How's this for "perfect" Military Moms, Ballababy?

Question

Last night, the local cops had to escort myself and a fellow case worker on base to the MP's, so they could escort us to a military home where the service member, an E-4, was absent (AWOL) I assume...and the family had 4 kids, all up TO age four. The baby was in a very soaked and soiled diaper upon our arrival. The two middle children had to be rounded up by the MP's because they were out wandering the neighborhood unsupervised, and the other kid had intoxicated himself to the point of passing out from a mixed drink that the mother left on the kitchen table within the children's reach. The mother was not even HOME when we got there, it was on a tip from a neighbor who saw her leave, screen door wide open and all, without her kids. Not to mention the house was two kinds of filthy. More military brats you all create, and we the county, have an obligation by the state to take. thought you needed a dose of reality.

Please don't breed if you are going to do this. I don't enjoy staying up until 2am filling out case paperwork and intake reports.

90% that's right...90% of all our substantiated cases of abuse and neglect come from the surrounding military base. Not the town neighboring it. So, I'm not whining, just stating facts and trying to figure out why that is?

Answer 1

your stereotyping and generalizations make me ill...
i am a military wife, soon-to-be mother, and the fact that you are putting all of us in one category as poor mothers who are just breeding unruly children disgusts me.

one thing that i think your statistics aren't showing is that a military base is a concentrated group of "family-making" aged people. so, your statistics, whether true or not are skewed b/c they are showing percentages of a town or county that is probably mainly made up of military (most military towns are) and so you are looking at 90% of the cases of abuse occuring in 80% of the town.

when i arrived on our base i was astounded to see all the moms and kids walking around. i felt like everywhere i looked i saw a pregnant woman or a mom with kids.....
then, it occured to me that this base in comprised of roughly 10,000 marines and most military troops are 18-30-ish in age...which is the typical age range for married couples to start expanding their family.
after i realized this, i was more open to all the kids, pregnant women and families, b/c i was looking at a consentrated area of a particular demographic. i wasn't just looking at a group of people that had no concept of birth control or self control---my original thought.

also, remember that this town, where i live, houses an air station, a marine basic training installation AND a naval installation and therefore makes up much of the town's population. without this base the town's economy would plummet. AND remember that your taxes go to more military funding than the paycheck of troops. you are paying for so much more. it was just reported the other night that this "war" we are in will cost an estimated $11 billion to just repair military equipment. of course paychecks are accounted into this number, however, it is a drop in the bucket once you realize how costly these war machines truly are. also, remember that us military personnel aren't getting a free ride. we pay our taxes too! so, in reality...i'm paying YOUR paycheck that allows you to run off at the mouth about things you aren't even bright enough to understand, like basic statistical analysis.

sure, the situation you described was horrific and i'm sure that you become very cynical in a field such as the one you work in, yet, remember that not every parent, military or not, abuses their children. also, remember that abuse happens everywhere, not just military installations.

personally, it sounds to me that you value your job and take it seriously, but that perhaps you allow it to overwhelm you, instead of keeping some professional distance.
it's like a surgeon who holds the scapel a little too tightly....i've been in the OR and i want a surgeon that sees me as a patient that needs fixed...not a human being that they are about to cut up. sometimes, in certain jobs you have to put up a barrier or else you turn into a ranting, unhappy person....which is what i see when i read your questions.

so, maybe a nice vacation or just a sabatical would help you unplug a bit and see your individual cases instead of blaming the world for the abuse of children.

please take care.

Answer 2

I myself am a military wife with a 2 month of daughter and cannot even imagine ever doing something as dangerous and stupid as this, although I must admit as surprising as it sounds, I know that a lot of the military wives I know are so young, 18 or younger! Not that their age is an excuse for their actions, but being a military wife with a deployed husband is hard enough, now add children into the mix with these immature girls playing house and you are creating a world of chaos. I am sorry that these children had to go through this but I am wondering where the hell that husband was, plus his command should have done something about this. Well I guess this is one of the reasons why the military has such a high degree of physical and mental abuse as well as divorces!

Answer 3

Well you answered my question from your other posts of how you keep seeing these ghetto badly raised kids!! If your CPS then of course that is all your going to see...your going to see the scum of the earth I mean that is why CPS is called right?
I promise you jiggly that for every poorly raised parent/child that you have to remove from a home there are at least 4 more sets of parents doing it right. You would never know because you will never see the cases because they are NOT cases!!

At first I was thinking what is your problem but now I totally understand where you are coming from...being CPS has to be a rough job. It would break my heart seeing what you see every day and I am sure it would anger me at the same time. Wanting to smack those parents and scream... what is your problem?!!

Answer 4

I do know what your talking about but not all military families are like that....I'm currently living on a military base an there is one family that i know of that lets there little kids like 2 yr olds run around free but thats it..everyone else here is fine...but then again im on a base overseas..

Answer 5

Not all military families turn out like that. Yeah, it's a horrible situation but it happens and you knew that before you took the job that you have. I hope that those children get a good family.

Answer 6

then get a diff job, my guy is in the military, we have 5 kids total and all of our children are clean well behaved and monitored bu both parents so you can kiss my butt because your dose of reality happens as much on the streets as on bases. i live across from some people who are about the same as you described and guess what.............they arent military!

Answer 7

if you were working at 7-11, you would be better off and so would the kids that you are so called looking after
at least then you would be doing something that you thought was worth being up at 2 am for. and think of it this way ,less paperwork
you are unbelievable

Answer 8

Wow! Are you complaining about your job? Take a number whiner.

This is not a question, it's merely a rant.

You're reported.

Answer 9

That's why I work hard everyday. Because millions of people on Well-fare depend on me.

Answer 10

Its not just the military, people all over the country do this. Please dont think that being in the military 'causes' this kind of behavior.