POVERTY, CRUELTY AND METH: A RECIPE FOR CHILD ABUSE

Coos County has the worst child-abuse statistics in the state, arising from
a dense cluster of horrors detailed in a series of articles in The
Register-Guard on Sunday and Monday. But child abuse knows no boundaries.
It exists throughout Oregon, and is associated with a list of ingredients
that can be found anywhere: poverty, methamphetamine, social isolation and,
let it be said, predatory or parasitical men.

The recipe isn't always the same; child abuse can occur in affluent and
seemingly stable families. Poverty, for instance, is not in itself a
trigger for child abuse; most low-income people in Coos County and
elsewhere succeed in providing the love, security and dignity that are far
more important to children than material things. But poverty brings with it
a pervasive set of problems that raise the level of stress in parents'
lives. Add to it one or more additional ingredients, and children can find
themselves in grave danger.

Toward the top of the list is methamphetamine, a relatively cheap, easily
manufactured type of speed that overrides normal parental responses.
Reporter Diane Dietz's articles told how meth pushes everything, including
children, aside in addicts' minds. At best, children in households where
meth is used are left to fend for themselves. At worst, children become the
targets of drug-induced paranoia or rage. Methamphetamine is not the only
drug that puts children in danger - alcohol is another. But meth is common
in Coos County and elsewhere in Oregon, and it might well be called the
child abuse drug.

Drug abusers tend to cut themselves off from other people who might act to
stop the mistreatment of children. But social isolation is not just a
problem among drug addicts. In too many cases, parents lack close friends,
relatives and others who can provide assistance in a time of crisis, or who
will step in to protect children when necessary. The absence of a network
of support in many people's lives is not unique to Coos County. But there
as elsewhere, children who lack an extended family or a tight-knit
community can find themselves without protection.

Another thread that runs through many of the worst abuse cases is the
presence in the household of a man who is unrelated to the child. The
pattern is depressingly familiar - it showed itself in some of the Coos
County cases described by Dietz, and it has been present in some of the
most notorious Lane County cases as well. A mother gets involved with a
man, often a drug user, who has no emotional connection to her children. He
exploits the woman sexually and financially, and too often abuses the kids.

Given the variety of factors that contribute to child abuse, a community's
response must be multifaceted. Parents of young children need a variety of
types of support, particularly if they're struggling with poverty - relief
nurseries, health care clinics, preschools, mental health counseling,
nutrition centers, assistance in escaping abusive relationships and other
programs all can help relieve the pressure. Gov. John Kitzhaber's proposal
to provide screening for newborn children would put new parents in touch
with resources they need. Drug treatment must be made readily available,
not just for the benefit of addicts but for the safety of their children.

Above all, a community, whether it's a small town in Coos County or the
state as a whole, needs to be made up of vigilant defenders of children.
Everyone - neighbors, teachers, health care workers, parents of playmates
and others - has to watch for signs of trouble in children's lives, and be
prepared to respond. The appropriate response ranges from an offer to
baby-sit for an hour to calling the police. Too many children are living
hellish lives because someone has ignored the danger signs.

Coos County, with a child abuse rate 2 1/2 times the state's average,
clearly has a lot of work to do. The county has had many disappointments
and setbacks, and methamphetamine has gained a strong grip. When these
problems manifest themselves as child abuse, the squalor and cruelty of the
present becomes a crime against the future. In each child's life, a piece
of the future is at stake - not just in Coos County, but throughout Oregon
and beyond.