Should We Photolist Waiting Children?, Page 2

Highly detailed descriptions of behavior problems, and interpretative comments about the child's behaviors.

A very quiet Daquan [age 5] who remains that way for an extended period of time is an indication that he is upset. He might sulk for a long time before he brightens up again.

Such descriptions, which may describe typical behaviors for children of the age of the featured child, nevertheless seem to suggest a more serious problem.

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References to the child's suspected history, and details about actual past traumas.

David entered care as a result of neglect and has experienced many moves in his short life. He is diagnosed with global developmental delays, and it is suspected that he was drug exposed in utero.

Even when described as "suspected," the reference to prenatal drug exposure raises questions about the child's physical and developmental status when, in reality, there is no certainty his history includes this situation.

Highly positive language that sounds like product marketing.

[Harold] is a clean-cut child with good manners, good personal hygiene, and an appreciation for what is done for him.

By highlighting physical and personality aspects that convey he is a "good" child, such language suggests the child is a commodity to be marketed.

Descriptions that reinforce stereotypes.

Michael [a 10-year-old African American boy] has no physical impairments, and his gross muscle [sic] are well developed.

Observations about the muscle development and athletic prowess of African American children appear in many descriptions.

Overly prescriptive comments on necessary parenting styles.

Shirley's foster family says she needs a lot of structure in her life or things can quickly get out of hand. Shirley will need a family that has the patience to keep after her to finish tasks such as homework and household chores. She will need consistency, clearly set guidelines with consequences, and lots of structure.

These types of descriptions, coming in the first introduction to a child, assume the child's response to a foster family will carry forward into her relationship with an adoptive family.

Equally troubling is how such descriptions in a public venue might affect the featured children. Many people object to photolistings as distasteful "marketing" of children. Most parents would not permit their own child to appear with such detailed personal information in a public forum, and they don't find it appropriate to feature other children this way.

On the other hand, considering the growing number of children in foster care, the ongoing desperate need for thousands of adoptive families, and continued limited funding for recruitment, using every opportunity to expand the pool of adoptive families is imperative. The question is how to make Internet technology work for children in an ethical manner. Recent experiences in Canada provide some insight.

More than 4,700 children in foster care in Alberta were freed for adoption in 2002, but only 116-less than 3%-were adopted. In an attempt to increase the number of adoptions, Alberta Children's Services launched a website featuring waiting children in February 2003. The website, which included photographs, written profiles, and video clips of the children, sought families only within Alberta unless exceptional circumstances dictated otherwise.

The website generated tremendous controversy. Aside from a general anxiety about whether the listings would attract sexual predators, several concrete practice concerns arose. Featured children were teased at school by classmates who had read some of their medical and social histories online, and some children weren't aware that families were being sought to adopt them.

Alberta's privacy commissioner ordered that details about the children's medical and psychiatric problems and their histories of abuse be removed from their profiles. The Ministry of Children's Services delayed featuring additional children until the site was evaluated after a three-month trial.

Despite these problems, less than two weeks after the website's launch, the agency removed 13 of the 93 children originally featured because 40 potential adoptive families had expressed interest in adopting a featured child. By May, three months into the first year of operation, 48 children had been matched with potential adoptive families, including 12 who weren't actually listed on the website.

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Credits: Children's Voice