The Kids Aren’t Alright.doc

The Kids Aren’t Alright 　　In recent months， China has witnessed a spate of child abuse and neglect scandals. In one case， a father in Guizhou Province sewed his 11-year-old daughters mouth shut with fishing line， and the rescue of a newborn baby from the U-bend of a toilet made headlines worldwide. But in terms of tragedy， nothing compares to the case of the two girls， aged one and three， found dead in Nanjing， Jiangsu Province on June 21. Initial investigation has shown that the girls had been locked inside their home by their drug-addicted mother， Le Yan， causing them to die of starvation. However， given the authorities eagerness to label child abuse scandals as accidents or simply blame the parents themselves， the death of these two girls has exposed a vacuum in the countrys social welfare system in terms of child protection. Although Le has been arrested and charged with murder， many are blaming the authorities for failing to intervene at an earlier stage. Tragedy To any casual observer， Les ability to care for her two daughters would have been， at best， questionable. Both Le and her husband are drug addicts. In 2012， Le was detained for using drugs， but was pardoned on the grounds that she was still breastfeeding her younger daughter. After Le’s husband was sentenced to six months in prison for complicity in drug taking in February， Le， jobless and with no family support， became the sole guardian of their two children. Legal experts argue that given Les situation， the authorities should have revoked her guardianship. Chinas Law on the Protection of Minors stipulates that the court has the right to revoke and reassign parental guardianship if it judges parents unfit to care for their children， but does not specify the conditions under which the law can be invoked. In reality， as long as a childs parent is alive， it is very rare for a court to revoke their guardianship. In March， after being left home alone for several days， Li Mengxue， the eld