Almost 6 months ago, Mark Whittam approached me about joining him in a Steemit initiative to offer support & awareness of the injustices done to families and children by "Child Protection Services" (CPS).
I accepted, and we came up with the account name @familyprotection
"Child Protection" Agencies are Taking Children Away from their Loving Families. THESE FAMILIES NEED PROTECTING!
I discovered Mark's interesting blog about 10 months ago, and then a month after I started following him he put up a post about how how CPS in Sweden had threatened to take his child away! He followed that up with yet another update of how they had to flee the country.
The Government Want's our Child, Which is Why We Are Going On The Run (by Mark Whittam)
Our Child Is Being Put On The Child Protection Services List Because We Refuse To Send Her To School....What is Freedom...Are We Free? (by Mark Whittam)
I upvoted them with full strength and resteemed his posts to my many followers.
As those who have followed me on Steemit for the last 1.5 years will know, I have been a vocal supporter of homeschooling/unschooling. So to discover that Mark Whittam's family could be destroyed simply for doing what I am freely allowed to do where I live in Canada, was horrifying to discover.
Here are some of the posts that I have done explaining how my family unschools, and my views on it.
How Schools FAIL So Many Children -- The "Animal School" Analogy
DRUGS for KIDS -- If Your Child Has a Condition Know as "BEING A CHILD" the Answer is DRUGS (Parody)
Children who Question Authority at School are DRUGGED (ie Ritalin) or otherwise squelched.
Right-Brained Children Discriminated against by a Left-Brained School System
A Person's A Person, No Matter How Small! -- Children Should be Seen AND Heard
LIVING IS LEARNING: Amazing Unschooled Babies Learn to Walk & Talk .... and more!
After reading Mark's blogs about the CPS threat to his family, I shared a bit with him about experiences that I had knowing and helping friends who were attacked by CPS as well. Many other people shared their experiences with Mark in the comments. He had not known the huge extent of the problem in so many countries of the world, until members of the Steemit community poured out their heartbreaking tales.
Below are stories that I have already shared about my good friend, Anna, and how her children were taken and the family shattered to pieces. These events happened right in my home town, so the names have been changed to protect both of our families.
When Kidnapped Children Get Adopted -- Tammy's Story The Nightmare Before Christmas -- Anna's Story Part I Healing Families Destroyed by CPS -- Anna's Story Part II The Ministry of Children & Family DESTRUCTION -- Anna's Story Part III Police Brutality Breaks a Mother's Body & Shatters her Trust -- Anna's Story Part IV Fighting Government Child Kidnappers in Court -- Anna's Story Part V The System is Stacked Against Parents -- Anna's Family Story Part VI
So, this is how @familyprotection started -- organically and at a grassroots level, by bloggers uniting. Steemit members began to support each other through each others Steemit blogs, and it seemed like a natural progression to Mark to make it slightly more formal by starting a separate account that a community could form around.
Mark requested my support and help. He knew that I had a long and well-respected history on Steemit, and he felt that I had helped him the most in getting his story out to the world.
I knew that there was a reason that I found Steemit so early on, became a successful blogger, and then was blessed with a surprise whale-size delegation. There was a MUCH greater purpose to all of these events than just my personal gain.
@familyprotection has fallen into place so naturally and with so much more success than I imagined it would. I now have a VERY important new mission in life; to spread awareness of Government-Funded Child Trafficking and to help protect families from becoming victims of it.
A HUGE thank-you to all of you who have joined Mark and myself on this journey so far.
The best is yet to come!
@familyprotection is incredible how people from far places share the same difficult social-economicals into the real world and not a real justice (anarchy). The family count as first link in our society. Why the specials agencies as CPS do not face the problematic of today with children and their families that provide love, homeschooling and protection to their children, deserving the most of their attention and coraje.
Thanks to people as @ canadian-coco helping others and @ markwhittan for share with us. Until now I did not know the very big tragedy many parents and child.
I wish the best for @familyprotection as group of steemians.
@steemtales thanks for your time to share. Anarchy!!!
Go ahead @familyprotection.
Resteemed
yeah in Portugal homeschooling isn't also well accepted
This is true... Portuguese here, no homeschooling.
An old friend of mine, Bill, would say "If you see the need, heed the call." We are often called by our higher power to do something. We accept in faith and trust His voice. With all the darkness in this world we must not only be a light in troubled times, but overcome the darkness. Through God using us to shine in a darkened world, we overcome evil. You were called at this time to shine the light of truth in an effort to rid the world of the Evils of the CPS. We the blogger are devoted tools for this process, but you were called in this worthy leadership role. God has blessed you and is blessing many through your conviction to stand up against the CPS and stand for Truth. Thanks for your selfless devotion to this cause. @canadian-coconut
thank-you so much for your encouragement.
I enjoyed read your post a few days ago. You are one of the benefactors who cares about beginners steemit. I just want to ask you. Can we join @familyprotection about CPA from Aceh?
The movement benefitted a lot from having you coconut... I've seen some of my own community members supporting this initiative and it makes me very proud.
It's always good to try to change things for the better.
You are so right on! Your light is shining brighter than ever too my dear friend.
Thank you @canadian-coconut!
I'm so grateful that you said yes! Without you, @familyprotection would not exist and it if it did, no one would know about it that's for sure!
You have a heart of gold and it's evident how much you care about people.
I feel we are a great team, we work well together and we seem to have the same goals and aspirations when it comes to @familyprotection!
We have also been very lucky to get the support from so many dedicated steemians who are doing everything they can to help this cause.
@familyprotection forever!
Thank-you so much Mark! It is a pleasure working with you and we do make a great team. There are so many other WONDERFUL people involved as well.
Thanks you Mark for bringing this project onto the blockchain.
This decentralized system is perfect for everyone to have a voice and to raise these controversial subjects, and you saw it.
Kudos!
I simply don't understand the refugee crisis. The history of humanity can be told through a story of migration and settlement. If I can't protect my family, I'm coming to where you are; I'm just coming. It's a round world, and we've all got to get on with it and move on.
Anyways back to you guys. I think you people are doing a wonderful job, you have golden hearts to work for not selfish things but for the betterment of the people.
I agree with you
Hmmm...so you are saying that if all Pakistanis decide they would be better off in India, then India is not allowed to say 'no', they must all be accepted, even if it destroys India and all the Indians worked so hard to create is lost, so that you are as badly off as them and so you all now migrate to ...where? Do you think you might all be welcomed in, maybe, Saudi Arabia? And then, from there?
Amen!!!
You know your screen name should have been canadian-courage right? You definitely have a lion's share of it to tempt 'the eye of Sauron' to turn your way!
(I may have bragged about you to a few unschooler friends of mine, our own steemit family superhero :) You give me hope for this world Linda, truly.
thank-you so much!
There are plenty of good people in the world, and the Steem blockchain gives plenty of them to make the difference.
It's humbling to see all the good initiatives currently on the blockchain, and definitely an encouraging thing to balance the chain of negativity published by the centralized media.
Well @canadian-coconut this is phenomenal. I didn't know about @familyprotection so will definitely be going there and following. It is a universal problem, as much in South Africa as anywhere else. Here, our children have to be in formal school from age 6 or 7 until age 15. If they choose to homeschool, parents have to obtain permission from the provincial authority and provide a weekly timetable and a learning programme. A move towards unschooling is beginning, and I'm not sure how the government intends to handle this. I've just recently joined a facebook group of unschoolers. For 14 years I've worked at a preschool and junior phase learning centre (from toddlers up to age 9), and my son was government-schooled from age 6 to age 18. We were always dissatisfied with the system, and although I have a small voice in my job, I despise the system.
As for CPS in this country, I told a bit of my husband's story to @charisma777. He was removed from his mother and siblings at 3 months as mother was considered too young and incapable of looking after him ... this was probably true, but the years that followed were a nightmare of being returned to the family, then removed again, being placed in children's homes, then boys' home, sometimes with his siblings, other times separated due to age differences, and losing track of his family for many years.
I apologise for rambling on, but I feel strongly about parents' and children's rights! Thanks for this post, and for the @familyprotection account. Whatever I can do with my small voice I shall do.
You should write a post about your husband's story of growing up in foster care, and tag it #familyprotection so that we will be sure to see it.
I will do, and thanks @canadian-coconut. I originally mentioned his story in response to @stophomelessness, and this @familyprotection account is so appreciated.
Put your story in a post!
I will do so, thanks for reading my comment. And thanks for being an ambassador for family protection.
Great!
I agree with @canadian-coconut.
These initiatives benefit from the collective experience of everyone who feels they've been wronged by the system. Spreading the word is a good thing, and you should feel proud to post about it.
Can't wait to read it.
Cheers
Thanks for the encouragement @spiritualmax. Brian is okay with me writing his story, he has just given me the file which the Children's Home sent to him so I have the facts ... am working on the story right now.
Good to know about you ..you are doing a great job. You raised your voice against big issue for the modern society..i still can't believe that these things are still happened in modern society because this is not happening in my country. This is not democracy if government involved in these kind of cruel acts. This is really painful for parents and children too. This is matter of human rights so we should aware united nations about it.
There are countries were this is a huge issue, the United States and Canada isn't one of them. There will always be remote cases where case workers for whatever reason don't follow the rules but for the most part child protection agencies aren't out kidnapping kids. As a matter of fact right now the system is extremely overburden by the opioid crisis here with so many parents dying that agencies don't have enough resources to handle the overflow let alone be out kidnapping more.
Some areas of the world are definitely worse than others. For instances, @canadian-coconut's reality is bad, as she described on some posts, but there are even areas where this is more blatant as child protection services actually get a commission out of each child they apprehend in order for interested parties to "adopt".
Human Trafficking tier of bad...
There's still a long way to go in western society, but fortunately these cases aren't so common and severe as in some other countries where law is lawless and buying someone is $2.50
I have read alot of your stories, and eerie they are scary when it comes to the currupt world of Child Protection, MCFD in BC. We parents who dont have our children need to be strong, united, and to not give up, voices will one day be heard, that is my hope. if I ever get my daughter home, I will still fight fro others who need a voice, support, and to know so many of us are out here for them.....I will notquit fro my daughter, and I will not stop until the system here can be looked at, this is a world problem, these are our children, NOT money making things! They deserve a voice, and we deserve the CPS to be reviewed and questioned about certain cases of wrong doing! #STOLEN BY MCFD
@mcfd-legal-kidnapped
The fact that you have the courage to overcome your fears and do this anyway is what makes you an inspiration.
Next time if I hesitate to say anything, hopefully I will take the chance and do what I think is right because you are showing us all how it's done.
Thanks for being you
Always take a chance! Most of us are invested in STEEM because we were willing to risk it.
I could have sold at $8
But she really hasn't overcome her fears, if she did she'd give out her real name so those capable of doing the research to look at both sides of the story to make a accurate determination of her claims.
Linda has overcome her fears and now she is helping the rest of us overcome some of ours!
What a wonderful post Linda, that truly was inspiring. Fate has certainly put you both on a path and I wish you all the success in the world. I will support you guys 100% as I know you are both in it for all the right reasons. Big love and respect to yourself, Mark, Alex and every one else who helps out @familyprotection.
Not only those who organized, promote, administrate and help @familyprotection, but the countless individuals that have the courage to share their own stories or to investigate the sad tales of others in order to disclose them to the public.
I’m so glad you and mark made this connection. It should influence the world someday and I’m sure has been a godsend to you both to have had this community so long.
I may be a fresh face but this makes sense, the hardship, the commitments, the growth, the loss. So much to know and I hope to be a part of this community as family. So as a Canadian we still have the legal right to home school our children? Thanks @canadian-coconut with a newborn and 14mo I have a lot or learning to do. Alot of research and time needs to be spent solely on bettering my ability to fully promote their development. I already try so hard to fill their days with words and activity so I think I would be excellent at homeschooling them. I’m in the middle of some things this evening but i resteemed this and will be going through the blogs you posted to get to know unschooling better because I to am not okay with the current academic standards of our backwords monolingual school system. Pretty much every European country has multilinguals being a normal thing, I’m hard pressed to find many people who can actually speak french here in Canada let alone Japanese, Spanish, German, czech.
I know a friend who can speak all of those who grew up in the czech republic. So yeah this is Vital to me as my children are the most magnificent parts of my simple life here on Earth and I am ecstatic to watch them flourish and grow! Much love.
Yes, BC has probably the best homeschool laws and options in all of Canada.
I'm glad that you are going to look into it for your precious little ones.
It’s only right, i had great parenting but they left too much educating to the school system, I cant responsibly put my kids theough that knowing that I did not learn enough from school alone. It takes raising our kids ourselves to give them what they need most.
People who are invested in their kids and their future should use homeschooling as often as they like... on the other hand, there are also the sad cases in which homeschooling is adopted by parents who just don't care and want to take the path of least resistance, which gives a good movement some bad rep.
You and Mark have done a great service for this community! It's crazy, and sad at the same time, how many others are experiencing similar situations with the so-called 'state' removing or trying to remove children from loving homes. I'm so grateful everyone is sharing their truths here, and banding together in real solidarity, to stand against this terrible overreach of power!!
Centralized media isn't too keen on this kind of subjects... and a lot others.
Thank you Ca-Co for being involved. Your new important mission in life is truly important!. 🙏
It is amazing how much time and dedication you have for this cause, and a big respect to you for taking the risk of damaging your reputation or being attacked by potentially anyone.. You have shown us that when you do the right thing, you cannot be stopped!
The good thing about courageous people is that they have broad shoulders.
I'm so glad you listened to that quiet voice that said "do it." I think we are witnessing history in the making. Where else is there an uncensored outlet for people to tell their stories, do their research and encourage one another. I am very thankful for @familyprotection, Mark Whittim and of course @canadian-coconut. You have helped propel this message to many people and many more people to come! @ironshield
Together we WILL STOP CPS!
Bless you both for all you do for so many...
My friend, you and Mark are doing an amazing job! You have my 💯 percent vote! You both are already helping a lot of families financially and emotionally right here in our steemit community with your generosity, kindness and helpful advice in dealing with their issues. What others say or think doesn't matter. Actions speak louder than words. Just keep doing what you are doing 😆
I heard that the US government will take of the children if the family can't be able to sustain their needs. But here in the Philippines the government don't care about the children here, if the parents are poor and uneducated they just leave their children on streets and will become drug addict, criminals, slave and they beg for money to the people, what do you think @canadian-coconut?
One cannot expect that someone who is against child protection agencies to step forward and say anything positive about them. It's a shame that your country allows that to happen to innocent children, even if you look at child protection services in the most negative way surely being under the hospice of child protective custody would be better than what the children in your country suffer.
@familyprotection is one wonderful initiative and everyone behind this is really doing a very daring work, cause it's not easy to get vocal against strong government institutions. I can understand there is so much threat here but big changes happen with a revolution.
I am always in support of @familyprotection, I strongly believe that no one can understand children better than their parents so there is no way any institution can manage children better than parents. I do understand that there are abusive parents also but the way CPS is going I dont think that they are targeting the right families.
I hate how the people took a great concept of protecting children from abusive dangerous situations- put it in the governments hands because THEY know how to do everything so well- and like in every other area they micromanage so much that it winds up hurting more kids than helping. Speaking out against societal norms takes great strength. I have followed your other user name and look forward to catching up on all the madness that's plaguing this corrupt entity.
Thank you @canadian-coconut and @markwhittam! I've been lucky to participate in some #familyprotection themed fundraising initiatives and hope to keep that going.
Sharing my own story and relating to others who've shared in these experiences has been very empowering as well.
If there is ever any way in which I can help the initiative more please let me know.
Thank you for all that you do!
You're doing a great job here -but do take care of your family and stay safe. The same goes for Mark. Too many mean and spiteful people out there.
I know the #familyprotection tag has a different meaning, but after reading so many stories, this community is growing into a real family itself, where people feel free to share their problems and ask for advice.
Thank you @canadian-coconut for this timely post!!
I'm a supporter of @familyprotection and desire to help families stay together.
It certainly is a crime when these injustices are perpetrated by officialdom!!
Thanks to you and Mark for all the work you are doing!!
This is a very important issue. The cps in the usa and canada is in essence carrying out an ongoing genocide by removing Indigenous children from their families.
When Indigenous children are taken they often end up in the custody of non-indigenous families, these families are not capable of teaching these youths their culture and tradition, the children end up being abused in many instances, they are also heavily medicated.
Children of Indigenous people are historically stolen from their families, there are many accounts of these Indigenous children being trafficked, sold to families who will "give them a chance in society".
That is not true and you should do more research before making such allegations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system
https://cpsracket.blogspot.com/2011/10/south-dakota-kidnaps-indian-children.html
https://educate-yourself.org/cn/hodgesCPSchildabductionraccket05jul14.shtml
Thank you @canadian-coconut, I will also try and support @familyprotection and thank you for supporting one of those (me) right brain kids that didn't get any support through our factory farming public school system <3
I have followed @familyprotection from it's early days and it is comforting to know that there is a support to the community as such. I's say I am a silent follower. 😊 That first story of @markwhittam about their having to run away from the govt just because they homeschool also got me then. We also homeschool and I definitely dread the thought of having to go through the same.
Thanks @canadian-coconut for all that you do.
Here in Central America is almost the same, I have often heard stories of children being taken by the government to put them in protective houses, but in these conditions are extremely hard for them, they suffer a lot from child abuse and abuse.
And by the time a family wants to make an adoption of those places it becomes extremely cumbersome, to such a degree that many times, adoptions are not carried out by the long waits and by the thousands of bureaucratic procedures that are required, many families end up be disappointed and end up without continuous spirit in the processes, and in the end the child ends up without family and the family that very possibly could give him a better quality of life, stays in limbo.
Thank you for this beautiful initiative and for defending the rights of children in this wonderful platform.
Best Regard @galberto
I absolutely love this post! I will read all the links over the next couple of days. I think that is very necessary to bring awareness to these issues. This is the extension of the sixties scoop. this is what fuels the human trafficking that is running rampant globally.
i am excited to see that you also unschool/homeschool. I do believe that because i do not vaccinate, and unschool...it made me a target when i refused to sign the release forms. I very much support this initiative, @markwhittam and you!! I am so grateful for this community. love and respect.
Thank you for all you do to help the community in so many ways. My fundraising effort would never have succeeded without your support!
Wrong thread to be thanking someone one, she is not a advocate of institutionalization, meaning in her honest opinion all those children in Venezuela would be better off in the streets then being overseen and protected by the system in place.
and yet she was the biggest contributor to my effort to help the school get a computer, so she has my eternal thanks.
I didn't say you shouldn't thank her I just was showing the irony of thanking someone on a site where they advocate against the system in place that protects children, though they may call them schools in Venezuela the ones highlighted in the fund raising are equivalent to homes for children in the US.
Thank you for posting this @canadian-coconut !! My friend in Alberta had a situation that has torn her apart for more than 10 years now. CPS tricked her into signing over her daughter while waiting to be moved out of the woman's shelter after she left her abusive husband. By the time she had realized it she lost her child to her husband's wealthy parents. They adopted her and it was not until last year that my friend found out what happened. She found her daughter through social media and is now trying to establish a relationship with her daughter but it is hard as the family has been threatening her and trying to convince the daughter that her mother abandoned her instead of the truth. I so hate seeing children being taken like this but she will feel better now that she is not alone in situations like this. Again thank you very much and thank you @familyprotection for all your hard work.
What a tragic story. I hope that the daughter can see through these lies. Perhaps your friend should put her experiences with CPS down in writing, post it under the #familyprotection tag, and then share those links with her daughter.
I have been trying to get her to do something like this but she wasn't sure what media do use it. I have sent her your article and will see if she wanted to have her story told. Again thank you and Hugs .
I remember that I encountered similar accusations against similar organizations and asked why would they do it.
I know that in some extreme cases, not in all of them, they do it.
As far as I know, such organizations have far more false negatives than false positives, and far more true positives than false positives.
Can false positives happen?
I guess they can, but have yet to acknowledge even 1 such case.
How frequent do you think such cases are?
What gain does CPS and its workers get from taking children from their families, and why do you think these gains surmount their costs?
Why do you think that it happens? for profit, or for another reason?
Good questions.
You got a 4.98% upvote from @adriatik courtesy of @stimialiti!
You got a 100.00% upvote from @greengrowth thanks to @stimialiti! You too can use @GreenGrowth by sending your post URL in the memo field to the bot. Minimum bid is 0.01.
If you feel this post is spammy or not worthy of @Greengrowth you can contact a moderator in our Discord Channel https://discord.gg/6DhnVTQ.
This comment has received a 50.00 % upvote from @steemdiffuser thanks to: @stimialiti. Steem on my friend!
Above average bids may get additional upvotes from our trail members!
Get Upvotes, Join Our Trail, or Delegate Some SP
This is an amazing project. One of the first things I came across on Steemit and I'm pleased to have been able to give some support to the community.
I am also very encouraged by the recent solution focus that came up and some of the great ideas that people put forward, notably @eco-alex and @trucklife-family among others. It will be great if some of these come about and create a real difference for the families affected.
Great post love, upvoted and resteamed ♡
.
Yes, for justice
Thank you for your efforts in spreading this with the world
Great work .. well done
Thank you for all you do here @canadian-coconut! I have followed Mark's story since the first "tiny house" posts on Steemit, and related to some of what he was telling because they were in Sweden at the time and I grew up in nearby Denmark where I was also "somewhat illegally" unschooled... thankfully, my parents dodged various versions of CPS by moving around a lot.
Anyway, it's my belief it's extremely important that there be some kind of "independent/decentralized" group of watchdogs, much like @familyprotection now has created in our community. The world would be DIFFERENT if there were someone parents could call, and they simply showed up when CPS was involved to "witness" and maybe film what takes place; I have to think (perhaps naively?) that it would make a huge difference in many lives.
Anyway, I am rambling here, but a heartfelt thank you for caring!
Thanks for sharing all of these links to past articles you've written. One of the downsides to Steemit is not being able to categorize posts in a way that keeps them readily accessible. Too much quality informations gets burried as time goes passes. I look forward to reading more about you. -Aimee
I am so happy you followed your heart @canadian-coconut, there is such a huge need for @familyprotection, when I first heard about all the babies been stolen from their families and put up for forced adoption, I couldn't believe the numbers that I was reading and the incentives that the local government agencies get for filling qouta's. So many families broken and terrorized, that it was definitely time to create something that could help educate the masses and help the families in need. So much light is needed in this dark dark place within our world.And yes it should be coming from the people, not organized charities where a lot of what happens is not transparent. This for me is an example of us people taking our power back, educating ourselves and finding our own solutions.
I heard of such stories. In the US such organisations asked in court to make it legal to lie to families in order to be more efficiant stealing children.
WTF!?
thank you for bringing awareness to this topic! the more it gets out there, the sooner we can do something about it.
I didn't know about @familyprotection and i think it's an excellent way to share your personal stories and try to avoid someone can repeat it, in my childhood i suffered of bulling and that kind of stories are hard to share because is something that you load but at the same time you want to educate your family against of that acts. Thanks for this space
Congratulations @canadian-coconut!
Your post was mentioned in the Steemit Hit Parade in the following category:
Well spoken, both of you are a blessing to many people! And you've created a warm community with many dedicated members.. Respect to you both!
Thanks for your great post..I followed @familyprotection because I believe that CPS is not perfect, but considering the horrid abuse some children receive, its efforts are better than nothing. It should be better funded, allowing it to do more for kids. There are some case workers who maybe don’t always act as well as they should, but in most cases, they do act in the best interest of the kids.
I totally agree.
Very well said! I like your post....
Congratulations @canadian-coconut, this post is the most rewarded post (based on pending payouts) in the last 12 hours written by a Hero account holder (accounts that hold between 10 and 100 Mega Vests). The total number of posts by Hero account holders during this period was 393 and the total pending payments to posts in this category was $4957.92. To see the full list of highest paid posts across all accounts categories, click here.
If you do not wish to receive these messages in future, please reply stop to this comment.
You are doing a fantastic job. The people i follow at Steemit, you are the best & good hearted . Most of the people thinking about themselves but you always thinking about other people problems & how to solve them.
You are extraordinary.
Such a wonderful project. You are doing a great work. This project is really great. I like it, no no i love it. Its always good to know that someone is trying to make this world a better & beautiful place.
I will @upvote &@resteem this post.
Alone we can do so much little, together we can do so much. Your dedication and service is appreciated.You are doing a good job here, and I want you to know that your presence and work are acknowledged and they are helping them reach their targets and goals.