinful nature of man is present in every human being, and you are not excluded. None of us are. And so again, rather than shifting the blame to a well intentioned group of people, who have perhaps taken the wrong approach, we must first examine ourselves, and remove the telephone poles from our own eyes, before we pick at the speck in someone else’s.
If we wish to show compassion, let us first show compassion to our families, friends, and neighbors. If you cannot show compassion to those close by, you will certainly not fly a thousand miles to show it to a foreigner. Consider carefully your own heart, and try to recall the times where you have displayed a sacrificial love, an uncommon compassion, sadly you will remember few.
My Lord, Christ Jesus, was, and is, the perfect example of true love, perfect compassion, humbleness and self-sacrifice. We cannot aspire to reach such a holy love, but if we would simply kneel, and ask His help, we could accomplish such wonderful things.
“By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus in the Gospel of John, chapter 13, verse 35.