Scott Tibbs


Straining the child abuse gnat, but swallowing the elephant

By Scott Tibbs, December 18, 2023

The Washington Post published an absolutely horrifying story about a stepmother in Michigan who brutally tortured, starved and neglected a nine year old until he finally died. The Post blamed the torture and murder on home schooling, but ignored the actual culprit: The woman was not the child's biological mother. Children who are not living with married biological parents are much more vulnerable to abuse than children living with biological parents.

Here are some statistics on abuse rates for children: From the article:
Similarly, sexual abuse is much more likely in single parent (4.8 times), other married parents (10 times) and single parent with a cohabiting partner (19.8 times) households than in married biological parent homes. Indeed, "only" 1 child in every 2,000 living with married biological parents is sexually abused while nearly 20 in every 2,000 children living in a home with a single parent with a cohabiting partner is abused.
The New York Times warned of the danger children face in "nontraditional homes" more than a decade ago:
It also cited a 2010 report on child abuse by the federal Department of Health and Human Services that found that children living with two married biological parents had the lowest rates of harm — 6.8 per 1,000 children — while children living with one parent who had an unmarried partner in the house had the highest incidence, at 57.2 per 1,000 children.
That is not all. See here:
Preschoolers living with one natural and one stepparent were 40 times more likely to become child abuse cases than were like-aged children living with two natural parents.
Children are not only more likely to be abused in "nontraditional homes." They are also more likely to be murdered:
For instance, a 2005 study of fatal child abuse in Missouri found that children living with their mother’s boyfriends were more than 45 times more likely to be killed than were children living with their married mother and father.
The bias of the Washington Post article is obvious. Instead of focusing on the documented fact that children in nontraditional homes are more likely to be abused, they damn homeschooling and the "lax" laws that govern it. This is despite the fact that the Post ADMITS that "studies conducted in recent years have not shown that home-schooled children are at significantly greater risk of mistreatment than those who attend public, private or charter schools."

The bias is glaring. This so-called "investigation" has absolutely nothing to do with child abuse or protecting children from it. If that was the case, the Washington Post would have delved into the statistical danger faced by children who do not live with married biological parents. That was clearly much more of a factor in this case than homeschooling was: Lindsay Piper's brutal sadism was directed at the child who was not biologically hers. This was not "journalism." This was political propaganda, to demonize Christians and homeschooling families, and to support the government school system.

It turns out that the model God gave us - that children should come from the union of one man and one woman who become one flesh - is actually the best model. Not only are children more protected from abuse, but are less likely to engage in delinquent behavior. Families in the Biblical model are also more economically stable. This does not only apply to women and children. Men are happier, in better physical health, and are more financially successful if they are married.

This is not to say all non-traditional homes are bad. Many stepparents are very loving, take good care of their stepchildren and would even die for those children. There are single parents who do a remarkable job with their children. There are children who are abused by married biological parents, and sometimes that abuse is horrific. All men and women are capable of terribly wicked sins. But the statistical data is clear. If we really want to protect children, we need to promote the model of children living with their married biological mother and father.


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