Child advocate columns, Dec. 21, 2007

Office of the Child Advocate
3312 Northside Drive, Suite D-250 Macon, GA 31210
478-757-2661 or 1-800-254-2064 www.gachildadvocate.org

The Legacy of A Christmas Carol
By Tom C. Rawlings State Child Advocate for the Protection of Children

"At this festive time of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, it is more than usually desirable that

we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. . . ."

"Are there no prisons?" asked Scrooge.

"Plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again. . . .

"The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge.

"Both are very busy, sir."

"Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course," said

Scrooge. "I'm very glad to hear it."

". . .A few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. . . . What

shall I put you down for?"

"Nothing!" Scrooge replied.

"You wish to be anonymous?"

"I wish to be left alone," said Scrooge.

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843.

Many folks this time of year recall the story of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the heartwarming tale of how the penurious old coot is transformed by the Spirit of Christmas. But the novella, along with Dickens' other works, carries a far greater legacy than merely giving us the phrases "Bah, Humbug!" and "God bless us, every one!" Truth be told, Dickens' novel changed not only our Christmas traditions but also our world.
Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol with the express purpose of reforming an industrial society consumed with making money. The England of the early 1800s was a place in which factory owners could essentially "purchase" orphans from the orphanages and put them to work for 16-hour shifts in dangerous factories. It was a society in which children as young as six or seven were often killed or maimed by industrial machinery. And, more personally for Dickens, it was a place in which men such as Dickens' own father could be thrown into prison for their debts, forcing the future author at age 12 to pawn his books and work long days blacking boots in a factory.
Dickens wrote not just to entertain but also to change the hearts and minds of his countrymen, and he succeeded beyond his own great expectations. As one scholar has stated, it was Dickens who took the message of social reform to ordinary English readers with such clear illustrations that they could relate to the plight of the needy child and the working poor. He helped birth a new spirit of selflessness and giving. From Dickens' efforts grew movements in England and America to stop child labor, to rescue the poor from debtors' prisons, and to protect the orphaned child from abuse and exploitation. And the movement those Victorian social reformers began over 150 years ago continues today through the work of the thousands of government employees, nonprofit organizations, and individuals who devote their time to caring for the most vulnerable members of our society.
"Mankind was my business!" the ghost of Jacob Marley wails to Scrooge. "The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business." The message Marley brought to his old business partner was a message we need to hear every day, not just at Christmas. And thousands of Georgians respond to that message throughout the year, taking time from their busy lives to become foster parents, or to mentor a child at risk of delinquency, or to support nonprofit child advocacy organizations. Like Scrooge, these selfless individuals have found the Spirit that is in Christmas and "keep it well."
A Christmas Carol also reminds us that is that it is our individual responsibility to help those in need. Like Scrooge, we often simply want to be "left alone." To the pre-Christmas Scrooge, it was enough that his taxes supported the government institutions the workhouses, the debtors' prisons that "assisted" the poor and needy of his day. That laissez-faire reliance on the government to protect us from Want and Ignorance literally comes back to haunt Scrooge. The Ghost of Christmas Present turns Scrooge's own words against him when Scrooge asks if there is no refuge or resource for these two children of Man: "Are there no prisons?" "Are there no workhouses?" In the end, Scrooge realizes that keeping the spirit of Christmas is up to him, and he becomes "as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew."
So, at this time of the year, if your job or volunteer activities include working with troubled families and children or with the poor, elderly and needy, remember that the work you do represents the moral legacy of giants such as Charles Dickens. As you celebrate your own holidays, give thanks for all those who carry on Dickens' mission. And make an effort to continue your celebration by taking a part of Dickens' charge with you into the New Year.
God bless us, every one, indeed.

Tom Rawlings, Georgia's Child Advocate for the Protection of Children, was appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue to assure quality and efficiency in Georgia's child protective systems. The Office of Child Advocate is a resource for those interested in the welfare of our state's neglected and abused children. Tom can be reached through the OCA website at www.gachildadvocate.org